PILI Alumni Network Leadership Council Vice Chair Casey Nelson presents a plaque to Jill Roberts for her leadership as 2024-2025 Chair
PILI is grateful to Jill Roberts who has been serving as Chair of our Alumni Network Leadership Council for the last year and will conclude her term at the end of this month.
Jill graduated from Illinois Tech Chicago-Kent College of Law and served as a PILI Law Student Intern at the Law Center for Better Housing in 2007. At the LCBH, she represented clients in eviction and housing courts with an Illinois provisional law student license, drafted pleadings and motions for eviction and housing cases and researched legal issues, and conducted client intake in Spanish and English. Since 2017, She has served as the Deputy Director at Access to Justice Division of the Illinois Courts. Jill joined the Alumni Network Leadership Council in 2017, and has served as its chair since September 2024 after previously serving in several other leadership roles on the Council.
As Jill concludes her service as chair, we asked her a few questions about her involvement with PILI.
WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO SINCE YOUR PILI INTERNSHIP CONCLUDED?
I have had several jobs since my PILI Internship, all in public interest. I did a one year clerkship at the Detroit Immigration Court and a one year AmeriCorps VISTA position at Legal Aid Chicago. I worked for several years at Cabrini Green Legal Aid and then as a public interest career advisor at Michigan State College of Law. I have now been working for the last 8 years at the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts’ Access to Justice Division working to make the civil court system easier for people who don’t have lawyers.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT BEING A PILI INTERN?
PILI is a tremendous gateway into the public interest community. Making connections with the staff at my agency as well as with my fellow PILI Interns was great and continues to be valuable.
HOW HAS YOUR COMMITMENT TO SERVICE PLAYED A ROLE IN YOUR LIFE AND CAREER?
My career has always been focused on public service and PILI shows that there are a lot of different ways to serve. There are a lot of different angles to impacting the legal system, from full-time legal aid lawyers to pro bono to donating funds to support great programs. I am grateful I’ve been able to have many different experiences, all allowing me to serve people differently.
WHY DO YOU LIKE SERVING ON THE ALUMNI NETWORK LEADERSHIP COUNCIL?
I love being surrounded by a group of people who care about public interest legal work. It is wonderful to be able to collaborate with people with a broad spectrum of experiences and to support such a great organization. Although my time as chair is ending, I look forward to continuing to participate on the Council and see where Kimberly Mills takes us next year.