In January, the Illinois Supreme Court announced the appointment of PILI Board Member Alison C. Conlon as Cook County Circuit Judge. Alison has served on PILI’s Board of Directors since 2011. Then a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, she was appointed to PILI’s Board by the Chicago Bar Association’s Board of Managers for a one-year term and decided to stay on after her term expired. “I enjoy the exchange of information and ideas on PILI’s Board,” Alison says. “By serving on the Board and participating in PILI Board meetings, receptions and programming, I have come into contact with so many interesting and insightful people who think beyond themselves, are committed to ensuring that every single person has access to a fair day in court, and have new ideas about how to achieve that goal.”
Alison has been committed to pro bono work throughout her career. In addition to her board service with PILI, Alison served on the Hearing Board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission and on Catholic Charities’ advisory board. While at Barnes & Thornburg, she launched an initiative to handle pro bono engagements for pro se litigants in Cook County who were nearing trial. Now as a new judge, she has continued her commitment to pro bono by volunteering on Wednesday mornings at the pro se small claims court call at 8:00 a.m. “This is a new, recent initiative in the Municipal Division,” she explains. “It allows parties to appear outside of regular business hours at 8:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m. to accommodate work schedules.”
In an article published in the Illinois State Bar Association’s Illinois Lawyer Now, Alison expressed her gratitude and excitement for her new appointment as Cook County Circuit Judge: “I am very honored by this appointment,” she said. “I am grateful for the confidence shown in me by the Supreme Court and by Justice Theis. Today’s appointment starts an important new chapter for me in which I look forward to serving the residents of Cook County as a circuit judge.”