Did You Know All That PILI Does?

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PILI is doing more than ever to fulfill its mission to engage, inspire and empower those advancing equal access to justice. To give a better sense of all that we are doing across all of our programs and throughout the state, we’ve put together some facts and figures to help you better understand our reach and impact.

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This week, PILI will be launching our 2021 giving campaign, “Gateway to Justice” as part of Giving Tuesday and our Annual Awards Virtual Luncheon. Our Young Professionals Board shared what they pledge to do to advance justice.

Join us on this international day of giving and help us open the gateway even wider to increase access to justice.

Thank you for your support of our work!

Congratulations to the 2020 PILI Award Recipients

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Congratulations to our 2020 annual awards recipients! They were selected for their outstanding contributions to public interest law and pro bono in Illinois. The awardees were recognized during our Annual Awards Virtual Luncheon on December 2, 2020.

Distinguished Intern Award – Hilda Bahena

Hilda Bahena is a 2001 graduate from the University of Illinois College Of Law. As a law student, she served as a PILI Intern at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. Since then, Hilda has dedicated her entire career to public interest in the service of others. Hilda now works as the Catholic Charities Legal Assistance Department Director, where she oversees the Legal Services Program and the Volunteer and Pro Bono Program. Before then, she worked as a legal aid attorney in both California and Illinois for more than twelve years. Catholic Charities Legal Assistance is an organization that aims to provide access to compassionate and competent legal assistance, and Hilda’s leadership and professional work exemplifies this mission. Hilda is credited with developing an original model for providing empowerment based legal assistance, which was published in the Clearinghouse Review and implemented at Catholic Charities Legal Assistance. Hilda is known for her commitment to community building and collaboration, working with legal aid agencies, law firms, and corporate legal teams to create innovative trainings, forge partnerships, and continuously expand programming and services. Hilda is a recognized leader in the legal aid community.

View Hilda’s award presentation »

Distinguished Fellow Award – Jonathan Adair

Jonathan Adair is a 2015 graduate from the Washington St. Louis School of Law. Soon after completing law school, he served as a PILI Fellow at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, where he left a lasting impression on both the organization and its clients. During his Fellowship, Jonathan took on two notably complicated cases which were not completed before the end of his time with the organization. When given the option to pass on the cases to another volunteer, Jonathan requested that he continue to represent the clients. Jonathan successfully carried both cases to the end, working diligently and with great care. After his tenure as a PILI Fellow, Jonathan joined the firm Kirkland & Ellis as an associate, where he champions pro bono work within the firm and continues his connection with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services. Since joining the firm in 2015, Jonathan has completed over 850 pro bono hours, especially working on a number of housing voucher termination cases where he successfully helped clients keep their housing. Because of Jonathan’s commitment to pro bono work, he was named one of Kirkland & Ellis’ first Chicago Associate Pro Bono All-Stars in 2018. He continues his support of Chicago Volunteer Legal Services to this day, serving on the organization’s Junior Board. Since Jonathan’s time as a PILI Fellow, he has made lasting positive impressions on those he has worked with and the clients he has helped, and has demonstrated a commitment to pro bono.

View Jonathan’s award presentation »

Pro Bono Initiative Award – Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray LLP is a global law firm that continuously demonstrates unwavering support for pro bono and community service work within Illinois.  Ropes & Gray proudly states that pro bono practice is a hallmark of the firm, providing thousands of hours of volunteer legal services to offer the disadvantaged access to justice. Ropes & Gray routinely partners with local community and legal aid organization in Illinois to help provide legal services to those in need. The firm has helped to provide record-sealing and expungement services, assisted with post-conviction relief efforts, and provides local non-profits with corporate governance and employment advice. Ropes & Gray provides extensive pro bono services to immigrants and asylum seekers, providing more than 13,000 pro bono hours to more than 30 families and 70 individuals facing separation at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Most recently, the firm jumped into action to respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Ropes & Gray played a key role is assisting the State of Illinois and the University of Chicago in the use of technology to track COVID-19 cases in Illinois, providing guidance on novel legal issues regarding rights, privacy, and public interest in combating a global pandemic. Also in the fight against COVID-19, Ropes & Gray provided pro bono assistance to Fix the Mask and Project N95. Ropes & Gray has also been a regular participant in PILI’s Legal Prep Community Law Clinic. Through their continued partnership with community and legal aid organizations, as well as their swift response to COVID-19, Ropes & Gray has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to pro bono and public service.

View Ropes & Gray’s award presentation »

Distinguished Public Service Award – Mary Meg McCarthy

Mary Meg McCarthy is the Executive Director of the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), an organization dedicated to immigrant advocacy and safeguarding human rights. Prior to joining NIJC, Mary Meg practiced civil litigation after her completion of law school at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She began her partnership with NIJC by serving as a NIJC Pro Bono Attorney, using her expertise in immigration law to help advance justice for immigrants. She had previously demonstrated a passion for this work earlier in her career, working in Chile to help protect individual rights under a dictatorship. More recently, Mary Meg served as chair of the American Bar Associations’ Commission on Immigration and is also an active member of The Chicago Network, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the Chicago Bar Association. Mary Meg is recognized by her colleagues as a tireless advocate and a true expert in her field. Today, with a career-long commitment to protecting immigrant and human rights, Mary Meg has lead NIJC to become a leading organization in immigrant advocacy.

View Mary Meg’s award presentation »

 

See past annual award recipients »

PILI Launches Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group

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In June, PILI’s Board President and Executive Director issued a Statement on Racism. They stated, “Racism in America is real. It is systemic. It is pervasive. Like George Floyd, too many people of color have paid dearly for the racism that we as a nation have failed to address throughout our history. We stand with all of those who fight every day to end racism in all of its forms.” The statement centered on actions that PILI could take to redouble its commitment to the fight against racism. Most importantly it contained a commitment to listening to the experiences and perspectives of people of color, in order to better inform PILI as to what we can do to support and engage them in our work.

To put its words into action, PILI has created a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Working Group to determine how PILI can effectively realize this commitment internally, externally through its programming and services, and in support of its partner organizations. Three Co-Chairs lead the group: Lee Ann Russo, past PILI president and current Life Director on the PILI Board of Directors; Kimberly Mills, a member of the PILI Alumni Network Leadership Council; and Sabreena El-Amin, past Chair and current member of the PILI Young Professionals Board. The DEI Working Group is comprised of 21 additional members who represent a wide spectrum of the Illinois legal community bringing diverse perspectives based on race, gender identity, disability, age and professional background. The group covers both Cook County and other areas around Illinois where PILI has a Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee. It is staffed by Senior Managing Attorney Brent Page and Managing Attorney Jessica Schneider.

The Co-Chairs developed the following purpose statement: “The PILI Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Working Group commits to addressing the pervasive and systemic racism that prevents justice from being accessible and equitable for all, recognizing its effect on both those working to advance justice and those who seek access to justice. It strives to foster diversity, equity and inclusion in order to cultivate and retain diverse leadership, provide empowering and inclusive programming and further such efforts by PILI’s partners. The Working Group will achieve these aims by developing a report including written recommendations for the PILI Board of Directors.” The Working Group includes three sub-working groups focusing on different areas of PILI’s work: Legal Profession Pipeline, PILI Programming and Pro Bono Legal Services.

The DEI Working Group recently held its first meeting and members shared their reasons for wanting to be a part of the group. Reflected in all the responses was a deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and a collective readiness to contribute to positive change. One group member shared that the directness of PILI’s statement identifying that racism is real, systemic and pervasive inspired her to be a part of this effort. PILI strongly believes that furthering diversity, equity and inclusion is a critical part of fulfilling our mission. We look forward to the coming recommendations from the group and are grateful to its leadership and membership for their efforts. PILI is grateful to our Co-Chairs and all of the DEI Working Group members for their time and commitment to lead this important effort.

For more information contact Brent Page or Jessica Schneider.

PILI Mourns the Passing of Life Director Christopher Horsch

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Chris HorschPILI Life Director Christopher Horsch, 79, passed away on November 11, 2020 after a brief illness. Chris joined PILI’s Board of Directors in 1985, decades later being named as a Life Director in honor of his service when he retired. Even in retirement and as a Life Director, Chris remained very involved in PILI’s work, regularly attending PILI events and board meetings.

Chris received his law degree in 1966 and, after serving in the Navy for three years, he started practicing in 1969 at Vedder, Price, Kaufman & Kammholz (now known as Vedder Price) in Chicago. Chris’ commitment to helping those in need was deeply rooted in his legal career from the start. Early in the 1970s he, together with a group of other Vedder Price attorneys, volunteered at a legal aid office at Hull House in Uptown one night a week. Chris was at Vedder Price until 1989, except for two years  when he worked with a business development company in Appalachia funded by the federal Office of Economic Opportunity. In 1989, he became General Counsel of the South Shore Bank of Chicago, where he remained until he retired in 2009.

“The PILI Board of Directors and staff are saddened by the loss of Chris and are thankful for his 35 years of involvement with and support of PILI,” said Executive Director Michael Bergmann. “Chris was such a warm and kind person, and he was truly dedicated to PILI and our mission. He will be missed greatly and we extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”

In addition to Patty, his wife of 50 years, Chris is survived by his sister, Gretchen Simmons (Donald) of Crawford, MS; three children: John Horsch (Rachel) of Oakland, CA, Peter Horsch (Dina) of Denver, CO, and Kate McDaniel (Robert) of Denver, CO; five grandsons: Caleb and Noah Horsch, Owen Horsch, and David and Benjamin McDaniel; and five nieces and nephews.

Chris’ family has encouraged those who wish to honor his legacy of service to make a gift to PILI to support the Christopher J. Horsch Memorial Law Student Intern starting in 2021. You may make such a donation through our website and be sure to mark it as a Tribute Gift and include Chris’ name. Donate now »

Chris’ obituary can be found here.

You can also read Chris’ Board Member Spotlight from 2017.

Illinois Free Legal Answers Clinics Contribute to Record Number of Questions Answered

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Several organizations hosted virtual Illinois Free Legal Answers Clinics to celebrate Pro Bono Week at the end of October. Together with other volunteers, these clinics contributed to a record breaking number of questions – 407 – being answered in a single month.

 

Thank you to these organizations for hosting clinics in October!
  • Chapman and Cutler
  • DePaul College of Law
  • Husch Blackwell
  • PILI Alumni Network & Young Professionals Board
  • State Farm
If you and your colleagues are interested in hosting a clinic, please contact Brent Page by email or by phone at 312-832-5128. You can also answer questions from people in need whenever you’d like on il.freelegalanswers.org.

PILI Issues Updated Pro Bono Reference Guides for Law Firms and Corporations

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Through its Pro Bono Initiative project, PILI facilitates the sharing of best practices through pro bono resources and programming, serving as a hub for pro bono within the Illinois legal community. A hallmark of this project since nearly its inception, has been PILI’s Pro Bono Reference Guide for both Law Firms and Corporations. Both of these guides are intended to provide support in developing and enhancing a formal pro bono program. Included in each guide is a compilation of best practices, resources and relevant samples to help either in-house corporate legal departments or law firms in building or reinvigorating their pro bono program.

Although PILI regularly reviews and updates the Pro Bono Reference Guide, this year PILI underwent a larger overhauling of both the Law Firm Pro Bono Reference Guide and Corporate Pro Bono Reference Guide. In conjunction with law firm and corporate leaders from PILI’s Board of Directors, PILI revised and modernized each guide. In addition to extensive editing and updating of articles, an executive summary and several new articles were also written for each guide including “Special Considerations for Entering the Illinois Market in Designing a Pro Bono Program” as well as “Pro Bono Activity Throughout Illinois.”

Each guides provide a summary of pro bono in Illinois, reviews the considerations when developing a pro bono program as well as general administration of the program, explains how to find pro bono matters, describes partnering with other entities, as well as providing additional resources and ideas. Whether you are just beginning to develop a pro bono program at your firm or corporation, or you are seeking ideas to refresh or bolster your program, this updated guide should be a useful resource.

Access the Pro Bono Reference Guides

That’s a Wrap! Pro Bono Week 2020

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Since Friday, October 23rd, PILI has been participating in the national celebration of Pro Bono Week. If ever there was a year where a week of celebration was needed, 2020 certainly was the year! And, celebrate we did, even if we had to go all virtual this year instead of traveling the state to be with local judges, lawyers and friends to celebrate the amazing pro bono work being done throughout our state.

We celebrated the week with eight Celebrate Pro Bono Virtual Events (links available below), recognized five local attorneys for their outstanding pro bono work, launched the new First Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee and even did some pro bono thanks to our Alumni Network Leadership Council and Young Professionals Board.

And, as we wrap things up we want to say THANK YOU! to all of PILI’s pro bono volunteers through our pro bono opportunities, including our Self-Represented Litigant Help Desks, Illinois Armed Forces Legal Aid Network, Illinois Free Legal Answers and Conflict of Interest Pro Bono Referral Panel.

Now, check out our final video of Pro Bono Week 2020 featuring Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne M. Burke, PILI Executive Director Michael Bergmann and some highlights from our week long celebration.

You can also check out the Celebrate Pro Bono Virtual Events following the links below:

Learn more about how to Get Involved with PILI and how to Support our Work.

PILI Launches First Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee

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On October 22, 2020, the inaugural meeting of the First Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee will be held. With the launch of this committee, PILI now has nine such committees across the state of Illinois. The First Judicial Circuit is in the Fifth Appellate District and includes Alexander, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union and Williamson Counties.

The First Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee is a group, comprised of lawyers and judges, that strives to enhance equal access to justice by encouraging and promoting pro bono work in the First Judicial Circuit. The Honorable Michael A. Fiello, Associate Judge of the First Judicial Circuit, will serve as the committee’s chair and he will be joined by twelve judges and lawyers from the Circuit, including representatives from Land of Lincoln Legal Aid and Southern Illinois University Law School.

“We are thrilled to add the First Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee to our work across the state,” said PILI Executive Director Michael G. Bergmann. Funding from the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois made possible this new committee. PILI partnered with many of the attorneys and groups represented on the committee to host a first-ever Pro Bono Week event in the First Circuit in 2019.

Judge Fiello had this to say about the new committee, “I am honored to be the chair of the First Circuit Pro Bono Committee. Pro bono is an essential piece in the continuing effort to insure access to justice for all. I am confident that this partnership of PILI, Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, judges, lawyers and others serving the public will be successful in reaching the goal of increasing the availability of free legal assistance to those in need.”

Learn more about PILI’s Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committees »