Guest Post: The Rewarding Work of a Young Professionals Board

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Steve Trubac

This is a guest post from Steve Trubac. Steve is an associate at Bryan Cave, representing clients across a number of different industries and assisting with transnational, litigation and trademark enforcement needs. He is also a member of PILI’s Young Professionals Board. 

I am coming up on my third year as an attorney in Illinois. In private practice, I have had opportunities to work on incredible projects. Yet by far the most rewarding work I do is for my pro bono clients.

If there is one thing pro bono work has taught me, it is that even the simplest of legal advice or representation has a meaningful impact. I have worked with a client to obtain trademark protection for her charity which raises money for childhood illnesses. I assisted in drafting an amicus brief on the importance of equal recognition for same-sex parents. My greatest realization as to the importance of legal aid, however, occurred last year while volunteering time at an immigration clinic. I remember speaking to hard-working families who had lived in Chicago most of their lives, and yet whose legal future as Americans was up in the air.

Though I am proud of the pro bono work that I do, I am not a public interest attorney, and I recently began looking for ways to expand how I can give back. A few months ago, a partner at my law firm told me that PILI was looking to create a Young Professionals Board and asked if I was interested in applying. I had heard of PILI, and soon remembered this was the same organization that helped my friend obtain a summer Fellowship in Chicago after graduating from law school. My friend – who also is not a public interest lawyer – told me about the incredible work being done to help Chicagoans in serious jeopardy of losing their homes.

I decided to take a shot in applying, and am now a proud member of PILI’s Young Professional Board. Beyond our work in raising money to support PILI Internship grants and Fellowships, being a member of the YPB has both given me an even greater insight into the incredible importance of legal aid, and highlighted the other opportunities available for non-public-interest lawyers to support the tireless work being done by public interest lawyers across the state.

Our Board – though only a few months old – has amazing energy, and in planning our inaugural fundraiser this May (tickets on sale now!), I am always impressed with the incredible drive we have in working together both to get PILI’s name out there to other young professionals, and in planning a successful event that will help fund legal services that are more critical now than ever.

Being a young professional is a full-time job, but my generation does not let that stop us. We are hard-working, we are driven, and we are passionate about solving problems big and small. To all young professionals out there looking to get involved, meet amazing people, and make your own mark in a cause that is important to you, I advise you to take a leap and join a Young Professional’s Board.

This is part of PILI’s guest post series. If you are interested in writing a guest post about a public interest or pro bono case that you’re working on or service in the legal profession in general, contact us.

Thanks to Mayer Brown for Adopting PILI’s March Legal Clinic

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Mayer Brown

Thank you to attorneys from Mayer Brown who volunteered at the Legal Prep Community Law Clinic on Tuesday, March 6th. PILI’s Alumni Network Leadership Council collaborates with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS) and Legal Prep Charter Academies to host a monthly community-based clinic for the student families and neighbors of Legal Prep in the Garfield Park neighborhood. PILI invites law firms and corporations to “adopt” a clinic date with attorneys from the firm who serving as pro bono attorneys at the clinic.

Thanks to our wonderful volunteers: Kristen Steinkamp, Julie Gillespie, and Ryan Scarcella (PILI Alum). They assisted four clients with adoption, guardianship, and contract issues.

PILI coordinates this monthly clinic, typically held on the first Tuesday of each month. If you are interested in hosting or your firm is interested in adopting a clinic date, please contact PILI Program Manager Brent Page by email or by phone at 312-832-5128.

Learn more about the Legal Prep Community Law Clinic »

Sponsor the Annual Pro Bono Reception

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Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) | Pro Bono Reception

PILI’s Annual Pro Bono Reception is on Wednesday, June 20th. Over 30 law firms and corporations typically sponsor this event, raising money for the important work of PILI’s Pro Bono Initiative.

[button href=”https://pili.org/annual-pro-bono-reception/sponsor-this-event”]Sponsor this event[/button]

Event sponsors are acknowledged on all web and print material related to the event, including:

  • On PILI’s website, both on the Annual Pro Bono Reception page and also on the PILI Sponsors page
  • On our event invitations, mailed out to over one thousand PILI supporters and members of the Illinois legal community
  • In weekly ads in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
  • On prominent signage at the event
  • In PILI’s Annual Report, also available in print

Download our 2018 Sponsorship Benefits Document for more information.

Want to sponsor? If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, fill out our online form or contact PILI Executive Director Michael G. Bergmann by e-mail or by phone at 312-832-5130.

PILI’s Annual Pro Bono Reception is an opportunity to celebrate the pro bono triumphs of the Illinois legal community and to spotlight the critically-needed pro bono work being done in our state.

See a list of last year’s Annual Pro Bono Reception sponsors »

Strategies for Engaging Volunteers: Takeaways from the 2018 Legal Service Agency Roundtable

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2018 LSART

On February 28th, 30 representatives from Illinois public interest law agencies met at Perkins Coie for PILI’s annual Legal Service Agency Roundtable where they discussed strategies to engage law students, recent graduates and attorney volunteers in agency work. Topics included looking at last year’s ABA Pro Bono Survey data, incorporating limited scope representation opportunities and drawing on feedback from PILI Interns, Fellows and Supervisors.

Pro Bono Survey

Samira Nazem of the Chicago Bar Foundation reviewed key takeaways for legal service agencies from the 2017 Pro Bono Survey. She noted that two-thirds of pro bono was being done by attorneys at solo or small firms and the group discussed ways to engage and support this attorney demographic.

Also in the survey, attorneys reported a better pro bono experience when they took cases through a public interest law agency, even saying they were more likely to take a pro bono case outside their practice area with the support of an agency. Volunteer supervisors can help to ensure a positive experience by providing ample training and resources to volunteers.

Limited Scope Representation

Marisa Wiesman of Prairie State legal Services then discussed limited scope representation as an opportunity for pro bono volunteers. While limited scope is a great tool for attorneys to help clients on a short-term, pro bono basis, it does come with its own set of challenges.

When presenting limited scope opportunities to volunteers, it’s important to educate them about the parameters of the pro bono matter and the actual impact on clients. While many volunteers like limited scope opportunities, this approach does not provide a one-size-fits-all pro bono solution. Limited scope opportunities should be crafted strategically to ensure that the time and effort invested by the agency, client and volunteer provides the most benefit for the client.

Feedback from PILI Interns, Fellows, and Supervisors

Susan DeCostanza, a PILI Intern Alum and current supervisor at CVLS led a discussion about feedback from recent Interns, Fellows and Supervisors. One major takeaway was that Interns and Fellows want feedback from their supervisors. Supervisors should look for opportunities to conduct both formal and informal evaluations for Interns and Fellows and utilize self-evaluations as well.

Near the end of the placement, agency supervisors should discuss ways to involve Interns and Fellows in the agency going forward. Potential areas for involvement would include further volunteer opportunities, a Young Professionals Board, or invitations to future events. If agencies can maintain relationships with their Interns and Fellows, they might secure lifelong volunteers and supporters.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Legal Service Agency Roundtable. We will plan our Illinois Forum on Pro Bono for later this year, which will include discussions with this group as well as firm, corporate and law school pro bono partners.

Learn more about the Pro Bono Initiative »

Learn more about PILI’s Roundtables and Forums »

PILI Alumni Spotlight: Margaret Kamm, 2017 PILI Intern

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Margaret Cropped

PILI is excited to welcome Margaret Kamm to the Alumni Network Leadership Council as the 2017 Law Student Intern Alumni Representative. PILI appoints one Intern and one Fellow every year from the most recent class to serve on the council for a two-year term.

Margaret is a second-year law student at Chicago-Kent College of Law. Last summer, she was the Alumni Named PILI Intern and worked at Lambda Legal. There, she was able to work with attorneys and contribute to their cases. She worked on a case that was recently filed on behalf of a lesbian married couple who say they were denied the opportunity to serve as foster parents. “Seeing my hard work come full circle is so exciting!” said Margaret.

Since completing her Internship, Margaret has continued to volunteer with Lambda Legal at their help desk. In the fall, she served as a judicial extern in the Appellate Court of Illinois and she is currently working at Chicago-Kent’s Vaccine Injury Litigation Clinic.

She’s received Chicago-Kent’s Ilana Diamond Rovner Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy and was a semi-finalist in the Chicago Region of the National Appellate Advocacy Competition with the third best brief.

Margaret is grateful for the work she was able to do as a PILI at Lambda Legal. “I don’t think I would have gotten an opportunity to really listen and help people at another legal job following my 1L year,” she said. “Knowing that my work impacts real people in need of legal assistance instilled in me a sense of responsibility that I will carry forward long after the end of the summer.”

Read more PILI Alumni spotlights »

PILI Alumni Spotlight: Marlow Svatek, 2014 Law Student Intern & 2017 Graduate Fellow

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Marlow Svatek

PILI is excited to welcome Marlow Svatek to the Alumni Network Leadership Council as the 2017 Graduate Fellow Alumni Representative. PILI appoints one Intern and one Fellow every year from the most recent class to serve on the council for a two-year term.

Marlow is currently working as a law clerk for Judge Joel M. Flaum on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She is a double PILI, having been the Florence E. Miller Memorial Intern at the National Immigrant Justice Center in 2014 and a Graduate Fellow at the ACLU of Illinois in 2017, sponsored by Sidley Austin.

“I feel incredibly honored to have had the opportunity to advance the mission of both of these organizations in some small way,” says Marlow.

As a Law Student Intern, Marlow enjoyed working with her clients from West Africa since she had served in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso for two years. She became conversationally fluent in French and Bambara, and surprised a client from Mali by greeting her in her native language. “Her entire face lit up!” remembered Marlow. “I felt like my past life in Peace Corps and my current life as an attorney had merged.” She continued assisting NIJC with interpretation after her Internship ended.

Additionally, Marlow participated in numerous other public interest law activities at the University of Chicago Law School. She conducted legal research and writing for the school’s International Human Rights Clinic, she represented domestic violence victims through the Legal Aid Society, she helped an Iraqi man obtain a special immigrant visa through the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), she represented indigent criminal defendants in federal court through the Federal Criminal Justice Clinic, and she worked at the ACLU of Northern California in San Francisco. For her service, she received her school’s 2L Public Service Award and the Ann Watson Barber Outstanding Service Award, which is given to third-year students who have made an exceptional contribution to the quality of life at the law school.

After graduating with honors, she clerked for Judge Jon S. Tigar on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco. Upon returning to Chicago, she did her PILI Fellowship at the ACLU of Illinois. She plans to start as an associate in Sidley Austin’s commercial litigation group this fall after finishing her clerkship.

In her position on the Alumni Council, Marlow wants to give back to other PILI Interns, Fellows and Alumni. “This early exposure sparked a commitment to public interest law and pro bono service that continued through my law school career and beyond,” she said. “I hope to create opportunities for other PILI Alumni to stay connected to this network long after their placement ends.”

Even though she can’t practice law in her current position as a law clerk, she knows she will maintain a pro bono practice when she’s at Sidley, “As lawyers, we represent an extremely privileged segment of society,” she said. “With that privilege comes the responsibility to use our skills to better our communities and our world.”

Read more PILI Alumni spotlights »

Skadden Fellowship Awarded to PILI Alum Eleanor Kittilstad

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Eleanor Kittilstad

Eleanor Kittilstad, a Fall 2017 PILI Intern Alum, was awarded a 2018 Skadden Fellowship. The Skadden Fellowship Foundation provides two-year fellowships to talented young lawyers to pursue the practice of public interest law on a full-time basis.

Eleanor will be working at Equip for Equality, where she did her PILI Internship, to provide advocacy and direct representation to elementary school children with disabilities who have been referred to police and acute mental health crisis programs by their schools for behaviors that should be addressed at school.

“They are afraid or don’t feel safe at school,” said Eleanor, who explains that the experience of being arrested or hospitalized can be extremely traumatizing for these students.

“The goal is to prevent those calls and instead, make sure students are getting the behavioral, academic and social support to be successful in school,” she said.

Eleanor went through the Skadden Application process while she was doing her PILI Internship. “It was helpful to be doing this hands-on work and be able to talk about it with my supervisor,” she said. She could see how important this work was and how it could fit into her overall goals.

“I have always been interested in school special education and school discipline,” said Eleanor. “It’s what brought me to law school to begin with.”

Congratulations to Eleanor and to all the Skadden Fellow recipients!

Learn more about the PILI Alumni Network »

PILI Alumni Couples Talk Service and Relationships

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Happy Valentine’s Day! We spoke with three PILI Alumni Couples about their experience as PILIs and how their commitment to service plays a role in their relationships.

Aaron DeCamp & Ann Pille

How did you meet?
Pille DeCamp Photo
Aaron and Ann met as 1L students at the University of Michigan Law School in 2001. He grew up in Ann Arbor, and came back to school there after having worked in the White House under Clinton. Ann took a year off after undergrad to work at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, always knowing that she would go to law school.  When that year was done, she headed to Ann Arbor.

What was your favorite thing about being a PILI Intern or Fellow?

Aaron: For me, the most rewarding part of my PILI internship was being exposed to so many wonderful public interest agencies through the lunch seminars. At that time, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in public interest law, but I was still exploring the right path for me. These seminars opened my eyes to so many wonderful people who have dedicated their careers to advancing the rights of the underserved. The presenters were all so impressive and accomplished and I knew then that I wanted to follow in their footsteps.

Ann: Although I came from a policy background, most of my hand-on experience prior to my PILI Fellowship was in the academic research space.  My time at BPI afforded me the opportunity to see amazing minds working in real time to solve problems faced by underserved and underrepresented populations.  It was so inspiring. Even the conversations people had over lunch about the books they were reading were fascinating. I have so much respect for the people there, and the work that they do.

How has each of your commitment to service played a role in your lives and your relationship?

Aaron: I have dedicated my career to advancing the public interest through public service. It is impossible to separate service from my personal life and our relationship because they have become so intertwined. When we first met, we bonded over our mutual appreciation of service. Since then we have both made it a point to have service be a part of lives both professionally and personally. Now that we have a family, we have tried to instill that appreciation on to our children through community and volunteer activities.

Ann: Since graduating from law school, I’ve always worked at larger firms, and most of what I do is for large institutional clients. Still, Reed Smith really encourages its attorneys to find pro bono projects they’re passionate about.  Over the years, I’ve been involved in both important impact litigation and smaller direct representation matters for my pro bono clients.  Those projects have been among the most meaningful experiences of my professional career, and it feels great to accomplish something you know makes a real difference in a person’s life.  That commitment to service is really important in our personal life too. Aaron and I have two young daughters, and are trying hard to teach them about social justice and community service in age-appropriate ways.  We have lots of discussions around the dinner table about how not everyone has access to the same resources, and how it’s important to use your own abilities to help others.

Andrew & Lydia Sharp

How did you meet?
Lydia & Andrew
Andrew: We both participated in Chicago-Kent’s “summer start” program where you take one class during the summer before your 1L year. I saw her and a few other folks hanging outside the building after orientation night the week before class started. I walked up to them and we decided to go listen to some live music. We had our first date 5 days later.

Lydia: We met during law school orientation. We took Criminal Law the summer prior to our 1L year and there was a small orientation for this summer-start group. A number of us went out after orientation and Andrew and I quickly got to know each other.

What was your favorite thing about being a PILI Intern or Fellow?

Andrew: Getting to work directly with a lot of clients. I worked at CARPLS and was able to take numerous hotline calls and assist dozens of clients at two different help desks. It was my first time doing direct legal services, and it was a great learning experience.

Lydia: Being a PILI intern at Equip for Equality was a huge honor in law school. The PILI network is filled with so many wonderful, passionate public interest students and attorneys. I am continually thankful being part of this community.

How has each of your commitment to service played a role in your lives and your relationship?

Andrew: I would say one of the big reasons we were drawn to each other is our passion for service, not just as a portion of our career, but as our main focus. We both were committed to being public interest lawyers from the time we applied to law school. That’s not a common situation so we really bonded over that, and since then we’ve been able to support each other as we both found our place in the legal aid world in Chicago.

Lydia: I was drawn to Andrew because of our similar interests and backgrounds. We both came to law school interested in increasing access to justice and pursuing public interest law.  We both work in legal aid and find many opportunities to volunteer together in the community through our professions and through Soul City Church. Serving together has been part of our DNA from the start and I treasure these experiences.

Kyle Petersen & Max Stein

How did you meet?
Kyle & Max
Max: It’s a very romantic story – at least for a couple of lawyers.  We met at the start of our second year in law school.  We had Constitutional Law together and each noticed the other.

Kyle: As Max said, we met in Constitutional Law class during our second year of law school. Max always seemed to have his hand up and answering questions, so he was hard to miss. He still thinks he has all the answers!

What was your favorite thing about being a PILI Intern or Fellow?

Max: Seeing just how knowledgeable public interest lawyers are on their areas of practice.  I was a Fellow at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and worked on a number of different projects that summer.  I basically got to work with every lawyer on staff, and with each one of them I was immediately struck by the depth of their knowledge on the issues they were dealing with.  These were not simply people who had mastered an area of the law, rather they were world class experts on their particular issues, knowing every legal issue and strategy out there.

Kyle: I spent the summer of my PILI Fellowship working with the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic. DVLC provides free civil legal assistance to victims of domestic violence. I worked with clients to prepare them to go to court to get emergency orders of protection. Our clients were often at their most vulnerable when they walked in the door and being able to help in some small way to bring them a measure of safety and stability was tremendously gratifying. It also opened my eyes to the obstacles that so many people face in accessing the legal system. It became clear to me then that as a lawyer, I would have a responsibility to provide pro bono services and I have made that a part of my practice each and every year since the summer of my PILI fellowship.

How has each of your commitment to service played a role in your lives and your relationship?

Max: I think the best evidence of our combined commitment to service can be found in our daughters, and especially our 8th grader.  Both have already shown that they get that we are lucky and that not everyone is and it is important to help those that we can.  For instance, our 8th grader ran to be President of the National Junior Honor Society at her school on a platform of openness and then, once in office, began focusing on service projects that would allow the group to help others.

Kyle:  Pro bono work and community service is really part of the fabric of our family. In addition to our pro bono work as lawyers, we volunteer our time in other ways as well.  We look for opportunities to make our communities better, whether that be within our daughters’ school community where I have been actively involved in fundraising to fill the CPS budget gaps and where Max served on the LSC, within our neighborhood to raise money to improve the parks, or volunteering at our synagogue, which the kids joke is our “family business,” we have always tried to make time to give back. Seeing our daughters develop their own sense of justice and desire to help those less fortunate is the best reflection of that. Our oldest daughter, Sophie, recently became a bat mitzvah and used the occasion to collect school supplies and monetary donations for Cradles to Crayons, which provides new and like new clothes, toys, and school supplies to disadvantaged children across Chicago. She understands the importance of education and that not all kids are lucky enough to have a backpack, notebooks, or school clothes which can negatively impact their self-esteem. After collecting the supplies and donating a portion of her bat mitzvah gifts, she organized a group of friends to go on site and work at the C2C Giving Factory sorting and packing supplies.

Learn more about the PILI Alumni Network»

PILI Launches Conflict of Interest Pro Bono Referral Program in Tenth Circuit

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10th logo

In much of Illinois outside of Cook County, there is only one legal service agency serving low-income people with civil (non-criminal) legal needs. Due to ethics rules, these organizations sometimes have to turn a potential client away due to a conflict of interest. Hundreds of potential clients are denied services in Illinois every year for this reason.

There are a number of scenarios in which a conflict of interest may arise that would prevent the local legal aid office from providing assistance. One example would be where that office is already providing representation to another party in the same legal matter.

“For low-income Illinoisans outside of Chicago, the legal aid resources available to them are already limited,” explains Michael Bergmann, Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Initiative. “In most instances, when the local legal aid office cannot assist someone due to a conflict of interest, there is nowhere else to turn.”

PILI, through its local Tenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee, is trying to change this reality by increasing access to legal assistance to those in need.  PILI is partnering with the Prairie State Legal Services office in Peoria to pilot an innovative volunteer referral program in Marshall, Peoria, Stark and Tazewell Counties. Bergmann explains that “Our Tenth Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committee identified a gap in services, and PILI’s hope is that we can fill that gap through this new pro bono opportunity.”

Effective February 1st, when Prairie State cannot provide assistance to someone due to a conflict, that person can now be referred to PILI. A member of the PILI staff will then conduct an intake interview to confirm that the client is eligible for the program, and will try to find a local volunteer attorney to provide legal services on a pro bono basis.

PILI does not accept clients that are not Prairie State referrals. If someone tries to contact PILI directly for legal assistance, they will be referred back to the local legal aid agency.

“We are hoping to gauge the need for services as well as pro bono attorney interest through this pilot phase, with the hopes of expanding this program to other parts of the state as well,” explained Bergmann.

Learn more and volunteer with the Conflict of Interest Pro Bono Referral Panel »

Learn more about volunteer opportunities in the Tenth Judicial Circuit »