CBA Record January-February 2020

placed greater emphasis on monitoring, renewing and growing our membership, and reviewing the services and programs that our members want and need. We aim to be, and need to be, essential to every lawyer in the Chicagoland area. By continuing to explore and enter into partnerships with other bar associations and professional associations, and by lever- aging technology, we also hope to garner members and patrons well beyond the Chicagoland area. We have also explored the addition of new programs that can attract other streams of financial support to the CBA and other services that can grow non-membership revenue. We have a phenomenal asset in our headquarters building, and we are con- tinuing to explore opportunities to better leverage and utilize it for the benefit of our membership and association. This winter, we will embark on essential strategic plan- ning to ensure that the CBA remains a strong and dynamic bar association for another 145 years. All this to say that we continue to focus on investing in our association for our future and promoting

a culture in our membership of investing in each other. But please know that while we look ahead, we will never lose sight of the comradery and the traditions that have made the CBA such a special organization. While we look to the future, we are also very much grounded in the present and the issues and opportunities that impact our profession and our community. 2020 brings us two critical events: the 2020 Census and important elections. The U.S. Constitution requires that every person living in the United States is counted every 10 years to ensure fair rep- resentation and distribution of resources. The 2020 Census is critical to all of us, so as leaders in the legal community and our state, the CBA will engage in efforts to encourage the full participation of all Illinoisans. The U.S. Census Bureau will carry out the census in the spring, and Census Day is on April 1, 2020. You can learn more about State of Illinois efforts for a full and complete census at Census. Illinois.gov. We will go the polls March 17, 2020

for a primary election to vote for candi- dates for critical roles in our courts, local, state and federal government, including candidates for Cook County State’s Attorney and the Illinois Supreme Court. The CBA, through its semi-autonomous Judicial Evaluation Committee (JEC), will continue to evaluate candidates for judicial offices and sitting judges seek- ing retention within Cook County. As a service to the public, the CBA reports the JEC’s findings for all elections. The CBA is also exploring sponsoring candidate forums in critical races to help further inform our members and the public at- large of the vital choices they will make on election day. Critical issues facing our nation and the legal profession will also be a focus during our annual spring bar trip to San Diego from April 2-5, 2020. We will have CLE programs on immigration that take us to the Mexico border and on the sustainable practice of law and innovation. It is going to be an active 2020. I hope you will join us in San Diego and in all we will do this year.

CBA RECORD 9