CBA Record January-February 2022

Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L

Calling All Athletes By Tracy Brammeier, YLS Chair

CBA YOUNG LAWYERS SECTION Chair Tracy Brammeier Clifford Law Offices, P.C. First Vice-Chair Daniel Berkowitz Office of the Illinois Attorney General Second Vice-Chair Martin Gould Romanucci & Blandin, LLC Member Service Manager Kenneth Matuszewski Goldberg Segalla LLP Public Service Manager John Risvold The Collins Law Firm, PC Project Officer Gavin Phelps Phelps LLC Project Officer Margaret Mendenhall Casey City of Chicago Department of Law Secretary/Treasurer Kernisha Padilla Blank Rome LLP Co-Editor in Chief YLS Journal Kaitlin King Hart David Carson, LLP Co-Editor in Chief YLS Journal Theodore Kontopoulos BKD LLP Co-Editor YLS Blog Laura Wibberley Barker, Castro, Kuban & Steinback, LLC Co-Editor YLS Blog Alexandra Morelli Barker, Castro, Kuban & Steinback, LLC Health and Wellness Facilitator Alexander Passo

Chicago. That’s right—start training now! With this event, the legal community can come to cheer on their favorite lawyers while enjoying good food and libations as our most competitive athletes vie for the title of Most Fit Lawyer. The winner’s law firm gets to take the trophy back to the office for the 2021-2022 bar year. Of course, this friendly competition is not just about bragging rights; we are coming together for a good cause. All proceeds will benefit our Lawyers in the Classroom program. For over 30 years, the Edward J. Lewis II Lawyers in the Classroom program has placed attorney volunteers into 2nd-8th grade classrooms to help students better understand the U.S. Constitution, our legal system, and law-related careers. Following its launch in the late 1980s, Edward J. Lewis II, Jenner and Block law firm partner and child rights advocate, expanded the program to 100 attorneys by the early 1990s. Currently, the program has over 600 participating attorneys, reaching 60 schools in the Chi- cagoland area. Whether your organization is big or small, in private practice or the public sector, everyone will enjoy competing for a good cause. And, as 2019 winner Judge Maryam Ahmad (also a past CBA President) has shown us, the judiciary has muscle too. So, this May, come out to show us you are as good on the field as you are in the courtroom. Details will be announced closer to the date of the event. If your firm is interested in sponsoring this inaugural fundraising event, if you want to enter as an athlete, or if you wish to purchase a block of tickets for attendees, please contact me at tab@cliffordlaw.com. We are looking forward to this event and hope that you are, too!

O ver the past couple of years, making enough time for mental and physical well-being has taken on a new level of importance for many of us. Maybe you realized how unhealthily you had been eating after some weight gain at the start of the pandemic, or perhaps you have watched friends and colleagues struggle to maintain a positive mindset as they grappled with all the challenges that arose from the sudden shift in their routines. As we continue to trudge through these “uncertain times,” we might be feeling weary as 2022 begins. We are still wear- ing masks, many of us are not back in the office full-time, and in many locales, we are still attending court or making deals over Zoom. Suffice it to say, it has been a long, few years, and many of us likely plan to begin the new year with the same resolutions from years past: chin up, eat clean, get fit. If you need some motivation, let the YLS help! The YLS is introducing new programming this year that will inspire you to refocus your workout regimen. We are lawyers, and we know lawyers love win- ning. This May, the YLS is retiring our tra- ditional casino games fundraiser for a fresh contest. Instead of cashing chips for charity, we will crown the 2022 Most Fit Lawyer in

Latimer LeVay Fyock LLC Immediate Past Chair Jeffrey Moskowitz Momentum Funding, LLC

CBA RECORD 35