CBA Record May-June 2022

YOUNG L AWYERS S EC T I ON : COME TOGE THER

Myth vs. Reality: HowYou Can Serve as a JEC Investigator and Help Influence the Judiciary By Ted Kontopoulos

T his is an election year. In addition to U.S. Congressional seats, many Illinois judicial positions are open in 2022. As individuals declare their candidacy to serve in the Illinois judiciary, the CBA’s Judicial Evaluation Committee needs more investigators to vet those candidates. For context, the JEC screens hundreds of Illinois judicial candidates every year to ensure that only those qualified are selected for the bench. New and experi enced attorneys who are passionate about the judiciary should consider serving as an investigator with the JEC. However, many myths exist within the young lawyer community about JEC investigators. These myths keep out young lawyers who have precisely the per spectives and experiences the JEC needs most in investigators. As a follow-up to a recent JEC seminar that I moderated, The Making of a Judge: How Candidates are Evaluated and How You Can Assist by Serving as a JEC Investigator, this arti cle (i) recaps the 3 most common myths about the JEC or the investigator’s role; (ii) overviews the investigation process; and (iii) identifies various benefits to serv ing as an investigator with the JEC. Myth #1: Age/Experience Minimum One common myth: There is an age or practice experience minimum required to

serve on the JEC. In reality, there is no age or practice experience minimum required to serve on the JEC or as an investigator. However, the JEC does somewhat prefer that inves tigators have two years of professional experience. Myth #2: Specific Practice Area and Setting Requirement Another common myth: An applicant must be a litigator or in a state law-cen tric practice area and cannot be either a transactional attorney or in a federal law centric practice area. The JEC boasts over 200 members (including investigators) who cover dif ferent areas of the law, work at different courthouses, and have different types of legal experiences and practices. In short, there is no specific practice area or venue practice requirement to serve as an inves tigator on the JEC. Myth #3: Nomination Requirement A third common myth about the JEC is there is a nomination requirement to serve on the Committee. In reality, there is no nomination requirement. Instead, to serve on the JEC, attorneys simply need to request an application, submit it, and be accepted, as detailed below.

Process Overview: Apply, Train, and Serve! The first step in the process is to email Lily De La Cruz at ldelacruz@chicagobar.org to request an application. Since the JEC’s candidate work comes in waves, the Committee application process works on a rolling basis, without time windows or specific deadlines. After receiving the application, interested lawyers should fill it out and send it back as soon as possible. Once accepted as a JEC member, the second step in the process involves training and pairings. This step includes training and then pairing the new JEC investigator-member with an experienced investigator for the first few investiga tions. New investigators are constantly supported by various experienced JEC members such as investigator partners and JEC hearing committee members. The third step in the process is the investigation itself. In general, each new JEC investigator-member spends about 5 to 12 hours of time on each investiga tion. The number of investigations that investigators work on generally depends on the number of candidates seeking office or appointments, and the number of individuals serving as investigators. As the old adage goes, more hands make less work. Once investigations wrap up, inves tigators submit their reports to the JEC,

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