CBA Record May-June 2022

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

attend candidate hearings, participate in voting, and contribute to the JEC’s rating of each judicial candidate. Benefits to Serving as Investigator Serving as a JEC investigator has numer ous benefits. Among others, serving on the JEC offers three notable benefits: (i) relationship-building, (ii) shaping ambi tion, and (iii) community service. JEC investigators create and deepen their relationships within the Chicagoland legal community. By definition, investiga tors gather and submit reports through extensive candidate and colleague inter actions. Interacting with candidates cre ates relationships with prospective or unknown judges and deepens relation ships with judges before whom inves tigators currently practice. Likewise, interacting with JEC colleagues expands and reinforces relationships with local attorneys who may serve as co-counsel, opposing counsel, or both in future cases and transactions. The experience also benefits lawyers with an ambition to serve on the Illinois or federal bench. The JEC is involved in

both the state electoral process as well as the federal appointment process with respect to openings in Illinois. Since JEC investigators actively participate first hand in candidate vetting, they learn how to successfully navigate the vet ting process prior to becoming a judge. Unsurprisingly, several former JEC inves tigators have served on the federal and Illinois state bench, including former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Finally, JEC investigators play a vital role in the community. Our commu nity’s judicial system, and integrity and public confidence in that judicial system, depends heavily on having qualified judges. If there are complaints about judicial candidates, investigators listen to, investigate, and incorporate them into the evaluation process. If judicial candidates are an excellent fit, investigators reflect that in reports and through ratings shared with the community. By not certifying poor judicial candidates and by recom mending good ones, investigators and the JEC provide an invaluable service to the community.

A Call to Apply In summary, joining the JEC as an inves tigator is not only easy, but incredibly rewarding. If you would like to posi tively influence who serves on the Illinois bench, to better understand the different parts of our state’s judicial system, or to ensure that our judges reflect our com munity’s values of civility, integrity, and excellence, please consider applying to the JEC as an investigator today. The seminar is available on demand at learn.chicagobar.org.

Ted Kontopoulos is a Co-Editor-in-Chief of the YLS Journal in the CBA Record, a Chair on the YLS Business Law Transactions Committee, and a senior international tax consultant at BKD,

LLP where he provides tax controversy, compli ance, and planning services to businesses, individu als, trusts, estates, and not-for-profit organizations.

The Young Lawyers Section hosted its biannual “Board Match: Serving on the Board of a Non-Profit” seminar on April 21. Speakers pictured from left: Kenneth Matuszewski, Goldberg Segalla, Matthew Passen, Passen & Powell, Maggie Mendenhall Casey, City of Chicago, and Meg Benson, Chicago Volunteer Legal Services.

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