CBA Record November-December 2025

Dr. Murray advocated for the rights of Black people and women throughout their long career. They continued to write essay after essay about the harms of segregation and sexism, using the law as a common sense means for justifying better, more equal outcomes for marginalized communities. Their master’s thesis—outlining a groundbreaking strategy to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson using the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment—served as the basis for the Supreme Court’s land mark opinion in Brown v. Board of Education. Dr. Murray’s 1964 memorandum titled “Jane Crow and the Law: Sex Discrimination and Title VII” convinced Congress to include sex as an explicitly protected category in Title VII after previous versions omitted it. It was this memorandum that inspired Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s infamous brief in Reed v. Reed , the 1971 Supreme Court case that extended the Equal Protec tion Clause to women for the first time. And it was this line of reasoning that laid the foundation for the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County to declare that workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender

identity is unconstitutional and violative of Title VII. There is so much more to say about this remarkable person and so little space to do it. But I can say that Dr. Murray has had a profound impact on how I approach the world and my practice. Have you seen the commemorative plaque to Dr. Murray on North Halsted? As I walked past it the other day, I found myself wondering how they would view our world and what they would do if they were alive today. All I know is that for many, these are dark times, and hope feels like it’s in dwindling supply. Still, I imagine Dr. Murray riding at the front of the battle line—bat tered and bruised but not defeated—and igniting that fire within all of us. As Dr. Murray famously wrote in Dark Testament , “Hope is a song in a weary throat. Give me a song of hope and a world where I can sing it.” In other words, don’t give up. Keep moving forward even if it means that sometimes you have to take a couple steps back. Continue using your knowledge and skill to fight for a more just and equitable world, no matter how difficult things seem. I see you. I applaud you. And I’m right there with you.

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November 21, 2025 | 12:15 p.m. Drink Optional, Rethinking Social Norms in Law: Lived Experiences of Practicing Attorneys Speaker: Jennifer Russo, Murphy Law Group December 12, 2025 | 12:15 p.m. Power of Relationships on Well-Being Speaker: Sheila Maloney, Attorney and Founder and CEO, Life Match, LLC January 22, 2026 | 12:15 p.m. Working with Depression and Anxiety Speaker: Sierra Grandy, Attorney & Advocate for Neurodiversity and Mental Health in Law February 26, 2026 | 12:15 p.m. Neurodivergence Speaker: Rachel Orsolini, Chicago-based Therapist CBA Well-being and Mindfulness Committee From the Inside Out: Lived Experiences, Practical Tools, and Ways to Support Sustainable Well-Being in the Law

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Leadership: Gina A. Crumble , Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office - Co-Chair Karen Munoz , Founder, Roaring Grace - Co-Chair Christopher J. Letkewicz , Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP - Vice Chair Jennifer M. Russo , Murphy Law Group - Vice Chair

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