CBA Record September-October 2021

PRO BONOWEEK 2021 – MAKING OUR WORLD A BETTER PLACE

Her song reminds us of the power we have when we come together as a legal community to make our world a fairer and better place, a power that is on display every day in the good work Chicago’s legal com- munity makes possible through the CBF. American Land The Boss was back (his music at least) for the 2017 event with a very fitting song for the times. The rollicking beat cannot hide his frustration that our pride in being a nation of immigrants too often is not reflected in the way we actually treat people coming to our proverbial shores. We can and must do better than the dysfunctional immigration system we have today. That is an advocacy priority shared by both the CBA and CBF. We in the legal community can help through our pro bono service, and there are some tremendous opportunities to do so here in the Chicago area.

through history and look up to today, the story you will hear most often, and the only one that people will remember, is not how muchmoney they made or howmany cases they won or any of those material measures. It is what they did to make a difference in the world, for the people they represented through pro bono or public service or for the work they did to improve our overall system and community. That is the story we all want to tell, and all of us in the legal community have the power to write our own stories through pro bono and public service and through our participation and support for broader access to justice efforts. Waitin’ on a Sunny Day We brought back the Boss for last year’s unavoidably virtual awards event with a song that reflected how we all were feeling in the summer of 2020: “Hard times, baby they will come to us all, sure as the ticking on a clock on the wall.” Hard times really had come to us all – and all at once – due to the pandemic. However, it already was apparent that the people already struggling as a result of inequality in our community were being hit particularly hard. As always in times of crisis, lawyers and legal professionals had a distinct role to play in helping the people hit especially hard, and as this year’s honor- ees showed firsthand, our legal community stepped up in a big way to do just that.

seen firsthand what an impact technology can make in improving access. What may have seemed like a pipe dream before the pandemic, we now know can be done. Both individually and as a collective legal community, our work to make that fairer and better system and to help people in need has never been more important. And I hope this musical inspiration will put some wind in our sails as we move forward to make our world a better place for all of us.

Bob Glaves is the Executive Director of The Chicago Bar Foundation.

I’ll Stand by You

The incompa rable Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders set the tone for the 2018 lun- cheon with this poi- gnant ballad: “When the night falls on you, you don’t

Connecting with Pro Bono If you want to volunteer, but you’re not sure where to start looking for a pro bono opportunity, the CBF has you covered. Browse the CBF’s Online Pro Bono Opportunity Guide to search over 100 pro bono oppor- tunities to find one that’s right for you. You can browse opportunities by area of law, scope of engage- ment, or level of experience to find a volunteer experience to match your individual interests and goals. Still have questions about pro bono? Contact Samira Nazem, Associ- ate Director of Programs & Advo- cacy at (312) 554-8356 or snazem@ chicagobarfoundation.org.

know what to do. When you’re standing at the crossroads, and don’t know which path to choose. You’re feeling all alone. You won’t be on your own.” Standing up for people who are strug- gling or facing injustice is one of the most powerful ways lawyers make a difference for people in need, and I could never say it better than Hynde did there.

I Can See Clearly Now

Our most recent selec- tion was this classic from Johnny Nash, and it is the perfect one to wind up our musical tour. The experience of

this past year has presented us with an amazing opportunity to modernize our profession and justice system to create a fairer and better system for the future. Last year proved that our profession and our overall justice system were far more adaptable and innovative than we may have imagined before, and we now all have

The Story

The 2019 Pro Bono Luncheon kicked off with what is still one of Brandi Carlile’s best. For the lawyers pe op l e r emembe r

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