CBA Record September-October 2024

PRO BONO IN MOTION – 2024

attorney who advises them about their case. Advice can be given orally over the phone with some email follow-up. In 2023, the Help Desk provided more than 1,100 services to 762 clients. To volunteer for the Bankruptcy Court Help Desk, some prior bankruptcy knowledge is necessary. If you are inter ested, please contact Legal Aid Chicago at volunteer@legalaidchicago.org or sign up at www.legalaidchicago.org. Settlement Assistance Program In collaboration with the District Court, the Settlement Assistance Program helps unrepresented litigants reach fair settle ments for their cases, including incarcer ated litigants and victims of employment discrimination. With support from the Court and the CBF, the Chicago Law yers’ Committee for Civil Rights recruits, trains, and supports volunteers to help pro se litigants settle rather than litigate their cases, providing swift resolution and an opportunity for closure. Volunteers can gain client management skills, enhance their persuasive writing ability, use nego tiation and advocacy skills, vindicate the rights of an indigent citizen, and spend quality time with a federal judge. Many of the 8,000 civil lawsuits filed in the District Court in 2023 were filed by unrepresented litigants. Unfortunately, most struggle to navigate the federal judi cial system on their own, and SAP plays a key role in helping to reach fair resolu tions in their cases. Judges decide whether to appoint SAP counsel based on estab

in writing. The parties and their represen tatives then attend a settlement confer ence with the judge and negotiate to reach a mutually satisfactory solution. The vol unteer finalizes the settlement agreement and works with opposing counsel to have the case dismissed at the appropriate time. The time commitment is compact: cases are usually straightforward and can be resolved in fewer than 25-40 hours. The work is limited to the settlement conference only and can require as little as three months from appointment until the settlement conference; in most SAP cases, volunteers are able to help the par ties reach mutually agreeable settlements. For questions about how you can get involved in the program, please contact J. Cunyon Gordon at the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law at cgordon@clccrul.org or 312-630-9744. If you have questions or would like more information on how you can get involved in these federal court programs, the CBF continues to work closely with the Court and these legal aid partners and is always happy to assist CBA members in learning more about volunteer opportu nities. Visit www.chicagobarfoundation. org to learn more.

Making Our World a Better Place – CBA Record September/October 202 1

lished criteria. If the court determines that counsel is warranted, the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee recruits a trained volunteer to represent the pro se party at a settlement conference. The judge assigns the volunteer attorney to act as SAP counsel, with duties limited to settle ment activities only. The lawyer has no obligation to amend the pleadings, pre pare or respond to formal discovery, file or respond to motions, or generally prepare the case for trial. The SAP volunteer works with the client to better understand the facts, researches the law if necessary, and devel ops a strategy to obtain a settlement war ranted by the facts and law. SAP counsel writes a specific settlement demand and serves it on the opponent, who responds

Brian Budzicz is the Associate Director of Pro Bono & Programs for The Chicago Bar Foundation.

Thank you to the following contributors to this article: Alan Mills, Uptown People’s Law Center; Ainat Margalit, Legal Aid Chicago; and Cunyon Gordon, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.

2016 Caring, One Person at a Time

2015 “Rise Above Your Narrow Confines.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

2014 Lifting Lives, Strengthening Access

2013 Do Something Great

2005-2024

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