CBA Record November-December 2021

Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L Y O U N G J O U R N A L

recognize how important our judges are to our community. In addition to ensuring that we elect competent and qualified judges to our courts, my work with the JEC has enriched my understanding of our judicial and political system. I have seen lawyer candi- dates realize their past incivility is coming back to haunt them, and I have heard judges seeking retention describe measures they’ve taken to improve their performance in response to lawyers’ criticisms. And, I have learned that when it comes to your professional reputation, civility is just as important as skilled lawyering. The JEC is an important check on our local judiciary. It is also important to ensur- ing that our local judiciary is composed of well-qualified, thoughtful jurists with appropriate civility and temperament. I hope that the next time you are especially impressed with a judge’s abilities or, con- versely, frustrated by a bad ruling or a poorly-run courtroom, you will consider joining us on the Judicial Evaluation Committee—where the lawyers judge the judges.

TheYLS started off the newbar year by getting social at SPINPing-Pong Social Club. All attendees were required to show proof of vaccination to take part in the first in-person event of the year. Pictured from left: YLS Chair Tracy Brammeier, Clifford Law Offices; YLS Member Services Manager Kenneth Matuszewski, Goldberg Segalla; YLS Director Micah Reeves, Kravolec Jam- bois & Schwartz; and YLS First Vice Chair Daniel Berkowitz, Illinois Attorney General’s Office.

To learn more about the YLS, visit www.chicagobar.org/yls or contact YLS Director Lindsay Wunrow at yls@chicagobar.org.

Dear Santa Letters are back! Get in the joy of the holiday season by helping a Chicago Public School child in need. Pre-order your letters now! Letters will be distributed in November. Email the Young Lawyers Section at yls@chicagobar.org for a sign up link or more information.

Environmental Law Reading Suggestions

A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold 1949 Oxford University Press (Non-fiction) In this celebrated compilation of essays, famed ecologist Aldo Leopold brilliantly captures the natural splendor of the American wilderness with a particular focus on the wood- lands and wildlife around his home in rural Wisconsin. The book closes with Leopold’s seminal essays on the ethics of mankind’s relationship to nature which, taken together with the rest of the work, make A Sand County Almanac one of the most important con- tributions to the American conservationist movement of the 20th Century.

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