Shana Heller-Ogden, Development & Communications Manager
Julia Kepler, Operations & Development Associate
Katie Pieper, Education & Outreach Manager

 

Thank You For Your Support!

We at PILI are so grateful for our generous donors! Together, individual donors contributed over $14,000 at the end of 2013 in support of our mission to cultivate a lifelong commitment to public interest law and pro bono service. Thank you!

    

New & Renewed Foundation Support of PILI's Programs

The Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois has awarded PILI a new grant of $15,000 in support of our Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committees project, part of our Pro Bono Initiative Program. This new support will allow us to continue growing this successful project to new judicial circuits across the state. The Chicago Bar Foundation has renewed their support of PILI's Law Student Internship Program with $22,000 to fund Interns next summer and school year, and the Illinois State Bar Association Young Lawyers' Division has renewed their $5,500 in support of our Internship Program as well. Finally, the LAGBAC Foundation, which sponsored a PILI Intern for the first time in the fall of 2013, is sponsoring another Internship again this spring. We are incredibly grateful to these foundations for empowering our work!

    

Sponsor PILI's Annual Pro Bono Reception on June 18

PILI is now seeking sponsors for our Annual Pro Bono Reception, which will be held on June 18 at The Ivy Room at Tree Studios in Chicago. Each year, this event draws hundreds of members of the Illinois legal community to celebrate the amazing work of law firm and corporate pro bono programs across the state. Learn more about sponsorship opportunities for this event on our website, or contact PILI's Executive Director, Michael Bergmann, for more information.

 

 

      

PILI Welcomes 8 Spring Interns

Eight law students from the Chicago area are serving as spring semester PILI Interns at seven legal service agencies. In particular, the LAGBAC Foundation has renewed their sponsorship of Sergio Cueva Flores, a 2L from the John Marshall Law School, at the National Immigrant Justice Center, and the Chicago Bar Foundation is sponsoring Kate Galbraith, a 3L from DePaul, at Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing. PILI will host a special luncheon session for our spring Interns where they can get to know each other, PILI staff, and some distinguished PILI Alumni. PILI offers several school-year Internship opportunities each fall and spring. Visit our website to learn more about PILI's school-year Internships.

     

Apply Now for 2014 PILI Internships & Fellowships

The application period is still open for all law students wishing to apply for PILI Internships or Fellowships in the summer of 2014. Interested applicants can find lots of useful information on our website about how to apply for Internships or Fellowships, as well as a list of legal service agencies hosting PILI Interns and Fellows and their position descriptions. You can also contact us with any questions. Many of our agencies are finishing their hiring, so interested applicants should apply now!

     

Planning Ahead for Summer 2014

Like most of you, we at PILI can't wait for summer, which is amazingly only a few months away! Our Summer 2014 Internship & Fellowship Programs will kick off on June 5 with a special luncheon for PILI Interns and Fellows at the Chicago Bar Association. After this, we'll offer weekly educational programs on public interest law topics and career development issues for public interest-minded lawyers. Along with PILI Interns and Fellows, all law student interns in the Chicago area are invited to attend these programs, and thanks to our friends at Illinois Legal Aid Online, we'll also be webcasting each session live. Our summer schedule is still being developed, but will be posted on our website soon. In the meantime, you can check out our webcast archive from 2013 and 2012.

PILI Alumni Network

    

Save the Date: Order ON the Court! March 20

Save the date for Order ON the Court! This fun social event focused on college basketball is being organized by the PILI Alumni Network, and this year it will be held at Bar Louie, 333 North Dearborn, from 5:30-7:30 pm. Tickets will be on sale soon - check our website and check your inbox for updates. We hope to see you there!

 

PILI Welcomes New Alumni Board Members

Each year, PILI selects one Intern and one Fellow from a deep and impressive pool of applicants to serve on the PILI Board of Directors for a term of two years. We are pleased to announce our two new Representatives from the Class of 2013: PILI Intern Emily Coffey, a 3L at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and PILI Fellow Catie Cottle, a new associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Emily and Catie are also this newsletter's Alumni Spotlights, below. We are excited to have them join our board and share their experience, background, and passion for public interest law and pro bono. Welcome! 

   

Intern Alumni Spotlight: Emily Coffey, 2013 Intern Representative

Emily Coffey is the newest Intern Representative on PILI's Board of Directors, and perhaps also the first to hold that position while simultaneously serving as a PILI Intern. A 3L at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, Emily did her first PILI Internship in the summer of 2013 at the Lawyers' Committee for Better Housing. She decided to apply to serve as a Representative on PILI's Board to stay involved with PILI and to continue meeting and working with Chicago's public interest leaders. Now, in her last semester of law school, Emily is doing another PILI Internship, this one at CARPLS. Emily also worked at CARPLS before she went to law school on their Homeless Prevention Program and at their Domestic Relations Desk. Emily's second PILI Internship rounds out a very public interest-focused law school career: in addition to these two Internships with PILI, she also served as a legal extern at the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, a Coles Fellow at the Illinois Human Rights Commission, and a Student Attorney and a Policy Advocate in Loyola's Health Justice Project. She is a board member for the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, having previously served as the student representative to their Chicago Chapter, and she is a member of the Associate Board of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Click here to read more.

 

Fellow Alumni Spotlight: Catherine Cottle, 2013 Fellow Representative

Catie Cottle is the newest Fellow Representative on PILI's Board of Directors. She served as a PILI Fellow last summer at Chicago Kent's Environmental Law Clinic, sponsored by Kirkland & Ellis. "I chose the location of my PILI Fellowship so that I would have an array of legal experiences totally different than what I would experience at Kirkland," Catie explained. During her Fellowship, she worked on a variety of tasks, including submitting FOIA requests, drafting public comments for an Illinois Pollution Control Board decision about monitoring. 

One particular client story especially stood out to Catie. On her first day as a PILI Fellow, she sat in an initial client interview with a woman who had spent the last 10 years worrying about the damage a chemical facility across the street from her was doing to her family and neighbors. Click here to read more.

    

Legal Service Agency Roundtable: February 26

PILI hosts the Legal Service Agency Roundtable each year to bring together public interest lawyers from a wide range of organizations and discuss best practices, strategies for successful programs, and opportunities for collaboration. Our 2014 Legal Service Agency Roundtable will be held on Wednesday, February 26th from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the offices of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP. The agenda for the program is still being finalized, but the Roundtable will focus on connecting recruitment, training, supervision and evaluation with the professional development goals of the law student interns, graduate fellows and attorneys you supervise. This program is complimentary but registration is required: visit our website to register by February 19.

 

Call for Nominations for Pro Bono Awards

At PILI, we always make a point to celebrate the important and impressive pro bono and public interest work being done in Illinois. The ISBA and ABA are currently seeking nominations for their 2014 awards. Nominate your pro bono and public interest all-stars today!

The Illinois State Bar Association is seeking nominations for the John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award and the Joseph R. Bartylak Memorial Legal Services Award. Nominations for both awards are due March 7.

The American Bar Association is seeking nominations for the ABA Pro Bono Publico Awards. Nominations are due February 28.

Click on each award to learn more about the nomination process.

     

Pro Bono Spotlight: United Airlines

At about a year and half into the development of a formalized pro bono and community service program and committee, United Airlines, Inc. provides a model of what it looks like for a corporate program to develop from an idea to an impactful and sustainable enterprise. "Apart from an attorney's ethical obligation that comes with the license to practice law, the needs and rewards from giving back to the community and helping those in need are so great that everyone should be given the opportunity and resources to make it a priority." Click here to read more.

Public Interest Law Initiative
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