APPLICATIONS FOR 2024 ARE NOW CLOSED.
The deadline for Future Justice Lawyers of Chicago undergraduate application for 2024 has passed. If you have questions, reach out to futurejusticelawyers@chicagoappleseed.org.
For more information about the application process, and our new high school program, visit the Future Justice Lawyers’ page at our partner website: ChicagoAppleseed.org/Future-Justice-Lawyers-of-Chicago/
The Future Justice Layers of Chicago (FJLOC) is for undergraduate students who are interested in becoming lawyers dedicated to serving justice in some way.
FJLOC members are students who are interested in:
- Confronting existing injustices;
- Having practical experiences with our justice system;
- Learning from members of well-respected Chicago based legal organizations that have a combined history of more than 75 years of tackling systemic injustices;
- Networking with lawyers, law students, and other students interested in addressing issues of injustice;
- Getting a deeper understanding of our legal system; and
- Deciding whether law school is the right choice.
Click here to download the FJLOC flyer.
Please email futurejusticelawyers@chicagoappleseed.org if you have any questions or would like further information. To join our mailing list, click here.
PURPOSE
In support of the missions of Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Chicago Council of Lawyers, FJLOC provides opportunities and resources to undergraduate students who are interested in becoming lawyers that will spend some part of their career working to make our justice system more fair, equal, impartial, accessIble, and just, which, over time, will increase the number of such lawyers working to improve our justice system and tackle issues of systemic injustice in our community.
MISSION
FJLOC fosters undergraduate students in the Chicago area with active advising by members of Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council on individual and group projects and engagement in other enrichment opportunities, deepening the each student’s understanding of the practice of law, connecting them with lawyers and other students interested in serving justice, helping them develop skills that are essential for practicing law, and ultimately, increasing the number of lawyers doing justice work.
MEMBER BENEFITS
- Working on individual and group projects with guidance, advice, and oversight from Chicago Appleseed and Chicago Council members.
- Getting support from Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council on individual and group projects, including with one-on-one meetings.
- Networking with lawyers, law students, and other students interested in addressing issues of injustice.
- Engaging with students attending a wide-variety of schools in the Chicago area who are also interested in the law and in confronting systemic injustices.
- Attending speaker panels with lawyers on specific justice issues.
- Presenting completed projects with the endorsement and backing of Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council.
SAMPLE PROJECTS
INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS
- Court-watching proceedings in civil and criminal courts to collect case outcome data, observe judicial behavior and culture, and to understand general court functioning.
- Drafting letters to the editor of local publications about justice/injustice issues.
- Making statement at local jurisdiction board meetings during public comment periods.
- Drafting letters about justice/injustice issues to local elected officials or federal officials located in Cook County.
- Create and complete projects on justice/injustice issues proposed by the FJLOC student.
GROUP PROJECTS
- Addressing human trafficking in the Chicago area and enforcement of connected criminal laws.
- Addressing retraumatization of victims of sexual assault by Cook County criminal court proceedings.
- Addressing maltreatment of children in foster care in the Chicago area.
- Addressing failures of due process for children in Cook County immigration courts.
- Working to review and monitor the functioning of the domestic violence courts.
- Researching and evaluating the use of restorative justice approaches in courts.
- Create and complete projects on injustice matters proposed by FJLOC students.
APPLICATION & ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION
The Future Justice Lawyers of Chicago undergraduate applications for 2024 are now closed.
Please review application information at the Chicago Appleseed website.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Be enrolled as a student at a college or university in the Chicago area and not be scheduled to graduate before December 2023 (except for students enrolled at two-year colleges).
- Reside in the Chicago area from January through July of 2023.
- Be able to attend monthly meetings in the Chicago Loop one. Saturday a month from January through May and attend weekly meetings in the Chicago Loop one day a week during June and July of 2023.
- Commit to completing before the end of June, 2023, at least one individual project that is overseen by Chicago Council and Chicago Appleseed members. Please review the list of sample individual projects.
- Commit to making meaningful contributions to a project to be completed by the FJLOC chapter before the end of June, 2023 and join with the other FJLOC members in committing to completing such project at such time. Please review the list of sample group projects.
- Have an interest in pursuing a career as a lawyer.
- Have a genuine interest in confronting systemic injustices in our community.
Complete the application form, which requires a résumé, one mandatory reference, and two optional references.
Not if you are on track to graduate in the spring of 2023. FJLOC membership is limited to undergraduate students, and the FJLOC year will continue through July of 2023.
Yes, if the job or internship does not prevent satisfaction of the required FJLOC membership commitments and required meeting attendance.
No. Applications must be received by December 20, 2022.
Students will receive notice of the status of their application by January 6, 2023.