Advancing Justice:
The Chicago Council of Lawyers
The Chicago Council of Lawyers is not a traditional bar association. The Council is a member-based organization whose focus is the benefit of non-members, particularly poor and disadvantaged populations who often have unequal access to the justice system. In partnership with the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice, volunteers from the Council work on non-litigation pro bono projects meant to promote systemic reform, including increased access to justice, immigration court reform, criminal justice reform, children and family law, and projects on the federal courts. In addition, the Council provides well-respected evaluations of state judicial candidates and sitting judges, and evaluations of nominees to the federal bench in Chicago.
The Council is a place for attorneys who want to give back to their communities through projects that promote social justice. The Council is a well-respected, non-partisan entity with the ear of important stakeholders in Cook County and Illinois at large, and has done a tremendous amount to ameliorate hidden injustices that don’t always make headlines or present themselves in everyday law practice. It is also a home for lawyers who lack the time or capacity to work on pro bono projects, but want to add their voices and monetary support to a message that gets things done for good government, fairness, and equal treatment for all.
By joining the Chicago Council of Lawyers, a lawyer joins a collaborative effort: our social justice work is often done in collaboration with Chicago Appleseed, a nonpartisan, independent research and advocacy organization building trustworthy and unique connections between community advocates and the justice system. Chicago Appleseed is one of 18 international social justice reform centers, an Appleseed Network which allows the work of the Chicago Council of Lawyers the benefit of 18 collaboration partners with proven track records of success. The Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed collaborate around four main areas of focus: Access to Justice, Criminal Justice, Family Law Courts, and Immigration Courts. The Chicago Council of Lawyers leads the effort around police accountability, federal court reform, and state judicial evaluations.
Key Areas of Collaboration:
Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed
The Access to Justice Committee works to identify ineffective, inefficient, and unfair court management policies and procedures, recommends improvements, and advocates for their implementation. The Committee is committed to strengthening fairness, integrity, efficiency, and professionalism in the courts. Its mission is to provide practical information on how to build and maintain an effective and independent justice system that enjoys the confidence of the public and lives up to the expectations of transparency and accountability.
The Civil Liberties Committee meets monthly to discuss civil liberties issues that are both local and national in scope—including police accountability in Chicago.
The Criminal Justice Advisory Committee (CJAC) uses research, advocacy, legislative proposals, technical assistance, and project management to improve all areas of our criminal justice system, with a focus on decarceration and racial equity. CJAC’s work varies widely and includes everything from the enforcement of core constitutional rights to evaluation and design of individual Cook County programs. We work in partnership with stakeholders, practitioners, community groups to develop effective, systemic solutions, manageable implementation plans, and the community-based support necessary to bring about meaningful permanent change.
The Family Law Committee is working on projects to improve the experience of parents and divorce litigants in the Cook County courts, with a particular emphasis on unrepresented parents. In partnership with Domestic Relations Division Presiding Judge Grace Dickler, we have worked to: consolidate the domestic relations division into a single court handling divorce, paternity, and the support of children. We helped end a centuries’ old practice of treating never-married parents differently from divorcing parents.
In conjunction with the consolidation of the division, we worked with the court to expand its hearing officer program to courts in Markham and Maywood. The result is shortened time to resolution for child support, divorce and parenting matters. We hope to expand the program throughout Cook County and are working with pro bono attorneys to evaluate the existing program and advocate for its expansion.
The Federal Courts Committee works to improve the administration of justice in the federal courts. The committee’s standing agenda includes evaluating judicial nominees, promoting access to justice for all litigants, and assessing the procedures and resources of the federal courts to promote substantive justice for pro se and other litigants of limited resources. The committee collaborates with other organizations to identify projects for investigation, research, and publication. Illustrative projects include reports on nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals; an investigation of language translation services in the Northern District of Illinois; and seeking to improve in forma pauperis qualification procedures.
The Immigration Committee works in conjunction with the Appleseed Network Work Group on Immigration. Its goal is to focusing on the fairness and effectiveness of the immigration courts.
As part of the Appleseed Network, we, along with Appleseed, Latham & Watkins LLP, and Akin Gump LLP, spearheaded a comprehensive evaluation of the United States’ Immigration Court System. Most recently, the Appleseed Network led by Steve Schuman and his pro bono team, created and distributed a manual, titled Getting Off the Assembly Line: Overcoming Immigration Court Obstacles in Individual Cases. The manual covers deportation issues pertinent to immigration attorneys. The manual was completed in December 2016, and will continue to update the manual as necessary. This signature effort has also produced two in-depth reports, congressional testimony, and the EOIR’s adoption of crucial reforms. The first report, Assembly Line Injustice, is based on interviews with experts who have actual day-to-day experience in Immigration Courts, setting it apart from previous evaluations. The second report, Reimagining the Immigration Court Assembly Line, scores the Court’s response to recommendations in the first report.
Programs of the Chicago Council of Lawyers
The Chicago Council of Lawyers is the public interest bar association that promotes a fair, efficient and effective legal system, using judicial evaluations, amicus curiae briefs, publications, seminars and investigations of agencies and courts. The Council offers all lawyers an opportunity to work with other dedicated lawyers in promoting the highest standards of the legal profession and in serving the public interest.