In May 1984, Chicago Lawyer marked the Chicago Council of Lawyers’ 15th anniversary with a special section examining the organization’s history, accomplishments, and distinctive role in Chicago’s legal community. Titled ‘The Law Men and Women of La Mancha,” the retrospective traced CCL from its founding in 1969 through a decade and a half of advocacy and reform.

The feature, led by Rob Warden’s “CCL, the bar association for the advancement of law- not of lawyers,” recounts the Council’s early willingness to challenge established institutions and take on issues ranging from judicial selection and evaluation to civil liberties, legal services for the poor, court reform, women’s rights, and government accountability. It also chronicles CCL’s efforts to evaluate judicial candidates and sitting judges, work that became one of the organization’s most visible and influential contributions to Chicago’s legal community.

Throughout the retrospective, the Council is portrayed as an organization focused not simply on the interests of attorneys, but on the legal profession’s responsibility to the public. Fifteen years after its founding, Chicago Lawyer described a CCL that had grown from an insurgent alternative bar association into an established voice for reform while retaining its independence and willingness to challenge the status quo.

The special section offers a fascinating snapshot of CCL at an important milestone and a look back at the people, controversies, and advocacy that shaped its first 15 years.

Click here for a PDF of the feature published in Chicago Lawyer, May 1984.