COMPREHENSIVE APPLICATION (COVER SHEET) American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division
Transcription
COMPREHENSIVE APPLICATION (COVER SHEET) American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division
COMPREHENSIVE APPLICATION (COVER SHEET) American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division 2010-2011 Awards of Achievement 1. Name of Affiliate: __Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association____________________ SPELL THE NAME AS YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO APPEAR ON THE AWARD 2. Award Division (Check one code only for the Division in which you are competing. Figures are for the young lawyer membership of your organization.) State Affiliates: IA: __ IB: IC: ID: 8,000 or more Between 3,000 and 8,000 3,000 or less New affiliate (within the last 3 years) Local Affiliates: X IIA: 2,000 or more IIB: Between 800 and 2,000 IIC: 800 or less IID: New affiliate (within the last 3 years) National Affiliates (Federal Bar Association; Armed Forces): 3. Number of Young Lawyers in Your Affiliate: Is your organization affiliated with a senior bar? X Yes No IF YES: Is membership in your organization automatic? X Yes If a state organization, are you a mandatory or voluntary bar? No 4. What is the overall budget for your affiliate? _____$6,000 discretionary project budget. 5. Chairperson/President of Affiliate: A. Name ___Jill Eckert McCall, YLS Chair_________________________ SPELL THE NAME AS YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO APPEAR ON THE AWARD B. Address ___Chicago Bar Association/Attn: Jenni Bertolino, YLS Admin. Director_ __ 321 S. Plymouth Court, 7th Floor______________________ ___Chicago, IL 60604_______________________________ (Please provide the address to which you would like your awards(s) mailed) 6. Application Prepared By: A. Name _____ Jill Eckert McCall, YLS Chair __ B. Address _____c/o ABA-CLE, 321 N. Clark St., Suite 1900______________ _____Chicago, IL 60654_______________ C. Phone ______312-988-6215 or 312-493-9075__________________ 7. Please indicate # of exhibits being submitted _0___ Publication __0__ Audiotape ___0_ Videotape or DVD 8. List of projects included in this Comprehensive Application. Please list all new and significantly expanded projects first. This ID# will be used on both the Project Information Form and your Exhibit Book tabs. If a videotape or audio tape accompanies a project, write the word "videotape,” "audiotape" or “DVD” in parentheses immediately after the Descriptive Project Title. Comprehensive Application (COVER SHEET Continued) (PLEASE LIST ALL NEW OR SIGNIFICANTLY EXPANDED PROJECTS) I.D.# DESCRIPTIVE PROJECT TITLE 1. Relevancy (“Bigger than we are”) initiative (Pro Bono) 2. We are family project (Education) 3. Inclusion project (Diversity) 4. New Lawyer Project (Educational) 5. 40th Anniversary initiative (Commemorative event) 6. Minute with a Judge (Educational) 7. Same Sex Marriage (Diversity) 8. Basic Civil Procedure Video Teachlets for Pro Se Litigants (Educational) CONTINUING PROJECTS (PLEASE LIST UP TO BUT NOT MORE THAN FIVE OF YOUR BEST CONTINUING PROJECTS) 9. Committee Initiative (Educational) 10. Moot Court (Competition) 11. Health Initiative (Special Event) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Do not write in this area Decision of Judges: ____1st Place ____2nd Place ____Special Recognition ____Certificate of Performance INTRODUCTION- A short history of the organization Forty years ago, the Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section (CBA YLS) was created to encourage young lawyers to work together on projects for their community and for their profession. What began as a small group of 50 young lawyers hosting continuing legal education programs covering a handful of substantive law areas has grown into a dynamic and diverse group of more than 9,000 lawyers and law student members. The YLS now boasts nearly 30 committees and 50 special projects, which provide the legal community with ways to engage and serve thousands of people in the community at large. Specifically, in June 1971, the CBA bylaws provided that 20% of committee membership was to be filled by lawyers under the age of 36. At that time, there was a 20-person Young Lawyers Committee (YLC) within the existing committee framework. This system worked well enough, but incoming CBA President Milton H. Gray thought something more needed to be done to maintain the interest of the younger members and accommodate the number of young lawyers yearning for greater participation and leadership opportunities in CBA activities. Over time, Gray developed the idea of creating a Section in which all CBA members under the age of 36 would automatically become members. The Section would be under the jurisdiction of the Board of Managers, but would operate semi-autonomously, with the authority to elect its own leaders and to develop and operate its own committees, projects, and activities. The Section would also have its own Administrative Director and its own budget provided by the Board of Managers. Gray discussed his ideas with the CBA Executive Committee and David Hilliard, who was scheduled to be the next Chair of the existing YLC. Although the Board of Managers failed to pass a similar proposal about 10 years earlier, the proposal for the new Section passed unanimously on July 8, 1971. Hilliard and the members of the YLC then began the task of structuring the new Young YLS, which at once became one of the first and the largest organization of young lawyers in any metropolitan area in the country. Committees were formed and charged with: (1) Drafting rules for the Section (2) Developing a committee system that would attract young lawyers and address community and professional problems; (3) Planning a campaign to encourage participation in Section activities; and (4) Forming liaisons with young lawyer sections in other metropolitan areas to share experiences. By August, letters describing the new Section and enclosing committee descriptions and sign-up sheets were mailed to the more than 3,000 CBA members automatically enrolled in the Section. Over 350 young lawyers responded by volunteering to participate in Section committees. Committee Chairs were selected and formed the first YLS Executive Committee to govern the Section. By December, additional committees were created to meet growing professional interest and the organization of the new Section was all but completed. Purpose The Young Lawyers Section was to provide leadership, programs, and facilities to encourage young lawyers to communicate and work together on their own ideas and programs for improving the community and the profession. Objectives 1. To increase community awareness and involvement in the law. 2. To develop law related educational and training programs of service to the community. 3. To develop and expand volunteer legal assistance programs. 4. To stimulate legal reform. 5. To develop professional and education programs of service to law students, young lawyers, the organized bar, and the judiciary. Goals The goals included encouraging and maintaining active membership; suggesting and developing committees and projects of interest to young lawyers and of importance to the profession and the community; and building upon the membership and projects of prior years. Committees Growing from 20 to 30 today, committees ensure that members keep current with the law. Seminars YLS seminars continue to serve a vital role in the continuing legal education of attorneys. Service Projects YLS objectives included community and expansion of legal assistance developed by the YLS in its early sounded still echo in the work of involvement in the law and the development organizations. Many of the service projects years continue, and many of the themes the YLS today. In Summary In this, our 40th year, the YLS continues to provide many programs and projects of service to the community and the legal profession. These accomplishments fulfilled one initial goal of the YLS: providing a foundation on which the future membership could build to serve our profession and our community. Relevance (Bigger than we are) Initiative #1 ABA YLD Awards of Achievement Program Single Project/COMPREHENSIVE Project Information Form One form must be completed for each project included in a comprehensive application as well as for each Single project application entry. * Indicates required field. * Name of YLD Affiliate IL - Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers * Division (Figures are for the young lawyer membership of your organization) Local Affiliate: 2000 or more If Comprehensive Application, Project Number #2 * Type of Project Pro Bono * Degree of Change or Growth New Project * Project Description (Please provide a brief description (750 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by the young lawyer volunteers in the undertaking of this project; any products resulting from the project; and in the case of continuing projects, if they have been expanded, explain how.) This year, we wanted to increase our relevance to the community and go beyond our traditional annual pro bono events, including our 5th Annual "Texas Hold 'Em" tournament (generated more than $22,000 for the Chicago Bar Foundation and attracted 130 players) as well as our 17th Annual Pro Bono and Community Service Fair (connected more than 350 lawyers with over 50 service project opportunities offered by the YLS, the Chicago Bar Foundation and various legal aid affiliated organizations). Here are the programs we added to enhance our relevancy and expand our reach: Brought the Wills for Heroes program to the second-largest metropolitan police force in the country for the first time. We ran the effort monthly, including on USA Today’s Make a Difference Day (MADD, Oct. 23, 2010) and National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD, April 16, 2011). We also registered Wills for Heroes on www.onegooddeedchicago.com, which earned a couple of our leaders a trip to the mayor’s office. The program gathered more than 675 volunteers throughout the year at the Chicago Police Department Headquarters, generating 605 sets of estate planning documents (wills and powers of attorney) for first responders and their spouses/domestic partners free of charge. As you may remember, the Wills for Heroes Foundation developed the program shortly after September 11, 2001 and it was recently a national initiative of the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association (ABA YLD). The CBA YLS was the first organization to implement the project in Illinois years ago and had intermittently run it in the suburbs. Implemented the ABA Health Law Section and Commission on Women Breast Cancer Legal Advocacy Workshop in Illinois for the first time. We executed this effort as part of our Make a Difference Day weekend festivities. The run attracted 56 lawyers. Participated in Friends of the Parks' 23rd annual Earth Day Clean-Up. In honor of Earth Day, the Environmental Committee coordinated CBA YLS involvement. The effort attracted approximately 40 people despite the timing of the event (it was cold and rainy Saturday!). Attendees included students from local law schools and children of young lawyers. With rakes, wheelbarrows, and shovels, CBA YLS members helped restore the ecological health at the Dunning-Read Conservation Area by removing trash and weeds and repairing the walking trail. Collected money for the Japanese relief effort. After the devastating earthquake in Japan, the CBA YLS Diversity Committee was quick to organize a fundraiser at a local restaurant, Midtown Kitchen and Bar. The Committee helped to raise $1,000 for the American Red Cross relief fund for the victims of the earthquake. Half of the dollars raised at the fundraiser came from an anonymous business organization’s matching grant, which we learned about thanks to one Committee Chair’s work in Japan. We confirmed that the Japanese Red Cross was an ideal organization to send the dollars after emailing with our sister bar association in Tokyo. The young lawyers there said that they, too, were raising funds to help those impacted by the disaster. Implemented Serving Our Seniors. We helped create this year’s ABA YLD public service project in cooperation with a number of organizations last year, and were able to implement it for the first time in May. The effort attracted 38 volunteers and generated 35 sets of estate planning documents for the elderly and police officers. Created a Domestic Violence Awareness Week. At the suggestion of one of our officers, we dubbed the week immediately after Law Week (which we also celebrate) as Domestic Violence Awareness Week. The week, which ended on Mother’s Day, featured three events attended by 158 people. - The first event was a discounted CLE on how to obtain orders of protection. The proceeds of the CLE, $469.50, were donated to BetweenFriends, a domestic violence victim support network. - The goal of the second event, a free CLE run by the National Immigrant Justice Center, was to help abused spouses of United States citizens and residents self-petition for legal immigrant status using the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). - The final event was the only ongoing component—a pizza party held at The House of the Good Shepherd, a domestic violence shelter in Lakeview. Approximately 20 attorneys assisted young children (mostly under 10-years-old) make gift bags for their mothers that included soaps and lotions. * Needs Assessment (What was the reason for undertaking this project? e.g. was the project internally or externally motivated; was there a need in the community for the project; was there a target audience?) A bar association has to do three things to be successful: (1) prove its relevancy to current and prospective members; (2) make those who want to participate feel welcome; and (3) get the lawyers who engage to consider it home. When the CBA conducted focus group studies last year to determine what issues impacted membership, we discovered that young lawyers felt the CBA was relevant only to their practice. Thus, this year we sought a way to address relevancy at a broader level—one that tied directly into the needs and interests of the next generation. Specifically, Gen Y has a “concern for social welfare” as noted in a 2009 study by the Center for WorkLife Policy. Thus, we needed to find ways to make ourselves more relevant to the world we lived in—not just the world we created within the Section. For the first time, we elevated our awareness to how we were participating in efforts “bigger than we are” to ensure that current and future young lawyers from around the city would see that we were also providing them an opportunity to help their community. * Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) The goal was to show our members that we were supporting worthwhile, “bigger than we are” efforts in the community at large. We were translating these big initiatives for our local young lawyers by providing them with a way to participate locally. Not only were our goals met, but the following resulted from our annual efforts: 640 sets of estate planning documents for first responders and the elderly $23,500 for 3 charities Participation on two, nationally-significant service days Recognition for the YLS efforts in the national databases for MADD, NHDD, and the local database of onegooddeedchicago.org Liberty Bell Awards, which recognize good deeds by non-lawyers, for two volunteers who were nominated by the national Wills for Heroes foundation for their dedication to the CBA YLS Wills for Heroes days Regular coverage by the local media of CBA YLS “bigger” efforts (example: a picture from the Japanese American Red Cross Fundraiser and the Friends of the Parks' 23rd annual Earth Day CleanUp received front-page coverage in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin) If goals were not met, why not? Goals were met * Will this be a recurring affiliate project? Yes If yes, will you make any revisions? Although some of the programs may change, the concept of finding ways to contribute to the community at large is one that will remain constant. Degree of Participation by Members * How many young lawyer members actually participated in this project? (Consider young lawyer involvement in all the different stages of the project...planning, organization, implementation, and/or presentation.) Total attendance at the events noted above, not including the annual Pro Bono Fair & Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament, exceeded 1,000 people. How many young lawyer leadership (officers, directors, board membership)? 11 Officers & Directors. How many young lawyer committee members? 150 How many young lawyer general membership? Approximately 850 that weren’t Officers, Directors, or Committee Members. * Was the project conducted with the Senior Bar? No * What other groups or individuals participated and in what numbers? Wills for Heroes: Wills for Heroes Foundation was supportive of year-long Wills for Heroes executions and 3 of the foundation leaders flew in at various points in the year to assist. The Chicago Bar Foundation and its Young Professionals Board participated as well, sending approximately 10 folks during the year. Exelon, Jenner, and other law firms made donations of computer equipment and the Foundation itself let us borrow computers and a printer. IKON provided signage. Breast Cancer: The American Bar Association provided one speaker and course materials. The Cancer Legal Resource Center sent its Midwest Regional Director to tell folks how to volunteer on the referral network. Earth Day: Friends of the Parks provided the materials for the event. Serving Our Seniors: Center for Disability and Elder Law (“CDEL”) helped with our local implementation and sent approximately 5 staff members. The Chicago Bar Foundation provided us with transportation and lunch from the bar building to the police station. Japanese Relief: A firm provided hors d’ oeuvres for the social. * What do you think is the optimum amount of members needed to carry out this project? The initiatives are flexible and segments can be carried out with as many folks as show up. Ideally, one or two would lead each segment, coordinating the logistics. Timeframe * How much time did it take to organize the project? Segment timeframes ranged from a week and a half for the Japanese fundraising effort to three months for Make a Difference Day efforts. * How much time did it take to recruit members for the project? The leaders were recruited and confirmed prior to the start of the year. Specifically, the YLS structure has pre-built leadership opportunities for Special Project Coordinators. We also relied on relevant committee chairs (Diversity did the Red Cross fundraiser for Japan, Environmental Law Committee did the Earth Day Cleanup) * How much time did it take to carry out the project from beginning to end? We carried out the project all year. Budget * What was the cost of this project excluding in-kind/donated services? Wills for Heroes: $2550; DV Week: Spring Fling was $260; No cost for Breast Cancer, Earth Day, Japanese Relief, or Serving our Seniors. * How was the project funded? Wills for Heroes: $1200 came from the YLS general budget and $1320 came from the Special Project Budget; DV Week: The $260 came from the YLS special project budget * How long did it take to raise the funds needed for this project? Because the funds came from the general supplies budget and special project budget, which is set in advance of each bar year, no special fundraising was required to cover the paid portion of the project. Suggestions / Recommendations * What suggestions/recommendations would you make to other young lawyer groups who would consider undertaking a similar project? Rethink your calendaring of ongoing efforts. Perhaps you can shift some of the things you already do so you can have part of your current initiatives take place on/near a national day of [INSERT NAME HERE] so it can count. And if you follow through, don’t forget to notify the media! . If you have any questions, contact YLD Administrator, Bill Stanton at [email protected] or 312-988-5611. 2. We are Family Project (Education) ABA YLD Awards of Achievement Program Single Project/COMPREHENSIVE Project Information Form One form must be completed for each project included in a comprehensive application as well as for each Single project application entry. * Indicates required field. * Name of YLD Affiliate IL - Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers * Division (Figures are for the young lawyer membership of your organization) Local Affiliate: 2000 or more If Comprehensive Application, Project Number #2 * Type of Project Educational * Degree of Change or Growth New Project * Project Description (Please provide a brief description (750 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by the young lawyer volunteers in the undertaking of this project; any products resulting from the project; and in the case of continuing projects, if they have been expanded, explain how.) In order to ensure that the CBA YLS focused on being a welcoming organization, committees were tasked with implementing a program or event tied to the “We are Family” Theme. Their implementations are noted below. In addition, the CBA YLS had three standalone events that allowed members to network with kids in tow, which are also detailed below. Alternative Dispute Resolution: Incorporated the theme into its October meeting with the DePaul Interfaith Family Mediation Project. Bankruptcy: Focused the June seminar on bankruptcy topics that arise in so-called "consumer" bankruptcies often involving families. Career Advancement: Incorporated the theme into the April seminar entitled, “Balancing Love, Work, the Law and Family: Learn Strategies from Attorneys to Find Balance.” Corporate Practice: Included law students in all committee meetings. Creative Arts: Combined with the CBA Media & Entertainment Committee and the YLS Intellectual Property Committee to host committee meetings. Criminal Law: Incorporated the theme into its January meeting when Adam Sheppard spoke about working in a family-run criminal law practice. Diversity: Held an adoption presentation in June. Education Law: Due to the nature of the Education Committee, the theme was embodied at every meeting. Environmental Law: Gathered a group of volunteers and their families to participate in Friends of the Parks Earth Day Clean-Up. Estate Planning: The October presentation of “Probate 101” and the January presentation on “Changes to the IL Power of Attorney Act” highlighted the interrelations between the probate process and end of life decisions with family dynamics – and how they often become a volatile mix. Family Law: Due to the nature of the Family Law Committee, the theme was embodied at every meeting. Health Law: Supportive of the ABA Breast Cancer Advocacy Workshop arriving in Illinois for the first time due to CBA YLS efforts. Health & Wellness: Encouraged family to attend and cheer on participants in Most Fit Lawyer competition. Immigration Law: Presented several topics on family-based immigration that discussed the law and its affect on families were presented at meetings. Insurance Coverage: Arranged for a speaker to participate in the Breast Cancer Legal Advocacy Workshop last October. Intellectual Property Law: Incorporated the theme into the November meeting that featured the topic “Tips for Raising and Protecting Your Family (of Marks).” The presentation addressed when to start raising a family (of marks), how to nurture and grow a family "trademark" tree and what to do to resolve a "family" feud. Labor & Employment Law: Hosted a joint meeting with the YLS Education Law Committee on the Federal Race to the Top program and its affect on the bargaining of union contracts. Law Explorers: Cultivated student interest in a life in the law. Law Student: Produced a law student road-show where members went to the various local law schools to help promote the benefits of joining bar associations. Professional Responsibility: Committee was able to meet jointly with the CBA Attorney Malpractice Committee for 3 meetings. Real Estate Law: The theme was celebrated by inviting other CBA and YLS committees to the monthly meetings. The Committee also welcomed a father-daughter duo to speak on the new Powers of Attorney Act and other new or newly proposed law affecting real estate. Social: Hosted an “Over the Hill Party” in April to celebrate the YLS turning 40 years old. Wills for Heroes: The 605 sets of estate planning documents created protect first responders and their families. YLS Journal: Ensured that one issue of the big bar’s magazine, the CBA Record, was dedicated to our theme. http://www.chicagobar.org/AM/NavigationMenu/YLS/Files/2011FebMarchCBARecord.pdf Additional Implementations and Details: Roller Derby Social: For the first time, the CBA YLS partnered with the National LGBT Bar Association to attend a Windy City Rollers Event. Approximately 30 people attended. Mrs. Claus: A Holiday Musical: This event attracted approximately 40 people, providing members an opportunity to see the annual Chicago Kids Company program with their children. Adventure Nature Course Event: The CBA YLS hosted two rope course events, including one in June near Father’s day for families. One participant from the May event said it provided an intimate way to get to know other members and the price was extremely reasonable for the value of having a no-wait experience in the ropes course. Approximately 5 attorneys participated in the original event. * Needs Assessment (What was the reason for undertaking this project? e.g. was the project internally or externally motivated; was there a need in the community for the project; was there a target audience?) To fully succeed, a bar association has to do three things: (1) prove its relevance to current and prospective members, (2) make those who want to participate feel welcome, and (3) get the lawyers who engage to consider it home. When the big bar did focus group studies last bar year to determine what issues it had with getting members to stay in our ranks, we discovered that young lawyers, and new bar admittees in particular, felt that we were very relevant to their practice but did not feel that we welcomed them when they came to events. For example, they came to committee meetings and people didn’t talk to them, they participated in special events and weren’t introduced to organizational leaders, and no one explained to them how to get involved. By implementing the “We are Family” initiative, we focused the year on making people feel more a part of the CBA YLS family. * Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) This bar year, we committed to doing more than just “leaving the door open” for new and prospective members. We made an effort to greet first-timers when they came in and increased the regularity in which we met so they had more opportunities to return (and we had something in particular to request of them when we thanked them for coming). The Wills for Heroes Committee was particularly successful with this effort, gaining quite a young lawyer following! The committee, which existed in the past but rarely met (and never gathered in Chicago proper), mapped out its nine gathering dates over the summer, committed to one location, and reminded participants when the next session would be when it thanked them for coming. The committee went so far as to mentor a jobless law student to successfully open a solo estate planning practice. We also committed to making it easier to identify the “heads of household”–the people who have experienced the inner workings of the association and may be best equipped to answer questions. Specifically, we asked our officers and other leaders to wear stand-out name tags, and made special efforts to ensure that one officer or director was onsite at gatherings to answer questions. We asked the leads of each YLS event and committee meeting to introduce themselves and welcome attendees at the start of the programs they executed. We requested that committee chairs in particular do something special to help first-timers better integrate. The Real Estate Committee, for example, gathered 15 minutes before its meetings to allow new attendees to mingle and get some personal attention before the program started. We also provided regular group outings that allowed our members to enjoy the things Chicago has to offer with their families in tow. Providing for these broader opportunities gave us a chance to show our members–and their primary support systems–that we want to help them find ways to contribute to the community at large, be comfortable when they’re with us, and facilitate their interests in spending time with those they most deeply care about. Finally, we sought out ways to ease our young lawyers into connections with the big bar. A number of our committees made that happen by hosting joint meetings with big bar committees. If goals were not met, why not? Goals were met * Will this be a recurring affiliate project? No If yes, will you make any revisions? Degree of Participation by Members * How many young lawyer members actually participated in this project? (Consider young lawyer involvement in all the different stages of the project...planning, organization, implementation, and/or presentation.) Those who attended the events noted above, whether in person or via webinar, participated. Our estimate is 4,253. How many young lawyer leadership (officers, directors, board membership)? 18 Officers & Directors. All of our leaders participated in these efforts. How many young lawyer committee members? 2000 There was no particular committee dedicated to this effort—all committees were expected to implement the theme in some fashion. How many young lawyer general membership? programming and events. (Estimated at 4,253) 2200 All of those who participated in the noted YLS * Was the project conducted with the Senior Bar? No * What other groups or individuals participated and in what numbers? As mentioned, the CBA Record Editorial Board allowed us to use an entire edition of the magazine to share the theme. Certain big bar committees also met jointly with some of our committees. * What do you think is the optimum amount of members needed to carry out this project? Every person leading should commit to the theme. It means more when people see it coming from the group’s top leaders. Timeframe * How much time did it take to organize the project? For some groups it was a few minutes—for others it was months. It was a simple request at the beginning of the year that unfolded in many different ways, thanks to the creative ideas of the leadership. * How much time did it take to recruit members for the project? The leaders were recruited and confirmed prior to the start of the year. * How much time did it take to carry out the project from beginning to end? We carried out the project all year. Budget * What was the cost of this project excluding in-kind/donated services? We spent approximately $150 on heavy-duty name tags for CBA YLS leadership (100 nametags). We spent $180 for the gathering after the holiday musical party to cover the cost of cookies, drinks, party supplies, crafts and rental space, and $50 on the ropes course events. * How was the project funded? The nametags were funded by the YLS general supplies budget. The musical gathering and ropes course events were funded out of the YLS special project budget. * How long did it take to raise the funds needed for this project? Because the funds came from the general supplies budget and special project budget, which is set in advance of each bar year, no special fundraising was required to cover the paid portion of the project. Suggestions / Recommendations * What suggestions/recommendations would you make to other young lawyer groups who would consider undertaking a similar project? This is an easy theme to implement—there are so many ways to interpret it! It’s a great way to get everyone to work together at the start of the year and to think about the habits we have (i.e., talking only to people we know at an event) that can be interrupted (i.e., finding one person at each event you go to that you don’t know and introducing yourself) to make the bar an even greater group to be a part of (for both the people we don’t know and ourselves)! If you have any questions, contact YLD Administrator, Bill Stanton at [email protected] or 312-988-5611. 3. Inclusion project (Diversity) ABA YLD Awards of Achievement Program Single Project/COMPREHENSIVE Project Information Form One form must be completed for each project included in a comprehensive application as well as for each Single project application entry. * Indicates required field. * Name of YLD Affiliate IL - Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers * Division (Figures are for the young lawyer membership of your organization) Local Affiliate: 2000 or more If Comprehensive Application, Project Number 3. Inclusion project (Diversity) * Type of Project Diversity * Degree of Change or Growth New Project * Project Description (Please provide a brief description (750 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by the young lawyer volunteers in the undertaking of this project; any products resulting from the project; and in the case of continuing projects, if they have been expanded, explain how.) The inclusion initiative had the CBA YLS going to extra lengths to collaborate with relevant bar associations and law school groups to ensure that new and prospective members (who are more diverse than our typical audience) were more aware of the CBA YLS and our offerings this year. Our efforts included the following partnerships: ABA YLD Touch 10,000: Bar Crawl: New bar admittees (NBAs) are in high demand for all bar associations. What originally began as a discussion to avert a scheduling issue for them turned into a unique and fun way to get this group connected to learning opportunities about bar involvement at a local and national level. Here’s how it unfolded: the ABA YLD Touch 10,000 leadership, whose goal is to connect with at least 10,000 NBAs annually, happened to be in Chicago during the time of the annual CBA YLS Meet the Committees Fair, which teaches new members about YLS committees and public and member service projects in hopes that they’ll participate or lead future efforts. The Touch 10,000 folks really wanted to connect with some Illinois NBAs before learning the area. To avoid a conflict, we adjusted our timing to allow for “bar hopping.” All it took was a trolley to transport attendees from the Fair to the ABA building across the downtown area so that both CBA YLS and ABA YLD leaders could achieve their goals of warmly welcoming more than 150 attendees to the profession in person and providing the NBAs with a glimpse of the network a bar association provides. Local ABA-Accredited Law Schools: Law Student Roadshow. This year, the CBA YLS Law Student Committee coordinated an on-campus showing at four ABA-Accredited Law Schools (Chicago-Kent, John Marshall, Loyola, and Northwestern) to teach interested students about what bar associations offer members. Approximately 100 law students participated. CBA participation provided a natural increase in collaboration between the membership staff and YLS volunteers. What Not to Wear Fashion Show. Back by popular demand, the YLS Law Student Committee presented the now-annual What Not to Wear Fashion Show. This year, however, we expanded our cosponsorship from one local law school to five! During the show, law students worked the catwalk as over 125 audience members and a panel of commentators watched. The ensembles illustrated common faux pas in the law student/attorney wardrobe you should avoid when interviewing, heading into the office, or event when stepping in front of a judge. As each look strutted down the runway, the panel explained the changes each model could make to ensure s/he is always dressed appropriately and respectably. Practice Tracks. Every year, the Chicago Area Law Schools gather to provide “Practice Tracks,” a program to expose law students to experienced practitioners in various areas of law. For years, the schools had been providing this education in the CBA building, only using our name as a cosponsor to allow them to use the space without charge. This year, we actually sat down with the career service office leads, who coordinate the program, and asked to play a more active role. The group reached out to us to help it find speakers to cover particular areas of law. In the end, approximately 60 local lawyers volunteered and hundreds of law students from John Marshall, Chicago-Kent, DePaul, Loyola, and Northwestern Law School participated. We are now more openly speaking with the career offices about the needs and interests of today’s law school students and graduates. Specialty Bars: All-Bar Social. It had been years since we hosted a CBA YLS All-Bar Social, a special edition of our monthly social. We updated it by asking both the state and national young lawyer groups to host with us. The Illinois State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division agreed, and together we attracted ten specialty bar association cosponsors and approximately 200 attendees. The high-energy event got people from all of the bars mingling… and eventually dancing… with each other! http://www.illinoislawyernow.com/2010/10/27/isba-young-lawyers-to-co-host-all-bar-social/ Roller Derby Social. For the first time, the CBA YLS partnered with the National LGBT Bar Association. Approximately 30 people attended the Windy City Rollers Event. Election Law Seminar. The YLS Diversity Committee cosponsored with the Asian American Bar Association. * Needs Assessment (What was the reason for undertaking this project? e.g. was the project internally or externally motivated; was there a need in the community for the project; was there a target audience?) The CBA YLS, like many organizations, continues to seek ways to reflect, in both its leadership and membership ranks, the pool of prospective members in the profession. Statistics show that the most diverse folks in our ranks are law students (who are full members of our group) and new lawyers. Thus, reaching out to law schools directly is one way to make that connection, as is working with other bar leaders who are directly targeting new lawyers. Specialty bar associations continue to be the home of diverse lawyers at all stages—so we also tried to personally reach out more regularly to them, as exposing their members to our offerings helps us diversify our membership and leadership ranks at all levels. * Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) Our goal was to find more ways to work more closely with law schools, associations interested in new bar admittees, and minority bar associations. We were successful because we sought and executed ways to integrate this goal into a number of our traditional activities. We even made special efforts to ensure that new activities also contemplated the goal. If goals were not met, why not? N/A * Will this be a recurring affiliate project? No If yes, will you make any revisions? Degree of Participation by Members * How many young lawyer members actually participated in this project? (Consider young lawyer involvement in all the different stages of the project...planning, organization, implementation, and/or presentation.) Approximately 950 How many young lawyer leadership (officers, directors, board membership)? 18 How many young lawyer committee members? 300 How many young lawyer general membership? 630 * Was the project conducted with the Senior Bar? No * What other groups or individuals participated and in what numbers? Chicago Law Schools, The Illinois State Bar Young Lawyers Division; Advocates Society, Association of Polish-American Attorneys, Appellate Lawyers Association, Asian American Bar Association, DuPage Association of Women Lawyers, Federal Bar Association Chicago Chapter, Hellenic Bar Association, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Illinois Judges Association, Puerto Rican Bar Association, and the National LGBT Bar. We guesstimate that at least 250 people participated because of their affiliations with these groups. * What do you think is the optimum amount of members needed to carry out this project? At least one to ask the question, “Are we being as inclusive as we should be?” “Which groups can we ask to formally join us?” Timeframe * How much time did it take to organize the project? At least one month. When components of this project were presented at a monthly executive meeting, we were able to ask the question about which outside groups would make sense and then ask who at the table has a connection to them (i.e., We would ask who is an alumni of a particular law school and have that person help us guide our request appropriately). * How much time did it take to recruit members for the project? They were already part of our leadership, so no additional time. * How much time did it take to carry out the project from beginning to end? Typical segments took at least a month from conception to execution. We made efforts all year long. Budget * What was the cost of this project excluding in-kind/donated services? There were no additional costs to run this initiative as a whole. Here is the breakdown of the segments just in case it is helpful: “Bar hopping”: No cost; Law Student Roadshow: $350; Fashion Show: $500; Practice Tracks: No cost; All Bar Social: $3600; Roller Derby: No cost; Election Law Seminar: No cost. * How was the project funded? There were no additional costs to run the inclusion initiative as a whole. Here is the breakdown of the segments just in case it is helpful: “Bar hopping”: ABA funded the transportation; Law Student Roadshow: $350 from the YLS Special Projects Budget for pizza at three law schools; Fashion Show: $125 from the YLS Special Projects Budget. John Marshall Law School Student Bar Association added $250 and Chicago-Kent Student Bar Association added $125; Practice Tracks: No cost; All Bar Social: $2000 from the YLS Special Projects Budget. The ISBA YLD provided $1000; Monthly social sponsors committed $600; Roller Derby: People bought their own tickets; Election Law Seminar: No cost. * How long did it take to raise the funds needed for this project? We needed to provide 1-2 months of lead time to get cosponsors to contribute financially when necessary. Suggestions / Recommendations * What suggestions/recommendations would you make to other young lawyer groups who would consider undertaking a similar project? Review the projects you already do to determine whether they could be enhanced by partnering with an outside organization. 4. New Lawyer Project (Educational) ABA YLD Awards of Achievement Program Single Project/COMPREHENSIVE Project Information Form One form must be completed for each project included in a comprehensive application as well as for each Single project application entry. * Indicates required field. * Name of YLD Affiliate IL - Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers * Division (Figures are for the young lawyer membership of your organization) Local Affiliate: 2000 or more If Comprehensive Application, Project Number 4. New Lawyer Project (Educational) * Type of Project Educational * Degree of Change or Growth New Project * Project Description (Please provide a brief description (750 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by the young lawyer volunteers in the undertaking of this project; any products resulting from the project; and in the case of continuing projects, if they have been expanded, explain how.) To reach out more effectively to new bar admittees (NBAs) who automatically become CBA YLS members during their first six months in the profession, the CBA YLS worked to better align its efforts with the big bar membership department. We not only adjusted the language of regular communications with NBAs to focus more on becoming a member of the profession as opposed to a member of the CBA (because NBAs automatically become members of many other bar associations during that time), we also created two new ways to connect with NBAs: The first was a booklet entitled Practice Tips for Young Lawyers, http://www.chicagobar.org/AM/NavigationMenu/YLS/Files/WeAreFamilyArticlesBook.pdf. The booklet compiled ten articles, one from each officer of the CBA YLS, about how each officer tackled a difficult “coming-of-age” issue. Originally published in a monthly column in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, the daily newspaper for lawyers in the area, the officers thought repackaging and distributing the articles to new bar admittees would add a personal welcome to the profession and the CBA. The opportunity also presented a way for the CBA YLS to be seen as a “go-to” resource for the newest members of the profession as they face challenges in their own careers. The booklet’s intent was to give NBAs a sense of what was important to the officers during their early years, and how they can address similar issues if they arise. As our chair articulated in the preface, “No matter the economic climate, there is a way to get what you want from your life in the law. Our wish is that your membership in our organization makes you feel more comfortable in whatever you want to contemplate: balancing work with family issues and athletics, debating going solo or a federal clerkship, transitioning from one workplace to another, or getting motivated to do pro bono work or simply network. We wish you much success--no matter how you define it–in your new career. Please contact us if there’s something the CBA YLS can do to help get you where you want to go.” 750 booklets were printed. They were distributed first to the big bar’s Board of Managers and then at the YLS Annual Meeting. They were then distributed to the Fall 2010 NBAs and then electronically to the Spring 2011 class, which is tracked by the big bar membership department. The second was the establishment of After Bar Exam Socials. We hosted socials immediately following the end of the Illinois Bar Exam because there were already groups who had socials after the swearing in ceremony, which is when NBAs become “official.” We helped fill a void because not everyone had a place to go after the bar itself. These two intimate gatherings, which attracted approximately 30 people, gave recent bar takers a chance to unwind and become more familiar with the YLS. Further, they supplemented corresponding efforts of some of the local schools, providing a place to go for those whose schools didn’t offer a separate gathering. * Needs Assessment (What was the reason for undertaking this project? e.g. was the project internally or externally motivated; was there a need in the community for the project; was there a target audience?) To fully succeed, a bar association has to do three things: (1) prove its relevance to current and prospective members, (2) make those who want to participate feel welcome, and (3) get the lawyers who engage to consider it home. When the big bar did focus group studies last bar year to determine what issues it had with getting members to stay in our ranks, we discovered that young lawyers, and new bar admittees in particular, felt that we were very relevant to their practice but did not feel that we welcomed them when they came to events. For example, they came to committee meetings and people didn’t talk to them, they participated in special events and weren’t introduced to organizational leaders, and no one explained to them how to get involved. * Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) By introducing a NBA initiative, we were focusing on finding ways to help the most sensitive and volatile group of our members (who at the start of our year aren’t official and by the end of the bar year could abandon membership) not only see the value of the YLS quickly, but also feel welcomed by our leaders. We believe this initiative conveyed that we care about our newest members, and was therefore successful. It also allowed us to have more open conversations with the big bar membership department, so we now have a more consistent message when we speak with NBAs. If goals were not met, why not? Goals were met. * Will this be a recurring affiliate project? No If yes, will you make any revisions? N/A Degree of Participation by Members * How many young lawyer members actually participated in this project? (Consider young lawyer involvement in all the different stages of the project...planning, organization, implementation, and/or presentation.) 40. How many young lawyer leadership (officers, directors, board membership)? 10 How many young lawyer committee members? 10 Our social committee led the After the Bar exam social. How many young lawyer general membership? 500 received the booklet * Was the project conducted with the Senior Bar? No * What other groups or individuals participated and in what numbers? N/A. * What do you think is the optimum amount of members needed to carry out this project? For the booklet, having each officer contribute one article kept it simple and easy. For the social, we just needed one committee member contact the venue and arrange the logistics. Timeframe * How much time did it take to organize the project? The article writing was arranged after a couple emails (one day). The social logistics each took about a week to secure. * How much time did it take to recruit members for the project? The leaders were recruited and confirmed prior to the start of the year. We added one new volunteer to assist with the second After the Bar social because he attended the first social in the summer and was willing to commit. We casually asked him at the first social to participate and he agreed. * How much time did it take to carry out the project from beginning to end? All year. The articles were contemplated in summer of 2010. The last one was written in May and the book was completed mid-May. The timing of the socials was shorter because it was based on the bar exam (planning started in the summer and execution was in July and February). Budget * What was the cost of this project excluding in-kind/donated services? We spent $800 to print 750 copies of the Practice Tips booklet; We spent $500 for each After the Bar social. * How was the project funded? Both were funded by the YLS general budget. * How long did it take to raise the funds needed for this project? Because the funds came from the general budget, which is set in advance of each bar year, no special fundraising was required to cover the paid portion of the project. Suggestions / Recommendations * What suggestions/recommendations would you make to other young lawyer groups who would consider undertaking a similar project? We got really great articles from our officers because we only asked them for one per person. We also agreed in advance on topics so we weren’t covering things someone else had already covered. Talk to your local schools about how they’re congratulating bar takers—even if you don’t host your own socials, you can easily send representatives to their gatherings if they are open to it. If you have any questions, contact YLD Administrator, Bill Stanton at [email protected] or 312-988-5611. 5. 40th Anniversary initiative (Commemorative event) ABA YLD Awards of Achievement Program Single Project/COMPREHENSIVE Project Information Form One form must be completed for each project included in a comprehensive application as well as for each Single project application entry. * Indicates required field. * Name of YLD Affiliate IL - Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers * Division (Figures are for the young lawyer membership of your organization) Local Affiliate: 2000 or more If Comprehensive Application, Project Number 5. 40th Anniversary initiative (Commemorative event) * Type of Project Commemorative Events * Degree of Change or Growth New Project * Project Description (Please provide a brief description (750 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by the young lawyer volunteers in the undertaking of this project; any products resulting from the project; and in the case of continuing projects, if they have been expanded, explain how.) Forty years ago, the YLS was created to encourage young lawyers to work together on projects for their community and for their profession. What began as a small group of 50 young lawyers hosting continuing legal education programs covering a handful of substantive law areas has grown into a dynamic and diverse group of more than 9,000 lawyers and law student members. The YLS now boasts nearly 30 committees and 50 special projects, which provide the legal community with ways to engage and serve thousands of people in the community at large. The anniversary is special to us because it symbolizes the “coming of age” of a group of lawyers who haven’t experienced becoming “over the hill”! We celebrated: Via publications: o Created an up-to-date historical chronicle for the Section, which drew information from our 25th Anniversary publication and a list of annual highlights that officers found online. We supplemented with information from recent chairs and pictures in the big bar’s archive. A YLS Journal Co-Editor and Assistant Editor took the lead on writing and editing the final product: http://www.chicagobar.org/AM/NavigationMenu/YLS/Files/40thBook.pdf. o Published an article written by our founding chair in the May issue of the YLS Journal (which appears within the big bar’s magazine, the CBA Record). o Dedicated the YLS Journal Chair’s Column in May to the topic (“Over the Hill”). Via special events: o Invited all past YLS Chairs, Officers and Directors and other key members from the past 40 years to gather at a local club to reminisce and celebrate the milestone of the YLS reaching its 40th year. 27 of the 39 living YLS past chairs were recognized in person and founding chair David C. Hilliard gave a champagne toast to the Section. In total, 100 people attended this special event. o Dedicated our monthly general YLS membership social in April to reminiscing about the past. In total, 76 attended to toast to the section. Via resolution: Thanked two very special lawyers for their lifetime of service to the bar and to the community by making them members in perpetuity of the Section by CBA YLS resolution: Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who was a very active CBA member before we had a Section, and David Hilliard, founding chair of the CBA YLS. The resolutions seemed to be a touching surprise to the recipients. o Mr. Hilliard found out about his status as a member in perpetuity during the club event. His wife jokingly mentioned that he may choose to sleep next to the signed resolution instead of her! o Justice Stevens received a copy of his signed resolution at the big bar’s annual Stevens Awards dinner, where the CBA and the CBF select folks who exemplify Justice Stevens’ commitment to integrity and public service in the practice of law to honor (Retirement allowed Justice Stevens to attend this year’s presentation and deliver the keynote speech). He said he was particularly touched by the presentation because his brother was a member of the YLS’ predecessor group, the Young Lawyers Committee. Justice Stevens said his brother is the one who persuaded him to go to law school. After the program, one of the authors of Justice Stevens’ biography told the YLS Chair that even after completing a book about Justice Stevens’ life, he was unfamiliar with that tidbit! * Needs Assessment (What was the reason for undertaking this project? e.g. was the project internally or externally motivated; was there a need in the community for the project; was there a target audience?) We wanted to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the CBA YLS because the milestone provided us with an opportunity to ensure that our stakeholders understand why we exist and why we need their continued support. Specifically, the opportunity allowed us to highlight our impact to our own folks as well as those in the big bar (who provide us with resources to thrive). It allowed us to ensure that the lessons from our past were not lost, reflect on our relevance in today’s culture, and contemplate our future. It also provided an opportunity to generate goodwill with our past leaders. * Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) We achieved the goals of reminding YLS current and future leaders, as well as the current leaders of the big bar, why the CBA YLS exists through commentary from our founding chair at an in-person celebration as well as through the distribution of our historical chronicle, which was emailed to our general membership and printed for distribution at the Annual Meetings of the big bar and the YLS. General members saw first-hand one reason why we exist -- to give them regular networking opportunities and to make them feel more at home in the bar -- when they attended our 40th Anniversary Social. We ensured lessons from our past weren’t lost by devising the comprehensive chronicle. We put the highlights from past years together in a way that allows those celebrating future milestones the opportunity to build on what we have instead of having to go back and dig for additional information. We reflected on our relevance in today’s culture and contemplated our future through conversing at the general membership social, reviewing our accomplishments through the years in the chronicle, and listening to insights from our founding chair. We generated goodwill with our past leaders by making two seasoned lawyers permanent on our rolls, providing various platforms for our founding chair to speak (via a podium at a special event and via an article in the Record and historical chronicle), and recognizing past chairs in person at events. We not only achieved our goals but went about them in way that balanced fun and creativity with professionalism and personal touch. The 40th Anniversary Initiative got those who were once active to rekindle their interest in the YLS, and reaffirmed why it’s so important for a big bar to have a vibrant young lawyers section available to the newest members of the profession. If goals were not met, why not? Goals were met * Will this be a recurring affiliate project? No If yes, will you make any revisions? Degree of Participation by Members * How many young lawyer members actually participated in this project? (Consider young lawyer involvement in all the different stages of the project...planning, organization, implementation, and/or presentation.) All (book was distributed to them) How many young lawyer leadership (officers, directors, board membership)? 18 How many young lawyer committee members? 4000 How many young lawyer general membership? 5000 * Was the project conducted with the Senior Bar? No * What other groups or individuals participated and in what numbers? Sponsors of our monthly socials supported these efforts and three attended the social. Sponsors of the leadership celebration included a personal donation from a past leader, who attended, the firm of our founding chair, which sent ten members of the firm, and the firms of the big bar president and presidentelect, which sent three members of the firm. * What do you think is the optimum amount of members needed to carry out this project? Each segment of this initiative relied on a core group of up to three young lawyers to execute. Timeframe * How much time did it take to organize the project? It took a few weeks to coordinate the book assignments and article topics. The exclusive event needed two or three months for coordination and the traditional social needed a week to set up. It took a couple of days to coordinate the wording of the resolution to present to the executive board for review. * How much time did it take to recruit members for the project? All of the project leaders came from within our executive board, so no additional time. * How much time did it take to carry out the project from beginning to end? We had planned the project at the year’s onset and executed the events in April and completed the book in May. The social was on the calendar a few months in advance and the resolutions were written and passed within a month. Budget * What was the cost of this project excluding in-kind/donated services? We printed 500 copies of the 40th Book for $1,100; The social cost $600; The exclusive event cost $16,500; The framed resolutions for the presentations cost $25. * How was the project funded? Sponsorships for the events. The book and frames used YLS general budget funds. * How long did it take to raise the funds needed for this project? We solicited sponsors for the exclusive event two-three months in advance. Our traditional social had sponsors committed to ongoing efforts at the beginning of the bar year. The general budget was available to us for the book and resolution frames. Suggestions / Recommendations * What suggestions/recommendations would you make to other young lawyer groups who would consider undertaking a similar project? Review what you have available about your history. You’ll make your future leaders’ lives easier by organizing what you have today, so they can simply add to it when the next milestone comes along! If you have any questions, contact YLD Administrator, Bill Stanton at [email protected] or 312-988-5611. 6. Minute with a Judge (Educational) ABA AOA – SERVICE TO THE BAR * Project Description (Please provide a brief description (750 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by the young lawyer volunteers in the undertaking of this project; any products resulting from the project; and in the case of continuing projects, if they have been expanded, explain how.) The CBA YLS decided to undergo a new initiative to help young lawyers acquaint themselves with judges: Minute with a Judge. An expansion of the YLS’s successful Lunch with a Judge program, which began in 2006 and continues today, Minute with a Judge is a program that provides short webcast interviews of individual judges who offer practice tips for attorneys and their particular do's and don'ts when it comes to appearing before them. The videos are only available to members of the CBA through the CBA website at http://www.minutewithajudge.com For attorneys who have never appeared in front of a particular judge before, Minute with a Judge will help them get a sense for how he or she operates. Currently there are seven videos available for viewing on the CBA website. All seven of the videos are of judges from the Northern District of Illinois, including Chief Judge James Holderman. Other judges are: District Judges Sharon Johnson Coleman and Rebecca Pallmeyer and Magistrate judges Michael Mason, Susan Cox, Sheila Finnegan and Presiding Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier. The Committee who developed this project was led by Mary Curry, a law clerk for the Honorable Susan E. Cox and current YLS Second Vice‐Chair. Mary and her Committee were responsible for reaching out to the various judges, scheduling and taping the judges, and editing the videos in post‐ production. Mary worked with the YLS executive committee to secure significant resources to make these videos possible. The project is set to continue into the 2011‐2012 bar year with the addition of more federal court judges and judges from the Illinois state courts. * Needs Assessment (What was the reason for undertaking this project? e.g. was the project internally or externally motivated; was there a need in the community for the project; was there a target audience?) The YLS undertook Minute with a Judge to help young lawyers and other members obtain information about local judges before having to appear before them. In today’s legal market, with many young lawyers hanging their own shingle, the bar association becomes an even bigger resource for attorneys to obtain information helpful to their practice. Even for those attorneys within larger firms, the videos provide yet another resource to learn about a judge. While the Northern District of Illinois website is comprehensive in providing general information about a particular Judge’s procedures, including standing orders, it does not offer a visual of the Judge nor does it provide an attorney with a perspective of what to expect when walking into a particular judge’s courtroom. The Minute with a Judge video provides all that and more. This program will be especially important as it expands to state court judges. In state court here in Illinois there is no way to access on‐line information about a particular judge and, depending on the judge, it can be even more difficult to access each judge’s standing order (which often requires a trip to the courtroom to pick up a hard copy of the judge’s rules). The opportunity to click on a link and get a brief overview of a particular state court judge’s practices will be an incredible improvement to the very limited information currently available on‐line at this time. * Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) For the initial launch of the program it was the goal of the YLS to have completed several videos of judges from the Northern District of Illinois and to make them available to members‐only on the CBA website. The larger goal of this project is to someday capture as many judges as possible, and continue to update the website as new judges come on the bench. But with hundreds of state court judges in Cook County alone, the YLS understands that this will be an ongoing project. As competition for obtaining members to join the CBA intensifies, Minute with a Judge provides yet another “members only” benefit to entice new and current members to remain. And for those attorneys new to the practice of law in Chicago, Minute with a Judge offers a unique insight into local judges before whom many of us have pending litigation matters. Attorneys, judges, and clients alike benefit from having prepared attorneys appear before their assigned judge. If goals were not met, why not? Goals were met. * Will this be a recurring affiliate project? Yes No If yes, will you make any revisions? As funding is available, additional videos will be developed. The program is designed to include additional federal court judges and state court judges from various divisions. Degree of Participation by Members * How many young lawyer members actually participated in this project? (Consider young lawyer involvement in all the different stages of the project...planning, organization, implementation, and/or presentation.) Thus far, the primary participants have been the committee implementing this project. However, now that the project has officially launched, the YLS expects its membership of over 9,000 lawyers to visit the website and benefit from its information. How many young lawyer leadership (officers, directors, board membership)? The leadership that has participated include the committee members themselves: the YLS Second Vice‐Chair, the CBA’s Law Practice Management & Technology Chair, and one of the YLS Special Project Officers. How many young lawyer committee members? The committee is comprised of three members. How many young lawyer general membership? As noted above, the committee members include: the YLS Second Vice‐Chair, the CBA’s Law Practice Management & Technology Chair, and one of the YLS Special Project Officers. * Was the project conducted with the Senior Bar? Yes No * What other groups or individuals participated and in what numbers? Judges from the Northern District of Illinois donated their time to appear for taping of the interviews. Video production and post‐production was generously provided at a discounted rate by committee member Dan Saavedra, who currently serves as the CBA’s Law Practice Management & Technology Chair and owns Betadac Media, which provides digital marketing and technology consulting for law firms. Mary Curry, the current YLS Second Vice Chair and Law Clerk to the Honorable Susan E. Cox, put the committee together and implemented the project. Yusuf Esat served as a YLS Special Projects Coordinator and assisted with the coordination of the project. * What do you think is the optimum amount of members needed to carry out this project? As noted above, the YLS currently has three committee members who each aide with the implementation of the program. Mary Curry is in charge of contacting and scheduling the judges for taping, Dan Saavedra is the videographer who provides the equipment and technical services, which includes the long process of editing each video down to short clips, and Yusuf Esat is the committee’s third member who assists Mary with conducting the actual interviews and scheduling. Moving forward, this project will always require someone with digital editing experience, or a professional videographer, and someone who can schedule and conduct interviews. Timeframe * How much time did it take to organize the project? Minute with a Judge has been a yearlong effort, and continues today. The Committee was responsible for seeking approval from the Chief Judge of the Northern District of Illinois to interview and tape judges. Once the Committee received general approval, it needed to seek out judges willing to be interviewed, taped and broadcasted via the CBA website (some judges may not be willing to participate due to security concerns). Scheduling interviews, taping, and post‐production all required significant time. Finally, a second round of approval was sought from the judges once the videos were finalized before they could be made available online. Budget considerations also made Minute with a Judge a yearlong effort due to the expense of lengthy production and post‐production of the videos. Committee member Dan Saavedra made the project possible by discounting a majority of the services he provided, and donating over 16 hours of editing and post‐production work, as well as the creation of the actual website. * How much time did it take to recruit members for the project? Recruitment was not necessary for the Committee, however, it took a few months to obtain approval from all the necessary judges as discussed above. * How much time did it take to carry out the project from beginning to end? Nine months to arrive where the project is today, with seven judges’ interviews completed and fully edited, and a professional website created to host the project. Budget * What was the cost of this project excluding in‐kind/donated services? The YLS covered Dan Saavedra’s expenses, totaling $950, which was 10 hours of work. (Dan donated at least $1,520 worth of work, or 16 hours of volunteer work). * How was the project funded? It was funded out of the YLS special project budget. * How long did it take to raise the funds needed for this project? Because the funds came from the special project budget, which is set in advance of each bar year, no special fundraising was required to cover the paid portion of the project. Suggestions / Recommendations * What suggestions/recommendations would you make to other young lawyer groups who would consider undertaking a similar project? Foremost, a budget or source of funding should be obtained to cover production and post‐production costs. A budget will also help shape the scope of the project (i.e. how many videos can we afford?). Once a budget is in place, a local courthouse should be selected as a starting point for the judges to be interviewed. To help membership services, and respect the privacy of judges who may not wish to have videos of themselves available to the public, the videos should be maintained as a members‐only benefit. 7. Same Sex Marriage (Diversity) PROJECT DESCRIPTION (Please provide a brief description (250 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by minority young lawyer volunteers in the planning and implementation of this project.) On June 8, 2010, the Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section Diversity Committee sponsored a seminar on the status of same sex marriage and civil unions in Illinois and nationally. The two-hour seminar featured four panelists who spoke about issues relevant to the subject. Our first speaker, Illinois State Representative Greg Harris, presented a background of the history of same-sex marriage in Illinois. Specifically, Representative Harris, the highestranking openly gay elected official in the State, reviewed civil union and same-sex marriage legislation that was then pending in the Illinois House and Senate. Representative Harris continued, discussing the future of the legislation in Illinois. The second speaker, Robert D. LoPrete of Reed Smith LLP, discussed estate planning issues in the context of civil unions and same-sex marriage. Mr. LoPrete's presentation noted the potential impact of the pending legislation in areas including property and inheritance rights and tax implications. Next, Christopher Clark, Senior Staff Attorney for Midwest Regional Office of Lamda Legal, offered an overview of same-sex marriage and civil unions in the larger context of its progress nationally. Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. And finally, Andrew Koppelman, Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University, offered an analysis of the legal arguments on both sides of the same-sex marriage/civil union debate. Following the presentation, the panelists entertained questions from the audience. 363898v1 What was the reason for undertaking this project? (Include in your discussion the steps taken to evaluate the need and to market this project to minority young lawyers to encourage their participation.) Our Committee conceived of the idea for the seminar after following current events in Illinois and nationally on the subject of same-sex marriage. We considered the issue to be an important one facing Illinois and a topic that would resonate with all lawyers and specifically young lawyers. Therefore, we marketed our project to minority young lawyers as well as all Chicago Bar Association members. Our decision to do so stemmed from our belief that our subject was one of potential interest to lawyers of all ages and ethnicities. Our attendance at the seminar reflected this belief, as lawyers from a broad range of ages and backgrounds were in attendance. How were the needs assessed among minorities? (i.e., Minority Bar Associations, Minority Young Lawyers, etc.) In preparing our presentation we conferred with other Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section Committees, both for ideas and to raise awareness of the seminar and its goals. Many of the CBA YLS’ membership include minority members. Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) Our goal was an educational one, to inform people of the issues surrounding the subject of marriage equality on both a local and national level. In doing so, we focused on four crucial areas - the status of marriage equality in Illinois, the status of marriage equality nationally, the impact of pending legislation and the legal arguments fueling both sides of the same-sex marriage and civil union debate. We measured our impact in terms of the quality of our speakers and attendance at the event. In that sense, we were thrilled with our results, as our presenters were outstanding and our attendance (in-person and online) totaled over 100 participants, including Illinois Speaker of the House, Michael J. Madigan. Coincidentally, within a year of our -2- presentation, Illinois legalized Civil Unions, speaking to the relevance and timeliness of the event. If goals were not met, why not? We met our goals. What was the impact or result of the project among minority lawyers? The presentation furthered awareness and education on the issues surrounding the subject of marriage equality. Attorneys meeting the ABA’s definition of Goal III diversity by way of being lesbian, gay, transgendered or bi-sexual had particular interest in the event, and all minority attendees appreciated that the debate is not a foreign one on the civil rights front. Attending minority attorneys also met those in the community, such as Representative Harris and Mr. Clark, who are making active efforts to further the rights of minorities. In addition, attendees were able to learn about the effect the civil union act would have from an estate planning standpoint, the subject of which led to very substantive discussions between Mr. LoPrete and the audience during the question and answer portion of the seminar. Additionally, the presentation made by Professor Koppelman featured an example of how inter-racial couples were historically not permitted to marry as a comparison to same-sex couple not being permitted to marry. The example served to provide attendees with a historical perspective and context. - Within your affiliate? We received positive feedback from the Chicago Bar Association, which promoted our project to both young lawyers and other CBA members. We believe the seminar helped to progress the CBA community's understanding of the issues. How did you measure this impact? (Be sure to include in your discussion the approximate number and specific minorities reached by this project.) -3- Our aim was to present a balanced overview of the issues related to marriage equality in Illinois and across the country and not to advocate a particular position, which again had particular interest to lesbian, gay, transgendered and bi-sexual attorneys. We had over 100 people in attendance, including individuals who joined us via webcast, and in that regard we were satisfied with our educational impact. CBA members continue to view our seminar using the CBA online CLE library, which is housed within WestLegalEd and is therefore available to Comment [A1]: Do you think that allowing this program to run had any impact on the result of legislation? lawyers across the country. What product resulted from this project? (e.g., pamphlet, brochure, video, etc.) We produced printed information concerning our presenters' presentations. Additionally, there is a video available of the entire seminar. Based upon your evaluation of the project, what revisions, if any, do you plan to implement in the future? We were extremely happy with the seminar. Given, however, that civil unions have been subsequently legalized in Illinois, the CBA Senior Bar organized a seminar last fall to discuss the impact of the passing legislation. During the 2011-2012 Bar year, the Senior Bar and YLS intend to jointly hold a seminar measuring the impact of this legislation and looking ahead to the possibility of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Illinois. 5/50/230 -4- 8. Basic Civil Procedure Video Teachlets for Pro Se Litigants (Educational) ABA AOA – SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC * Project Description (Please provide a brief description (750 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by the young lawyer volunteers in the undertaking of this project; any products resulting from the project; and in the case of continuing projects, if they have been expanded, explain how.) In conjunction with Illinois Legal Aid Online and The Chicago Bar Foundation, the CBA YLS developed video teachlets on basic civil procedure concepts. The videos are available to pro se litigants and other members of the public at http://www.illinoislegalaid.org/teachlets. Members of the CBA YLS helped select topics and draft the scripts for the videos, which were then edited and produced by ILAO. The CBF generously provided funding for the project, which will continue as additional video teachlets are made. The following videos are available online: • Filing Court Papers for Free • Where to File a Civil Lawsuit • Notifying Other Parties that You Filed A Court Case • Filing an Appearance, Answer and Jury Demand The following videos are in the final scripting stages and will be produced and available online in the next 30‐60 days: • Filing a Complaint or Petition • How to Serve Someone with a Lawsuit • What Happens if Don’t Show Up in Court (Getting a Default Judgment) • Vacating a Default judgment • How to Request Something from the Court • What Is an Order and How Do I Create One • Who Can Provide Legal Information adv ice/representation? • Basic Things to Know about the Courtroom * Needs Assessment (What was the reason for undertaking this project? e.g. was the project internally or externally motivated; was there a need in the community for the project; was there a target audience?) ILAO offers free legal information and assistance primarily to individuals who cannot afford legal counsel. To this end, ILAO provides free legal information on its website, including answers to common questions, court forms, and instructions for resolving a pro se litigants’ situation. Although our community is fortunate to have many pro bono attorneys and private practice attorneys who offer their time for pro bono causes, not all of the needs of the low income population can be met by pro bono lawyers alone. More than 1.3 million Cook County residents are living at or near poverty, unable to pay for often critical legal help and there are only about 300 full‐time legal aid attorneys to help them. Due to the extreme gap between the number of pro bono attorneys and the needs of the community, many litigants are forced to handle their legal disputes alone, without lawyers. Accordingly, our primary target for this video project is pro se litigants who are unable to find pro bono attorneys to represent them, but need basic legal information about how to proceed. Although ILAO already offers written information on basic civil procedure concepts, ILAO, the CBF and the CBA YLS wanted to offer another medium for explaining these concepts, which would help those with limited literacy or people who respond better to visual or oral material (rather than written content). While it is true that those resourceful individuals who have access to a computer and are able to surf the internet are most likely able to read the text available, processing the information is another issue. Accordingly, it was the goal of the Committee to help pro se individuals gain a greater understanding of what lies ahead. To assist pro se litigants with practicing in the civil court system, and to offer another means of obtaining the information, ILAO, the CBF and CBA YLS joined forces to create videos to help explain relevant civil procedure concepts where pro bono attorneys may not be available to assist. The videos available online and those forthcoming were identified as those most relevant to pro se litigants and will be integrated into existing ILAO text content. Because we chose very basic concepts (like motion, service and venue), these videos will be hugely helpful for people without lawyers in any number of civil disputes. * Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) The goals of this project were met to the extreme satisfaction of the ILAO, the CBF and CBA YLS. The Committee who developed this Public Service project wanted to keep the videos short and succinct. Each video is approximately 2‐3 minutes long and provides a different medium for pro se litigants to obtain basic civil procedure concepts. The CBF’s mission is to help provide equal access to justice and helping pro se litigants access the information they need to seek that justice is what these videos provide. If goals were not met, why not? N/A * Will this be a recurring affiliate project? The CBA YLS and CBF YPB have been committed to producing video content for ILAO each year. Rather than focus on a specific area of law this year, the group decided to develop important building block materials on common civil procedure topics—which will be of enormous value for litigants in all kinds of legal disputes. If yes, will you make any revisions? The Project will continue as additional videos are produced and until the CBF grant is used. Degree of Participation by Members * How many young lawyer members actually participated in this project? (Consider young lawyer involvement in all the different stages of the project...planning, organization, implementation, and/or presentation.) How many young lawyer leadership (officers, directors, board membership)? 2 from the CBA YLS How many young lawyer committee members? How many young lawyer general membership? There were 8 individuals on the committee who developed the project. Five individuals are young lawyers, all of whom serve as an officer, director or board member of the CBF Young Professionals Board. The Committee also include a non‐attorney who sits on the CBF Young Professionals Board. Finally, a representative from the ILAO and CBF were also members of the committee. * Was the project conducted with the Senior Bar? No * What other groups or individuals participated and in what numbers? See Answer above. * What do you think is the optimum amount of members needed to carry out this project? We believe our committee size operated efficiently and achieved the goals we set out to meet. Because video production is an expensive endeavor, there are only so many scripts that need to me drafted. Each young lawyer member drafted 2‐3 scripts as well as provided input on identifying the concepts most useful to a pro se litigant and editing of the videos. According, we would suggest no more than 10 members to carry out this project. This number may increase if funding efforts are required prior to commencement of the project. Timeframe * How much time did it take to organize the project? Gathering funding for this Public Service Project was initiated by the CBF over a year ago as part of their mission to take a system‐wide approach to improving access to justice. Once the amount of funding was determined, members of the CBF Young Professionals Board and the CBA YLS began working with ILAO to identify the most relevant basic civil procedure issues for pro se litigants. Once the list was finalized, attorney committee members drafted the video teachlets. Non‐attorney volunteers helped edit the scripts with an eye towards simplifying the legal issues. Finally, ILAO finalized the scripted and worked with a video production company to produce and edit the videos. * How much time did it take to recruit members for the project? Once funding was available and an officer was chosen to lead the efforts, a project proposal was submitted for vote at the CBA’s monthly executive council meeting. Following approval, members of the CBA were encouraged to contact the committee chair to volunteer. Volunteers were also solicited from the CBF Young Professionals Board. The Committee received enough volunteers to begin the planning stages of the project within a matter of weeks. * How much time did it take to carry out the project from beginning to end? This Public Service Project was a year‐long commitment and will continue for years to come as additional topics are identified to benefit the pro se litigant. Budget * What was the cost of this project excluding in‐kind/donated services? $15,000. * How was the project funded? Funding was provided by the Chicago Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the Chicago Bar Association. Funding for the CBF is raised in several ways, including by events organized by the CBA YLS and the CBF’s own Young Professionals Board. * How long did it take to raise the funds needed for this project? The funds are raised throughout the year‐round efforts of the CBF Young Professionals Board, which, as a conservative estimate, includes hundreds of hours of work. The YPB primarily raises funds through events such as Fat Tuesday and Casino Legale. The CBA YLS also helps raise money though their Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament. Suggestions / Recommendations * What suggestions/recommendations would you make to other young lawyer groups who would consider undertaking a similar project? Our legal community is fortunate to have an organization like ILAO to serve as the foundation of a Public Service Project like this. For those legal communities who do not have an established free legal reference website, it should be determined if the affiliate’s own website is the appropriate venue for offering these types of videos. Second, it is helpful to have the information available in text, in addition to video form. The next step is to determine the amount of funding available. Professional video production and editing is not cheap. An affiliate may want to seek a production company willing to partially donate their services. Finally, an affiliate should have several attorney and non‐ attorney volunteers helping draft the scripts – it often takes several rounds of editing to get a script ready for production. 9. Committee Initiative (Educational) ABA YLD Awards of Achievement Program Single Project/COMPREHENSIVE Project Information Form One form must be completed for each project included in a comprehensive application as well as for each Single project application entry. * Indicates required field. * Name of YLD Affiliate IL - Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers * Division (Figures are for the young lawyer membership of your organization) Local Affiliate: 2000 or more If Comprehensive Application, Project Number 9. Committee Initiative (Educational) * Type of Project Educational * Degree of Change or Growth Ongoing Project * Project Description (Please provide a brief description (750 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by the young lawyer volunteers in the undertaking of this project; any products resulting from the project; and in the case of continuing projects, if they have been expanded, explain how.) Ever since the CBA YLS started, committees have been a vital part of our existence. This year was truly the year of the committee, as our focus was on ensuring that they provided local lawyers with more regular opportunities to network, share information, learn, and ask questions. Specifically, we charged committees with providing members a chance to meet up nine times during the year, whether it be for a traditional meeting, a special event, or a seminar. In order to facilitate this charge, most committees had not one but three chairs assigned. The thought was that the three could divide the work equally and achieve that goal. The experiment worked! Our committees were responsible this year for almost 200 gatherings! * Needs Assessment (What was the reason for undertaking this project? e.g. was the project internally or externally motivated; was there a need in the community for the project; was there a target audience?) To fully succeed, a bar association has to do three things: (1) prove its relevance to current and prospective members, (2) make those who want to participate feel welcome, and (3) get the lawyers who engage to consider it home. Committee engagement allows a bar to connect with members on a stronger level. Committee engagement had the potential to get members comfortable enough to call the YLS home. * Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) The goal was to provide members with a regular connection to the bar so they made the CBA their permanent home. We achieved this goal by tapping our committees to lead efforts to provide more gatherings during the year. Committees worked very hard to answer that call—as did the directors and officers who oversee them—ultimately providing 155 meetings, 23 of our 39 seminars, and a handful of special events. In total, 16 of the 22 traditional committees met at least nine times during the year, meeting the individual committee goal. Six committees, however, met more often, allowing committees to say that as a group, they achieved the overarching goal of providing almost 200 gatherings for committee members in total! If goals were not met, why not? Goals were met * Will this be a recurring affiliate project? Yes If yes, will you make any revisions? Committees will continue to exist. What we set as expectations, however, may change. Degree of Participation by Members * How many young lawyer members actually participated in this project? (Consider young lawyer involvement in all the different stages of the project...planning, organization, implementation, and/or presentation.) More than 8,000 How many young lawyer leadership (officers, directors, board membership)? 18 Officers & Directors. How many young lawyer committee members? 3,000 How many young lawyer general membership? 4,000 All of those who participated in the noted YLS programming. * Was the project conducted with the Senior Bar? No * What other groups or individuals participated and in what numbers? N/A * What do you think is the optimum amount of members needed to carry out this project? You need at least one person to lead each event. Timeframe * How much time did it take to organize the project? It took a few weeks to get a meeting and seminar schedule together. * How much time did it take to recruit members for the project? The leaders were recruited and confirmed prior to the start of the year as committee chairs. * How much time did it take to carry out the project from beginning to end? We carried out the project all year. Budget * What was the cost of this project excluding in-kind/donated services? No cost 10. Moot Court (Competition) ABA YLD Awards of Achievement Program Single Project/COMPREHENSIVE Project Information Form One form must be completed for each project included in a comprehensive application as well as for each Single project application entry. * Indicates required field. * Name of YLD Affiliate IL - Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers * Division (Figures are for the young lawyer membership of your organization) Local Affiliate: 2000 or more If Comprehensive Application, Project Number 10. Moot Court (Competition) * Type of Project Competitions * Degree of Change or Growth Continued Project * Project Description (Please provide a brief description (750 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by the young lawyer volunteers in the undertaking of this project; any products resulting from the project; and in the case of continuing projects, if they have been expanded, explain how.) The 29th annual CBA Moot Court Competition was held in November 2010 where 27 law student teams competed, practicing their appellate advocacy skills by writing briefs on current legal issues and arguing both sides of the issue before practicing attorneys and judges. Law schools from across the country participated. More than 100 lawyers and judges volunteered their time to grading briefs and/or acting as oral argument judges. Judge Patrice Ball-Reed, Judge Sheila Finnegan, Judge Marty Moltz, and Judge Sidney Schenkier presided over the finals. Registration information is noted here: http://www.chicagobar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Moot_Court_Competition * Needs Assessment (What was the reason for undertaking this project? e.g. was the project internally or externally motivated; was there a need in the community for the project; was there a target audience?) Law students are looking for ways to learn more about what it’s like to be a lawyer. This contest provides them with an opportunity to get “a real taste of courtroom practice.” Also, in a tough job market, competing provides them with a way to distinguish themselves from other job candidates. * Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) The goal was to provide law students an opportunity to practice the skills they will one day need in the courtroom, which will allow them to be more prepared to enter the profession. If goals were not met, why not? Goals were met * Will this be a recurring affiliate project? Yes If yes, will you make any revisions? No, although we may do something to celebrate our 30th Anniversary of the competition. Degree of Participation by Members * How many young lawyer members actually participated in this project? (Consider young lawyer involvement in all the different stages of the project...planning, organization, implementation, and/or presentation.) 100 How many young lawyer leadership (officers, directors, board membership)? 1 How many young lawyer committee members? 20 How many young lawyer general membership? 80 * Was the project conducted with the Senior Bar? No * What other groups or individuals participated and in what numbers? 27 Moot Court Societies participated from law schools around the country * What do you think is the optimum amount of members needed to carry out this project? 100 is appropriate for a competition this size. At least two volunteers are needed to spearhead. Timeframe * How much time did it take to organize the project? Two weeks to coordinate space and other logistics. * How much time did it take to recruit members for the project? The leaders were recruited and confirmed prior to the start of the year. * How much time did it take to carry out the project from beginning to end? 6 months. Budget * What was the cost of this project excluding in-kind/donated services? $3000 * How was the project funded? The CBA YLS general budget contributed $2500; LexisNexis contributed $500. * How long did it take to raise the funds needed for this project? Because the funds came from the general budget, which is set in advance of each bar year, no special fundraising was required to cover the paid portion of the project.. Suggestions / Recommendations * What suggestions/recommendations would you make to other young lawyer groups who would consider undertaking a similar project? This kind of project is very labor-intensive. Our volunteers traditionally create the problem, but I believe there are moot court problems available for sale if that is something holding you back. If you have any questions, contact YLD Administrator, Bill Stanton at [email protected] or 312-988-5611. 11. Health Initiative (Special Event) ABA YLD Awards of Achievement Program Single Project/COMPREHENSIVE Project Information Form One form must be completed for each project included in a comprehensive application as well as for each Single project application entry. * Indicates required field. * Name of YLD Affiliate IL - Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers * Division (Figures are for the young lawyer membership of your organization) Local Affiliate: 2000 or more If Comprehensive Application, Project Number 11. Health Initiative (Special Event) * Type of Project Special Events * Degree of Change or Growth Continued Project * Project Description (Please provide a brief description (750 words or less) of your project. Be sure to include a description of the role(s) played by the young lawyer volunteers in the undertaking of this project; any products resulting from the project; and in the case of continuing projects, if they have been expanded, explain how.) The CBA YLS continues to seek ways to get members to be more physically active. We’ve provided two ways on an ongoing basis: Hosting a Most Fit Lawyer Event. In March, 30 lawyers participated in the Most Fit Lawyer Health & Fitness Expo and Competition at the Fitness Formula Club in Lincoln Park. Lawyers of all ages changed out of their suits and into their workout gear to learn the basics of exercise, network with their peers and compete in a variety of fitness tests that measured speed, strength, power, endurance and agility. For more on the event and the related materials, visit: http://geomium.com/event/most-fitlawyer-health-and-fitness-expo-and-competition-17424/ Gathering a team to run in Race Judicata. In July, the YLS once again fielded a team with the Illinois Judges Association for the 5K fundraiser. The beneficiary of the race, Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, secured the event’s proceeds to assist with its general operating costs. The CVLS aims to ensure the law works for everyone, not just those who can afford it. Over 20 YLS members ran and enjoyed a post-run reception and camaraderie. * Needs Assessment (What was the reason for undertaking this project? e.g. was the project internally or externally motivated; was there a need in the community for the project; was there a target audience?) Because of the sedentary nature of our work and the long hours we as a profession must put in at our desks, it is harder for us to prioritize physical activity. We need to find time to do these things in order to stay healthy and avoid obesity and heart attacks. * Achievement of Goals / Impact (What were the goals and objectives of this project?) The goal was to provide attorneys some options for peer networking that included physical activity. If goals were not met, why not? Goals were met. * Will this be a recurring affiliate project? Yes If yes, will you make any revisions? Downplay the YLS sponsorship in order to get a more diverse crowd age-wise (feedback from more seasoned lawyers was that they assumed that when YLS hosts something it’s really only for young lawyers). It’s primarily a marketing issue. Degree of Participation by Members * How many young lawyer members actually participated in this project? (Consider young lawyer involvement in all the different stages of the project...planning, organization, implementation, and/or presentation.) 50 How many young lawyer leadership (officers, directors, board membership)? 3 How many young lawyer committee members? 10 How many young lawyer general membership? 35 * Was the project conducted with the Senior Bar? No * What other groups or individuals participated and in what numbers? Illinois Judges Association met up with us at Race Judicata. The group had approximately 10 of their members at the race. * What do you think is the optimum amount of members needed to carry out this project? Two or three. Timeframe * How much time did it take to organize the project? Three weeks. * How much time did it take to recruit members for the project? Three months. * How much time did it take to carry out the project from beginning to end? Four months. Budget * What was the cost of this project excluding in-kind/donated services? $500 for each. For the Most Fit event, $350 covered t-shirts and the balance covered food and drinks. For Race Judicata, the $500 was for tent rental. * How was the project funded? The CBA YLS special project budget contributed the full amounts. * How long did it take to raise the funds needed for this project? Because the funds came from the YLS special budget, which is set in advance of each bar year, no special fundraising was required to cover the paid portion of the project. Suggestions / Recommendations * What suggestions/recommendations would you make to other young lawyer groups who would consider undertaking a similar project? You don’t need to create your own activities to achieve this goal—you can simply form a group to participate in something that already exists within your community (similar to the Race Judicata model). If you have any questions, contact YLD Administrator, Bill Stanton at [email protected] or 312-988-5611.