Chicago Bar Association Contact: Ken Bloom Chicago Bar Assoc. Mass & Miller, P.C Suite 3110, 180 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60601-2801 Activity Summary: The YLS Law Week 1997 consisted of the following events and activities: Community Law Fairs held throughout the city, a Call a Lawyer radio program, a live television show call-in program, selection and presentation of the Liberty Bell Award, poster and essay contests for high school students, and a gala celebration at the courthouse announcing all award winners and special performances by the chorus and Symphony of the Chicago Bar Association. Activity Narrative: The Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association (YLS) began expanding the Law Day Celebration from a day to a week long commemoration over 20 years ago. The focus of our celebration has been legal education and service for the poor, young and the elderly. Our primary vehicle for bringing this celebration into Chicago's neighborhoods and communities is through "law fairs". YLS volunteers speak at the law fairs and offer free legal consolation and referrals. The law fairs are held at community centers, churches, and homeless shelters throughout the city. This year the YLS hosted 11 law fairs. All of the speakers and programs were well received and attended. I. COMMUNITY LAW FAIRS In conjunction with this year's theme for Law Day Celebrate Your Freedom, the law fairs reached out to several different communities in Chicago's West and South sides, Hispanic neighborhoods, Senior Citizen Centers, Homeless Shelters, Asian and Polish American Community Centers, a shelter for battered women, an orphanage and several other locations. The format was straightforward: after about an hour presentation on various issues ranging from hate crimes, confidentiality and HIV testing to family law, immigration, landlord/tenant disputes and estate planning issues, lawyers met attendees one-on-one. During these individual sessions, the lawyers determined whether a legal or practical problem existed and gave advice to the individuals about where to go for legal or non-legal help. Especially important was our ability to link persons with the appropriate free or low-cost legal services or to provide information on how to contact the correct agency. II. OUTREACH TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS-ESSAY AND POSTER CONTESTS A tradition is the Law Week Essay Contest. On April 16, 1997, 25 high school students from throughout the Chicago Public School System gathered at the Chicago Bar Association to write an essay on the various issues surrounding the advances in cloning of animal and, more importantly, human DNA. The students then participated in group discussions on the issue, which were moderated by YLS members. After the discussion, the students and YLS members chatted informally. The attorneys answered questions ranging from "what's it like to be a lawyer?" to "do lawyers make a lot of money?' New for this year was the first annual high school poster contest. High school students from throughout the Chicago Public School System were invited to participate in a poster contest designed to test their artistic skills while tapping their political and constitutional views on the Law Week 1997 theme Celebrate Your Freedom. The contest entries were judged by the Creative Arts Committee of the YLS. The top three finishers (out of 18 entries) were given special award certificates at the Daley Center Celebration, and the first place winner was entered in the ABA Competition for judging at the Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The winning entry was a unique poster with burnt edges and a constitutional message. III. LAW DAY CELEBRATION In keeping with tradition, this year's week long event involved a celebration at the Richard J. Daley Center in Chicago on April 30, 1997 at noon. After speeches by officers of the YLS and the general bar and award presentation to the winners of the Law Week Essay and Poster Contest, the Treasurer of the CBA presented our annual Liberty Bell Award to the non-lawyer in Chicago who best strengthened the effectiveness of the American system of freedom under law. This year, the Liberty Bell Award was presented to Leslie Corbett, the Assistant Director of the Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services of Chicago (CARPLS). Leslie has devoted her career to helping those who need help the most, such as incarcerated woman who try to get their children back from the system after their release from prison, as exemplified through her work with Chicago Legal Aid to Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM). As Assistant Director of CARLPS, a nationally recognized legal services hotline, Leslie manages an office of twenty-five while overseeing the processing of over 16,000 cases per year for low-income families who were rejected and referred to CARLPS by other legal aid agencies. In addition, Leslie volunteers for the United Way/Crusade of Mercy and is a member of the board of directors of the Crossroads Fund, a youth-led community organizing conference. The Celebration concluded with an outstanding performance by the CBA'S own symphony orchestra and choir. The festivities were truly enjoyed by all. IV. SPECIAL TELEVISION AND CALL-IN PROGRAMS REACH PUBLIC Another YLS Law Week tradition is the YLS-staffed Call-A-Lawyer program. On Saturday, May 2, the public was able to speak via telephone with volunteer attorneys. The Chicago Bar Association also reached out to the public through a live television call-in show. Six half hour panels were aired on cable TV. Each half hour segment dealt with a different legal issue ranging from bankruptcy to customer law to traffic law. The YLS Law Week Chair was selected as the expert for the estate planning portion. He was quick to point out the YLS activities taking place during Law Week. V. LEGAL INFORMATION BOOTH Finally, in association with South Suburban College Alumni Association and the Chicago Association of Law Librarians, the YLS staffed a Legal Information Booth at the Richard J. Daley Center for the entire week. The YLS and co-sponsoring volunteers provided information on where to go for legal advice, and passed out numerous pamphlets on legal and community issues written by YLS members. The project was undertaken to address the need identified by the YLS for legal advice and service to those who could not otherwise afford it or who do not have access to the legal system. The need for free or low cost legal services was uncovered in a joint legal needs study done by the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association. Our law fairs target some of the needs discovered in that study, particularly in domestic relations and senior citizens' rights areas. In addition, we reached out to other communities not identified in the study that needed legal services, such as the homeless population, immigrants and the gay community. While this has been a continuing YLS project, this year we expanded the program by adding the High School Poster Contest and reached new communities in need through the Law Fairs. Overall, we estimate that the number of direct participants in YLS-sponsored activities during Law Week to be over 1000, and the number of citizens who saw our television shows, listened to our radio appearances, or called our volunteer attorney phone bank exceeded 100,000. Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization