CBF Investing in Justice Campaign is Launched to Address Legal Aid Crisis
“Investing in Justice Campaign”

For the first time in its history, the Chicago Bar Foundation (CBF) has embarked on a community-wide fundraising effort, the “Investing in Justice Campaign,” to take ownership of, and effectively address, a legal aid crisis recently identified by a widely publicized CBF study. Seyfarth Shaw Partner James Baird and Of Counsel Tom Howell, Jr. are serving on the Investing in Justice Leadership Team and heading the firm’s campaign efforts.  Mr. Howell also serves on the Campaign Steering Committee.

100% of the Campaign funds in its inaugural year will be used to provide special grants to Chicago’s pro bono and legal aid organizations, to begin the process of increasing yearly attorney salaries to levels that will allow their staff members to remain in legal aid.  In future years, funds from the Campaign will be used to further build the capacity of the pro bono and legal aid system.

The Campaign is taking place between March 5 and 23, 2007.
“We are truly pleased to be a part of this vitally important campaign,” said Mr. Baird.  “This is a unique opportunity for us to give back to our profession.”
Currently, there are only about 250 legal aid attorneys in the Chicago area to serve the more than 750,000 Cook County residents living in poverty.  As a result, more than half of low-income Chicagoans who seek legal assistance that is often critical to their safety and independence are turned away because pro bono and legal aid organizations do not have the capacity to serve them.  Hundreds of thousands more are left to try to solve often complex legal problems on their own.

Moreover, a new study (available at www.chicagobarfoundation.org), published by the Chicago Bar Foundation and the Illinois Coalition for Equal Justice, takes an in-depth look at legal aid attorney recruitment and retention and reveals that nearly half will leave their jobs in the next three years because they simply can’t afford to stay.  Many have significant debt from law school and are finding the burden impossible to bear with the inordinately low salaries that are typical in our legal aid system today.  Losing just 10% of our experienced legal aid attorneys over the course of a year means that about 10,000 fewer low-income Chicagoans have access to critical legal services, the study concluded.

“As lawyers, we are uniquely positioned to help ensure that everyone has access to our justice system,” said Mr. Howell.  “We are excited to be able to do our part to support legal aid services specifically in the broader context of investing in ongoing justice.”