Kari Beyer (right), a student at the John Marshall Law School, will be honored next month with the ISBA Law Student Division Public Service Award. She will receive it during the Annual Meeting at The Abbey on Lake Geneva.

A third-year law student, Beyer has been providing volunteer legal service to low-income individuals since early in her first year, said David M. Diamond, director of career service, who nominated her.

She has touched people's lives through work at the Asian Human Service Monthly Legal Clinic, the Chicago Legal Clinic, the Cabrini Green Legal Clinic and the Midwest Immigration and Human Rights Center.

This summer, her destination is the Evanston office of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. She will handle matters ranging from family law to consumer protection.

Active in the school's Public Interest Law Committee since her first year, when sshe was elected treasurer, Beyer helped launch an annual 5K race to raise funds and awareness for the Loan Repayment and Assistance Program.

“Kari has consistently expressed a sincere desire to provide direct legal support to the most underprivileged and under-represented members of society,” Diamond wrote. He added that although she is in the top 2 percent of her class, she has not been tempted by high-paying private sector work. A $250 donation from ISBA will be made in Beyer's name to the Cabrini Green Legal Clinic.

Law students at seven other schools were finalists for the ISBA Public Service Award, and each will receive recognition. They are:

Caroline Cascino of Chicago-Kent, Jessica Covell of DePaul, Eric Fish of Loyola, Josie M. Margaglione of Northern Illinois, Chad M. Kruse of Southern Illinois, Steve Flores of Illinois, and Patricia Ann Mastagh of Valparaiso.