Delivery of Legal Services Spotlight on pro bono

By Marisa Wiesman, Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services

Retired or Inactive? You Can Do Pro Bono!

Is your ARDC registration status retired or inactive? Did you know that you can still provide pro bono legal services?

By Abigail Causer, Attorney Program Manager, Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI)

By Andrew Sharp, Esq.

"You've always had the power, my dear. You've had it all along" - Glinda, the Good Witch (Wizard of Oz)

"The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know."  - Albert Einstein

“Yeah, Al, but you know more than me!” - Apocryphal

Many attorneys shy away from pro bono work, not because they lack interest, but because they feel they don't have enough expertise (or time to gain the requisite knowledge) to truly make a difference. 

By Abigail Causer, Managing Attorney at the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) & Nicole Massey, Veterans Attorney and Pro Bono Coordinator at Land of Lincoln Legal Aid

In Illinois, there are over 800,000 veterans, active service members, National Guard members, and dependents of deployed service members. For people in these groups, access to civil legal services is highly sought after, and many cannot afford it. The 2023 survey by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Project CHALENG (Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education, and Networking Groups) identified several unmet needs for legal assistance in eight areas: credit issues and debt collection, expunging criminal records, family law and tax issues, child support issues, outstanding warrants and fines, discharge upgrade appeals, and financial guardianship.