Chair’s Column

The Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law-Related Education for the Public (LRE) has an exciting year planned for 2025-26! We are a dynamic group of 30 appointed and associate members who will be offering a variety of programs and services to lawyers and the public. Allow me to take this opportunity to explain how we are organized and what we hope to accomplish in the coming year.

The LRE has five Standing Subcommittees: Civics Education, Communications, Long-Range Planning, Membership and Mock Trials. They are further divided into Working Groups to accomplish all the goals that we have set for this year, and there are many!

Civics Education, chaired by the Hon. Michael Chmiel of McHenry County, oversees the activities of the ISBA’s Speakers Bureau. It identifies potential speakers in areas, subjects, and locations of need, empowering them to be willing lecturers and connects spokespersons to local organizations that are interested in hosting talks on a variety of legal topics. The Outreach Group works within the ISBA to promote, administer, and refine the “Lawyers in the Classroom,” “Courtroom in the Classroom,” and the “Courtroom in the Community” Programs. It works in conjunction with the Illinois Judges Association (IJA) by providing training, presentation materials, volunteer lists, publicity, and other assistance to maintain the effectiveness of those programs. In addition to that, they explore the presentation of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs which involve civics topics that would be of interest to attorneys. They also work with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), teachers’ groups (such as the IL Council of Social Studies Teachers [ICCST] and the DuPage Valley Social Studies Conference), and with various other civics and legal organizations to coordinate activities relating to civics education. Additionally, the Civics Education Awards Group receives nominations and makes awards to ISBA Members and the public at large for their civics education activities.

The Communications Subcommittee, chaired by Nathan Davidson of Rock Island, is divided into four groups. The first is the Lesson Plans Work Group which has the goal of making a master list of all lesson plans on our website, review and update them as necessary, and remove old or outdated ones that may be available from other civics resources. The Newsletter Work Group plans to publish at least four editions this year. The Pamphlets Work Group intends to make a reference list of all LRE pamphlets and then update, remove, or revise them, as necessary. The fourth and final Work Group of this Standing Subcommittee is comprised of the Website folks who are responsible for maintaining the LRE Page on the ISBA Website (https://www.isba.org/committees/lawrelatededucation) and the ILCIVICS.ORG website, which is devoted to the public. Their goal is to test all links for functionality and accuracy this year, to review all posted materials to ensure that they are current, to link to partner organizations and activities, and to work with ISBA staff to publicize the ILCIVICS domain name.

The Long-Range Planning Subcommittee, chaired by Brittany Shaw of Chicago who is also Vice-Chair this year, reviews this year’s plan and revises, rewrites, and adjusts it throughout the year, so that there is a cohesive road map for the next year. The proposed changes are approved by the entire LRE, so it’s a group effort. This unit also explores alternative funding sources, within ISBA guidelines, to minimize our programming costs (such as mock trials). The LRE engages in this exercise every year to ensure that we are meeting demands and making conscious decisions about the future.

The Membership Subcommittee, co-chaired by Mohini Lal of West Chicago and Hon. John O’Gara of Bellville, organizes activities that promote camaraderie among LRE members and identifies potential new members to be recommended to the incoming ISBA President for appointment to the LRE. They also maintain the waiting list of ISBA volunteers who express an interest in serving on the LRE. Yes, people do wait to become members of our committee.

The Mock Trial Subcommittee, chaired by Sarah Taylor of Carbondale, administers the ISBA High School Mock Trial Invitational with carefully chosen partners and sponsors (such as the Illinois Law-Related Education Resource Network [LEARN]). This year-long project includes the preparation of the problem, materials (such as the Trial Handbook and registration packets), providing the mock trial teacher training resources, devising the law test. It also includes managing the expenses of the program within the annual budget, with a goal toward increasing the number and geographic diversity of the schools participating in the competition, all while optimizing the use of technology in providing instruction and disseminating information to schools, volunteers, and parties. This program involves over 50 high schools from across the state, which are comprised of teams of ten. This single event easily includes over 800 participants, including the lawyers, paralegals and non-attorney volunteers and speakers, the number of teams, coaches, chaperones, and supportive family members. We are immensely proud that the number of participating schools has increased every year, and that the winner of the Illinois Invitational represents our state in the national competition. We are hoping to offer Illinois Supreme Court Courthouse tours to students again this year and are exploring the possibility of obtaining CLE credit for the lawyers who volunteer their time as judges and jurors. In the past, CLE credit had only been earned at college and law school level competitions. This year’s High School Mock Trial Invitational will be taking place at Lincoln Land Community College on March 14 & 15, 2026, in Springfield, IL. Mock Trial materials can be found at https://www.isba.org/teachers/mocktrial.

In conclusion, the LRE has many offerings that benefit the public, and its members provide these services for free. We hope that you will take advantage of these opportunities and enjoy these programs as much as we do.

Raquel G. (Rocky) Martinez is a retired attorney residing in Culver, Indiana. She earned a JD from The John Marshall Law School in 1986 (graduated on the Super Bowl Sunday when Da Bears won), a BA from University of Illinois at Chicago in 1982, and an AA from Morton College in 1979. She was admitted to practice in Illinois and the Northern District of Illinois in 1986, and to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999. Her areas of concentration included administrative, government (such as the Freedom of Information and Open Meetings Acts), consumer protection, higher education, and civil litigation. Ms. Martinez has been an active ISBA member since 1986 and served as chair of the following Standing Committees and Sections: Women and Minority Participation, Administrative Law, Government Lawyers, Membership/Bar Services and Activities, Education Law, Law-Related Education for the Public (with two terms as chair), and was the CLE Coordinator for the Senior Lawyers. Additionally, she served two terms on the General Assembly.

In her previous lives she has held titles such as Assistant State’s Attorney for Cook County, Assistant Attorney General for Illinois, and Deputy General Counsel for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Raquel published a chapter in an IICLE handbook on administrative hearings and wrote for the Illinois Bar Journal as well as several ISBA newsletters. Ms. Martinez has been a speaker and/or moderator for many panels and seminars. Raquel served on numerous community boards and organizations (e.g., United Way, Planned Parenthood, etc.) and remains active in several entities that promote civics, community service, and education (e.g., the Morton College Foundation for over 30 years).

Rocky retired early to care for a sick family member and lives on the family farm in rural Indiana with her husband, Eric, two dogs, and two cats. She “sharpens the sword” through her ISBA activities and maintains her creativity through her cottage crafting business called “Rocky’s Paper Scissors.”