This year, I’ve realized anew that membership has its privileges.

As the holiday season arrives, I find myself feeling thankful. It’s no coincidence that my sense of gratitude has also grown as the ISBA’s 2021-2022 president. I see more than ever how important you, our members, are to our association. Because of your support, loyalty, and active participation, the ISBA can provide a plethora of benefits for all members; meanwhile, by pooling our resources together, we support the Illinois legal community.

In the spirit of giving thanks, I will highlight a few of my favorite ISBA benefits. I encourage you to take a few minutes when you can to ensure you’re getting the most out of them, too.

Free On-Demand CLE

Regular members receive 15 hours of Free On-Demand CLE each bar year. That means you’ll never need to spend another dollar complying with your biannual MCLE reporting! Our On-Demand catalogue has hundreds of CLE programs covering dozens of areas, including recent sessions from our Business Institute and the Solo & Small Firm Conference. You’ll also find plenty of programming that provides all the specialty credits you need (i.e., professional responsibility, substance abuse, mental health, etc.). Visit Free On-Demand CLE and get started!

E-Clips

For thousands of Illinois attorneys, reading E-clips is part of their morning routine. In E-clips, you receive a curated aggregation of legal news stories from throughout the state and digests of recently handed down opinions from the Illinois Supreme Court, Illinois Appellate Court, and the federal Seventh Circuit. Every night, our case digesters diligently review all opinions, summarize them, and prepare them for inclusion in the following day’s E-Clips. These summaries are an invaluable member service—and, to the best of my knowledge, the ISBA is the only bar association in the country that provides this!

ISBA Central communities

Like most attorneys, you no doubt can benefit from the insight of other practitioners. Our ISBA Central platform facilitates discussions of relevant legal topics; encourages asking for and giving guidance; and allows for file and document sharing. Most Central communities are practice-area specific and are tied to membership in one’s associated ISBA sections. But there also are general discussion communities that are free to all members. Once you join an ISBA Central community, you can choose to engage with its members via a web-based platform or via email (like a traditional listserv system). I routinely check in with my Central communities, where I affirm great answers posted by colleagues and recommend knowledgeable ISBA members.

Illinois Bar Foundation

In a column about giving thanks and showing appreciation, I must mention the Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF), the charitable arm of the ISBA (read my good friend IBF President Lisa Nyuli’s column on page 44 ). As the year comes to a close and you think about your charitable giving, please consider supporting the incredible work of the IBF, which is the only Illinois charity specifically working to help lawyers and their families.

ISBA Midyear Meeting

This December, we will once again hold our Midyear Meeting virtually, during which we can safely enjoy one another’s company from the comforts of our homes and offices (absence makes the heart grow fonder, so I can’t wait for 2022, when we’ll be reunited face to face). We’ve created great programs for the 2021 meeting, which I’m confident you will love. To register, visit our Midyear Meeting page.

And so much more

ISBA membership comes with many more benefits than those listed above. You can learn about them at our member benefits page. Of course, membership is about more than benefits. The ISBA gives us a giant extended family of colleagues and friends who check in with one another, guide us through the challenges of our profession, and support our united mission to serve the people of Illinois. For all of this, for all of you, and for my many blessings, I am truly grateful.