Illinois State Bar Association | Illinois Judges Association
December 11 – 12, 2025
JW Marriott Chicago
151 West Adams Street, Chicago (map and directions)
Thursday, December 11
Illinois Bar Foundation Board Meeting
11:30 a.m. Lunch
12:00 p.m. Meeting
ISBA Member Appreciation Reception featuring Glo Bingo!
5:30 – 10:00 p.m.
Join the ISBA Board of Governors, Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Council, and staff for food, beverages, and a fun evening of Glo Bingo! New this year, we will be assisting the ISBA YLD in their efforts to raise money for the ISBA YLD Children’s Assistance Fund. Each round of bingo offers the opportunity for attendees to win up to $200, plus a $300 donation to the Children’s Assistance Fund! Find additional details and sponsorship options here. Doors open at 5:30 pm, bingo check-in begins at 6 pm, and bingo starts at 7 pm.
Member Appreciation Reception: Complimentary to Joint Midyear Meeting Registered Attendees
Please note: Glo Bingo is for adults only.
Friday, December 12
Illinois Bar Foundation Champions Breakfast
7:30 – 9:00 a.m.
Join the Illinois Bar Foundation at the ISBA Midyear Meeting in Chicago as we honor two esteemed members of our Illinois legal community, Deane Brown (Hughes Socol Piers Resnick Dym Ltd), and Thomas Zimmerman (Zimmerman Law Offices PC), at our annual Champions Breakfast.
Separate registration is required for Illinois Bar Foundation Champion’s Breakfast.
Member Services and Benefits Exhibits
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Attendees can speak directly with representatives from our Midyear Meeting sponsors and exhibitors, have their questions answered, and win prizes.
IJA/ISBA Joint CLE Program: The Legal Profession: Caretakers of Democracy
9:00 – 11:50 a.m.
Presented by the Illinois State Bar Association and the Illinois Judges Association
2.50 hours MCLE credit
The legal profession has always served as a guardian of democracy, with lawyers and judges playing a pivotal role in upholding the rule of law, protecting individual rights, and ensuring equal access to justice. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from leaders in our legal community as they discuss why lawyers are required to interact with the public, how to navigate speaking events (especially when in less than comfortable settings), and the executive orders that impact law firms.
Program Speakers: Hon. David W. Ellis, Illinois Appellate Court, First District, Nathan P. Eimer, Eimer Stahl LLP, Chicago, Cara Hendrickson, Executive Deputy Attorney General, Illinois Attorney General's Office, Chicago, Prof. James B. Speta, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Chicago, Hon. Justin M. Hansen, 22nd Judicial Circuit Court, Hon. Elizabeth M. Rochford, Illinois Supreme Court, John C. Sciaccotta, Aronberg Goldgehn, Chicago
IJA/ISBA Joint CLE Program: Complimentary to Midyear Meeting Registered Attendees
Note: This program is at capacity and closed to further registration.
IJA/ISBA Joint Midyear Meeting Luncheon
12:00 p.m.
Join us for lunch with featured speaker Mary Ann Ahern, NBC 5 News Political Reporter.
Mary Ann Bergerson Ahern joined NBC 5 News in March 1989 and was named Political Reporter in 2006. On the political beat, Ahern has covered political campaigns from the White House to Springfield to Chicago. She witnessed the transitions from Mayor Richard Daley to Mayor Rahm Emanuel to Mayor Lori Lightfoot and traveled through the primary states for the 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential campaigns, just as she did in 1988 while a reporter in Atlanta. She has covered presidential election nights from Texas, Boston, New York, and Chicago and has covered presidential inaugurations from Washington, D.C. Her reports on the NBC 5 News and on NBCChicago.com are closely followed locally and nationally. She has several Emmy awards for news coverage and earned the Peter Lisagor Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago Headline Club in 2012.
IJA/ISBA Joint Luncheon: $100 per ticket
CLE: Artificial Intelligence and the Ethical Lawyer
Presented by the Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Judges Association, and ISBA’s Steering Committee on Artificial Intelligence. Co-presented by the ISBA Corporate Law Departments
1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
1.50 hours MCLE credit, including 1.50 hours Professionalism, Civility, Legal Ethics, or Sexual Harassment credit (subject to approval)
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the ARDC’s recently released “Illinois Attorney’s Guide to Implementing AI.” Get the information you need regarding the ethical use of artificial intelligence with this informative panel presentation. Attorneys with basic to intermediate practice experience who attend this seminar will better understand: what artificial intelligence really means and the differences between “old” AI and today’s LLM/Generative AI (GenAI); how the ARDC’s new guidance will help you to maintain compliance with ethical standards, including: the ethics of (not) using AI and billing by the hour (Illinois Rule 1.5, Comment 9), preventing the unauthorized practice of law committed by relying upon GenAI answers; and other competency obligations, including duty to supervise, avoiding bias, candor to courts, and advertising implications; how to use, store, and protect client data within a GenAI/LLM system (and how to judge a system is sufficiently secure/appropriate for lawyers) to comply with Rule 1.6. An in-house attorney also provides client viewpoints such as securing data when using a GenAI system and whether you should adjust your billable rates to reflect the use of GenAI.
Program Speakers: Neil Ballentine, Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, Chicago; Aaron Brooks, Brooks Law and Consulting, LLC,, Chicago; Matthew Kerbis, Subscription Attorney LLC, Deerfield; Sari W. Montgomery, Robinson, Stewart, Montgomery & Doppke LLC, Chicago
ISBA CLE Program: Separate registration is required
ISBA Assembly Meeting
2:30 p.m.
The policy-making body of the Association meets to conduct the business of the Association. The Agenda will be posted on the website in advance of the meeting.
Holiday Reception Honoring the Supreme Court of Illinois
6:00 p.m.
Wrap up this year’s Joint Midyear Meeting by joining us at our annual Holiday Reception honoring the justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois. ISBA President Bridget Duignan and CBA President Nichole Patton will welcome guests and introduce members of the Illinois Supreme Court, and Justice Lisa Holder White will give remarks on behalf of the Supreme Court. The evening’s festivities will continue with heavy hors d’oeuvre and dessert stations, refreshments, and entertainment.
The reception is co-hosted by the Illinois State Bar Association and The Chicago Bar Association and sponsored by the Illinois Bar Foundation, DuPage County Bar Association, Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, and the Public Interest Law Initiative.
Holiday Reception: $100 per ticket