12th Annual Minority Bar Conference - Part 2

ISBA Members: Use your 15 hours of Free CLE credits to order this program –
just use the green button next to the “Add to Cart” button below!
Presented by the Illinois State Bar Association, Asian American Bar Association, Black Women Lawyers’ Association, Chinese American Bar Association, Cook County Bar Association, Decalogue Society of Lawyers, Filipino American Lawyers Association of Chicago, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Korean American Bar Association, Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association, Muslim Bar Association of Chicago, South Asian Bar Association, and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois


4.0 hours MCLE credit, including 2.0 hours Professional Responsibility MCLE credit in the following categories:
  • 1.0 hour Professionalism, Civility, Legal Ethics, or Sexual Harassment Prevention MCLE credit
  • 1.0 hour Diversity & Inclusion MCLE credit


Original Program Date: Friday, November 22, 2024
Accreditation Expiration Date: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­January 27, 2027(You must certify completion and save your certificate before this date to get MCLE credit)


Don’t miss Part 2 of the 12th Annual Minority Bar CLE Conference as we explore several important hot topic issues that may impact you and your clients, including:
  • The recent SCOTUS decisions on reproductive rights, the First Amendment, and voting rights;
  • How the regulatory and legislative landscape has changed since the Chevron decision;
  • Why it is so important to stay ahead of the cybersecurity issues threatening our practice and clients;
  • The importance of allyship and how to cultivate it in our communities; and
  • Much more.

Program Moderators:
Jaz Park, Attorney at Law, Chicago
Alana De Leon, Attorney at Law, Chicago

Review of Recent SCOTUS Decisions (excluding Chevron)
Coordinated by the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Cook County Bar Association, Korean American Bar Association, and Muslim Bar Association of Chicago
Get the updates you need on the recent SCOTUS decisions that may impact your clients’ rights, including opinions on reproductive rights, voting rights, the First Amendment, and more. A discussion on how these decisions may impact you and your practice is also included.
Moderator: Hon. Junaid M. Afeef, Administrative Law Judge, Illinois Dept. of Public Health, Chicago
Michelle Garcia, ACLU of Illinois, Chicago
Ashley Stead, McGann, Ketterman & Rioux, Chicago

Regulatory Landscape Post-Chevron: Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce
Coordinated by the South Asian Bar Association
Don’t miss this examination of the post-Chevron regulatory landscape, including Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce. Topics include: the end or modification of Chevron deference post-SCOTUS rulings, the ongoing changes to regulation and legislation, and the recent National Realtors lawsuit on this topic.
Moderator: Laxmi Sarathy, Klein, Daday, Aretos & O’Donoghue, LLC, Schaumburg
T. Paul S. Chawla, Oak Brook Legal, Westmont
Christopher DeJong, PrimeLending, Champaign
Charlie Lee, National Association of Realtor, Chicago

Cybersecurity: Tales from the Cryptocurrency
Coordinated by the Filipino American Bar Association, Chinese American Bar Association, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, and Korean American Bar Association
(1.0 hour Professionalism, Civility, Legal Ethics, or Sexual Harassment Prevention credit*)
As attorneys, we collect a lot of information from our clients … and it is our job to keep that information safe. Take advantage of this opportunity to hear from in-house counsel, private practice attorneys, and nonprofit leaders as they discuss the current cybersecurity threats and scams that may impact your law firm or client (including social engineering, business email compromise (BEC), and wire fraud, to name a few), their experiences with these issues, what you are required to do to keep information secure, and the practical steps you can take to mitigate risk to you or your clients.
Moderator: Ian Sharping, Professor, Legal Studies, South Suburban College
Vikas Didwania, Senior Policy Advisor, The White House, Washington D.C.
Jesus Gonzalez, AON, Chicago
Bethany Hoffmann, Hoffmann Immigration Law LLC, Rockford
Anisa L. Jordan, Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission, Chicago

Cultivating Allyship Can Help Minority Lawyers Grow and Thrive Coordinated by the Illinois State Bar Association, Black Women Lawyers Association, LAGBAC-Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, and Asian American Bar Association
(1.0 hour Diversity & Inclusion credit*)
Join us for this lively roundtable discussion in which our speakers address what allyship means, why it is so important to each of our respective minority communities (and how the needs of one minority community may differ from another), and how it can help us plant roots, grow, and thrive. Conversely, a look at how the absence of allyship can play a part in pushing people out – of courtrooms, specialties, firms, boardrooms, and ultimately the profession – is also included.
Moderator: Khara Coleman, Office of the Cook County Sheriff, Chicago
Ann H. Chen, TransUnion, Chicago
Dora Cornelio, Schmidt, Salzman, & Moran, LTD., Chicago
Phillip M. Rutherford, Rutherford Law, P.C., Chicago
Shannon Stokes, Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services, Chicago

Pricing Information

  • Please Note: You must attend the entire program in order to earn MCLE credit for this seminar.
  • ISBA sponsoring section members get a $10 registration discount (which is automatically calculated in your cart when you log in to register).
  • Fees:
    • ISBA Member Price of $140 is displayed below when you login and program is eligible for Free CLE member benefit.
    • Non-Member Price $280
    • New Attorney Member (within the first five years of practice) - $25
    • Law Students – Free

12th Annual Minority Bar Conference - Part 1

ISBA Members: Use your 15 hours of Free CLE credits to order this program –
just use the green button next to the “Add to Cart” button below!
Presented by the Illinois State Bar Association, Asian American Bar Association, Black Women Lawyers’ Association, Chinese American Bar Association, Cook County Bar Association, Decalogue Society of Lawyers, Filipino American Lawyers Association of Chicago, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Korean American Bar Association, Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association, Muslim Bar Association of Chicago, South Asian Bar Association, and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois


4.0 hours MCLE credit, including 4.0 hours Professional Responsibility MCLE credit in the following categories:
  • 3.0 hours Diversity & Inclusion MCLE credit
  • 1.0 hour Mental Health & Substance Abuse MCLE credit


Original Program Date: Thursday, November 21, 2024
Accreditation Expiration Date: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­January 27, 2027(You must certify completion and save your certificate before this date to get MCLE credit)
A special thanks to Locke Lord LLP, Diversity Scholarship Foundation, and City Wide Title Corporation for making this opportunity available with their financial contributions.

The 12th Annual Minority Bar CLE Conference is back, allowing you to earn CLE credit while staying up to date on important issues that may impact you and your clients. Topics include:

  • The importance of addressing cultural competency in the legal profession;
  • How to address trauma experienced by your client (or yourself);
  • The consequences of never saying no or setting boundaries;
  • The recent shifts in DEI and how this has impacted minority professionals;
  • How law firms and in-house counsel are impacted by the Society of Human Resource Management’s decision to remove the “E” from “DEI”;
  • The civil rights careers that are available at both the state and local government levels; and
  • Much more.

Program Moderators:
Jaz Park, Attorney at Law, Chicago
Alana De Leon, Attorney at Law, Chicago

Welcome and Introduction
Hon. Jesse G. Reyes, Illinois Appellate Court First District, Chicago

Raising and Addressing Cultural Competency: A Judicial Panel Presentation
Coordinated by the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Chinese American Bar Association, and Women’s Bar Association of Illinois
(1.0 hour Diversity & Inclusion credit*)
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from our panel of judges as they discuss the importance of addressing cultural competency in the legal profession and offer best practice tips to attorneys to raise potential concerns in court to judges, practitioners, and juries. Listen as the speakers use hypothetical scenarios to show how cultural competency can impact an individual’s experience in the court system, trauma and justice.
Moderators: Alana M. De Leon, Law Office of Alana M. De Leon, Riverside
Hon. Jamie G. Dickler, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chicago
Hon. David R. Navarro, Illinois Appellate Court First District, Chicago
Hon. Rouhy J. Shalabi, Circuit Court of Cook County, Maybrook

Mental Health: Trauma-Informed Lawyering
Coordinated by the South Asian Bar Association
(1.0 hour Mental Health & Substance Abuse credit*)
Learn how to help practitioners address trauma experienced by their client (or themselves) with this informative presentation. Topics include: recognizing that becoming “trauma-informed” starts with you; the consequences of never saying no or setting boundaries; how to offer service without sacrifice; healing sexual harm through restorative justice; Dr. Gokhani’s 3-Brain Optimization; addressing PTSD, trauma, and brain fog; and the importance of sleep regulation.
Moderator: Neha Khandhadia, Goldstein & McClintock LLLP, Chicago
Dr. Trupti Gokani, MD, Three Brain Coach, Glenview

Navigating the In-House Counsel Landscape Post-DEI/DEI Under Attack
Coordinated by the Asian American Bar Association and Women’s Bar Association of Illinois
(1.0 hour Diversity & Inclusion credit*)
Join us for an in-depth look at the current shifts in DEI and how this has impacted minority professionals, as well as the recent decision by the Society of Human Resources Management to remove the “E” from “DEI.” Additional topics include: strategies for addressing the vacillations in commitment levels from companies, firms, and organizations; how changing “DEI” to “DI” may impact law firms and in-house spaces (and whether there has been a move away from internal ERG groups); and much more.
Moderator: Jaz Park, Attorney at Law, Chicago
Nicholas Cummings, Principal Corporate Counsel, Microsoft, Chicago
Mahrukh Hussain, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, United Natural Foods, Inc., Oak Brook
Monica H. Khetarpal, Jackson Lewis, Chicago

Civil Rights Law and Minority Attorneys
Coordinated by the Korean American Bar Association
(1.0 hour Diversity & Inclusion credit*)
This comprehensive overview explores the various civil rights careers found in both state and local government, and offers an inside look at each panelist’s role in their respective positions – from how they advanced throughout their career, the mission and purpose of the government agencies they represent, and the populace served under their governing statute/ordinance, to the typical cases they litigate or review, and the issues they see emerging in this area of law. A discussion on the issues each speaker has faced as a minority throughout their employment history is included.
Moderator: Hon. Azeema Akram, Administrative Law Judge, Illinois Human Rights Commission, Chicago
Alison Hill, Supervising Attorney, Civil Rights Bureau, Office of the Illinois Attorney General, Chicago
Bonnie Kim, Deputy General Counsel, Illinois Human Rights Commission
Tamiya Wright, Legal Counsel, Cook County Department of Human Rights & Ethics, Chicago


Pricing Information

  • Please Note: You must attend the entire program in order to earn MCLE credit for this seminar.
  • ISBA sponsoring section members get a $10 registration discount (which is automatically calculated in your cart when you log in to register).
  • Fees:
    • ISBA Member Price of $140 is displayed below when you login and program is eligible for Free CLE member benefit.
    • Non-Member Price $280
    • New Attorney Member (within the first five years of practice) - $25
    • Law Students – Free

Former Circuit Judge Robert Boharic 'pursued everything to the fullest'

Bob Boharic didn’t just live and learn and laugh every day. He attacked each day like the former Marine he was. It wasn’t good enough to be a tough-as-nails prosecutor turned criminal court judge who handled some of the most heinous local cases before deciphering mind-numbing insurance and real estate disputes in the Chancery Division.

From: 
Chicago Sun-Times

Indiana House Republicans propose redrawing Indiana’s boundaries, adding Illinois counties

Indiana’s highest ranking state representative unveiled a plan to redraw Indiana’s boundaries, taking in Illinois counties interested in seceding from their state.

From: 
WISHTV

A vanishingly small number of violent sex crimes end in conviction, NBC News investigation shows

Less than 4% of reported rapes, sexual assaults, and child sex abuse allegations in certain cities across the United States ever result in a sex crime conviction, an NBC News investigation found.

From: 
NBC 5 Chicago

Illinois residents may soon be able to own digital driver's licenses and state IDs

The Illinois Secretary of State office has announced a goal of launching their initiative for residents to be able carry digital driver's licenses and state ID by the end of this year. 

From: 
The State Journal-Register

Does Freeburg High School’s controversial mascot break federal law? This group thinks so

A group of activists from across the country has filed formal complaints against Freeburg High School alleging that its controversial mascot is breaking the law, which could force the school to find a new moniker after it has rejected requests in the past.

From: 
Belleville News-Democrat

Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening Accepting Judicial Questionnaires

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Timothy A. Slating

Members of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening will be accepting completed questionnaires from candidates who will be seeking associate judge appointments and/or vacancies in the 2026 primary election for Cook County only. 

We are hoping to evaluate as many individuals as possible at this time to ensure potential candidates will be able to better utilize their ratings.

You may request the Alliance’s questionnaire via the following:

Calling domestic violence ‘unique in nature,’ judge reduces sentence for woman who shot alleged abuser

In a case indicative of the justice system’s slowly changing attitude toward domestic violence, a judge Monday shaved more than three years off the sentence of a Chicago woman who said she shot and killed her abuser in 2001.

From: 
Chicago Tribune

Prosecutors play unheard recording, try to catch Michael Madigan in lie during cross-examination

When Michael Madigan chose to take the stand in his own defense last week, his decision stunned most legal and political observers because of what happened at the Dirksen Federal Building Monday.

From: 
ABC 7