Letter From the Chair
The 2025-2026 ISBA bar year is coming to an end but the efforts of the Rural Practice Section Council are not. Big news: We have worked with the ISBA to ensure that membership in the Rural Practice Section will remain free to all members! Please encourage your colleagues to join our ranks and enjoy the benefits of the ISBA Rural Practice Section in coming years.
One priority project of the Rural Practice Section Council thus far has been the Rural Practice Fellowship Program, which continues to successfully place associate attorneys and law clerks in rural counties around the State. Please note that last year the application deadline was moved significantly. So, please mark your calendar for late August if you would like to apply—the deadline will be in mid-September.
As a reminder, through the Rural Practice Fellowship Program, summer law clerks receive a $5,000 stipend, and associate attorneys receive $10,000, distributed in two installments to support their transition into rural practice. These opportunities are made possible through the generous support of the ISBA, the ISBA Mutual Insurance Company, and dedicated individual donors who believe in strengthening legal services across the state. [For those in a position to give, financial contributions remain essential to sustaining and expanding the program’s reach. To make a donation, please visit the Illinois Bar Foundation website. Donors who make a contribution by June 1, 2026, will be recognized in the July issue of the Illinois Bar Journal as part of the program’s annual sponsor recognition.]
But the Section Council has made other progress as well. In addition to the publication of a regular newsletter, we have worked with the ISBA to improve other benefits to rural practitioners. Private practice attorneys in rural areas may contact the ISBA for a discount code, in order to receive a significant discount when posting jobs on the ISBA job board. Also, the affiliated bar program continues to grow and improve, while continuing to offer grants to bar associations holding community legal events. For example, now affiliated bars may also benefit from free webpage development and hosting. Meanwhile, valuable information is being shared on the ISBA Central Communities for the Rural Practice Section. I look forward to even more active discussions in that space in the future.
While there will always be more to do, I am proud of the accomplishments of the ISBA Rural Practice Section Council thus far. Thank you for joining me on this journey! I hope you stick around with me to see the Section Council continue to achieve great things for rural practitioners in the future. And if you’re interested in participating, nominate yourself next year. The more the merrier!
Angel Wawrzynek
Chair, ISBA Rural Practice Section