Law Firm Pro Bono Community Launches IMPACT Chicago in Response to Meeting with Vice President Biden
Today approximately 60 lawyers from 14 of Chicago’s venerable law firms, in coordination with Cabrini Green Legal Aid, participated in the inaugural pro bono event of IMPACT Chicago. Grace Place, located in the South Loop, hosted a legal aid clinic for 60 people in need of pro bono legal services.
The IMPACT Chicago initiative is one of a number of programs being launched nationally as a result of a September 2012 meeting convened by Vice President Joe Biden and the board of directors of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel (APBCo). The meeting focused on access to justice issues and from it was born IMPACT, the acronym for Involving More Pro Bono Attorneys in our Community Together. The goal of IMPACT is to create innovative and sustainable solutions that will increase access to free legal services through pro bono volunteers.
The IMPACT Chicago program will play a vital role in helping the more than 3.9 million men and women in Illinois with criminal records get the chance to become more productive citizens through criminal record relief. These men and women will gain access to employment, housing and educational opportunities that were previously denied to them because of criminal records.
“By providing relief from this major barrier to employment we’ll not only be improving their prospects for employment and financial independence by also significantly decreasing the likelihood that they will break the law again,” said Gretchen Slusser, executive director at Cabrini Green Legal Aid “This program is about focusing on the future by offering these men and women a second chance.”
Legal service providers who have already signed on to the initiative include the Cabrini Green Legal Aid, the Chicago Bar Foundation, the Chicago Legal Clinic, the James B. Moran Center for Youth and Advocacy, the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Shriver Center. The 14 law firms that have signed up for the initiative to date are Baker & McKenzie, Dentons, DLA Piper, Dykema, Jones Day, Katten Muchin Rosemann, Kirkland & Ellis, Mayer Brown, McDermott, Will & Emery, Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, Perkins Coie, Seyfarth Shaw, Sidley Austin and Winston & Strawn. The commitment from the law firms involves an extensive training program for volunteer lawyers as well as financial support to fund a project coordinator position at Cabrini Green Legal Aid. The collaborative effort also entails firms sharing the costs associated with the clinics.
“Illinois has laws providing relief from a criminal record through sealing, pardons, certificates and waivers,” said Latonia Haney Keith, president of APBCo. “Unfortunately, access to legal assistance is limited and so is knowledge of the type of relief available. We are eager to help change that.”
Photography by Will Byington Photography.
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APBCo (Association of Pro Bono Counsel) is a membership organization of full-time pro bono partners, counsel and coordinators at major commercial law firms. APBCo has over 125 members from 85 law firms nationwide, including many AmLaw 200 firms. Founded in 2006, APBCo is dedicated to improving access to justice by advancing the model of the full-time law firm pro bono counsel, enhancing the professional development of pro bono counsel, and serving as a unified voice for the national law firm pro bono community.