Our Professionalism Spotlight series highlights Illinois legal professionals who demonstrate the ideals of professionalism and a commitment to equitable, efficient, and effective justice.
In this Professionalism Spotlight, we spoke to Janaan Hashim, an attorney at Amal Law Group, the first law firm in the nation founded by six Muslim women, all born, raised, and educated in the U.S.
Janaan primarily practices in civil rights matters focusing on employment discrimination involving the ADA, ADEA, and Title VII issues and their Illinois counterparts. She previously served as an Assistant Appellate Defender for the State of Illinois and in private practice.
She has also…
Continue Reading Professionalism Spotlight: Janaan Hashim, Amal Law Group, LLC

Each November, the United States observes Veterans Day, which celebrates military veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces and honors their contributions to our country.
An estimated 459,569 veterans live in Illinois representing 4.7% of the state’s population. Veterans face many of the same civil legal issues as the general population but also experience unique challenges related to their service. Unfortunately, veterans do not always receive the legal assistance they need.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 2021 76% of low-income veteran households reported a civil legal problem and low-income veteran households did not receive any or enough…
Continue Reading How the Illinois Armed Forces Legal Aid Network Supports Access to Justice for Veterans

The legal technology company Clio once again played “secret shopper” for its 2024 Clio Legal Trends Report. And once again, it reported dismal results on how law firms are doing on first impressions.
Just as it did in its 2019 survey, Clio used a third-party research firm to pose as a potential client contacting law firms to seek legal help. The purpose was to test how easy it is for prospective clients to get in touch with law firms through phone or email, and how effectively law firms answered their questions.
The 2024 Clio Legal Trends Report also…
Continue Reading Phone Calls Ignored, Emails Unanswered: Fixing the First Impression Problem for Law Firms

Despite improvements in revenue and billable hours over the past 12 months, law firms may be losing revenue from decreased employee productivity, absenteeism, and attrition associated with poor well-being, according to a recent survey.
The 2024 State of Wellbeing in Law survey by Unmind included responses from 4,400 lawyers from nine mid-sized law firms in the U.S. and U.K. It builds on the 2023 survey (which we covered here).
The survey found that almost one in five lawyers said work harms their mental health, and almost 19% of their time at work is negatively affected by poor mental…
Continue Reading Poor Lawyer Well-being May Cost Firms Up to $33M, Survey Says

Our Professionalism Spotlight series highlights Illinois legal professionals who demonstrate the ideals of professionalism and a commitment to equitable, efficient, and effective justice.
In this Professionalism Spotlight, we spoke to Carly Holtkamp, Director of Law School External Relations at Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School.
At SIU Law, Carly is responsible for strategic oversight and management of law school resources engaged in alumni relations, community and business relations, marketing, media relations, communications, and social media.
SIU Law celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023, with a 24% increase in first-year students and the most diverse classes in more than a…
Continue Reading Professionalism Spotlight: Carly Holtkamp, Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School

The theme of this year’s ClioCon, an annual legal technology conference produced by legal software provider Clio, was “Momentum.”
During the conference, which was held October 7 and 8 in Austin, Texas, Clio CEO and Founder Jack Newton used the image of a flywheel to illustrate the theme. A flywheel takes energy to start spinning but then builds momentum as it continues. This represents the “perpetual motion” that law firms need, Newton said.
For example, it takes law firms time and effort to build and implement new processes like client intake. But once they are in place, they help…
Continue Reading Clio 2024 Legal Trends Report Identifies AI, Alternative Billing Structures, and Client Engagement as Focus Areas for Today’s Lawyers

The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice recently announced the publication of new statewide forms for filing an appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court.
The six new form sets include:

• Petition for Leave to Appeal
• Answer to Petition for Leave to Appeal
• Notice of Election
• Appellant’s Brief
• Appellee’s Brief
• Appellant’s Reply Brief  

The forms can be found on the “Approved Standardized Statewide Forms” page of the Illinois Supreme Court’s website, under the “Supreme Court Forms” tab.
Please note that the Access to Justice Commission does not immediately announce minor updates made to forms. Therefore, it…
Continue Reading New Statewide Forms for Filing an Appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court

“How can I be a better ally?” This is a question we often hear at the Commission on Professionalism.
While the number of diverse attorneys from many communities has been growing slowly, uncivil lawyer-to-lawyer behavior tied to race, age, and sex has grown too. Moreover, members of many groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession have been shown to bear the brunt of workplace bullying.
A recent Commission study found bullying behavior is causing many lawyers to walk away from the profession, especially women lawyers, who were almost three times as likely as men to report leaving…
Continue Reading 4 Questions Lawyers Have About Allyship

In 2023, 50 organizations across the state used the Commission’s free, open-source mentoring curriculum as the foundation for their lawyer mentoring programs.
Since we began developing our professionalism-based curriculum for attorney mentoring programs in 2011, it has been used by law firms, bar associations, government offices, law schools, court districts, professional organizations, and a corporation.
The McLean County Bar Association (MCBA) has had a mentoring program for their members since 2011, and uses the Commission’s lawyer-to-lawyer mentoring curriculum. MCBA Mentoring Program Coordinator and Committee Chair Jaime Ganschow said mentoring not only benefits attorneys in McLean County, but everyone that those…
Continue Reading How the McLean County Bar Association Uses the Commission’s Mentoring Program to Build a Sense of Community

Each year, National Hispanic American Heritage Month celebrates the cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans and their influence on U.S. history.
To recognize this month, we spoke with three Latina judges who are making an impact in the Illinois legal community.
In this spotlight, we hear from Cook County Circuit Court Associate Judge Martha-Victoria Jimenez, who was elected by the public and sworn in on October 4, 2021.
Judge Jimenez previously served as a Supervisor in the Civil Actions Bureau of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Earlier in her career, she was a Senior Counsel for the…
Continue Reading National Hispanic American Heritage Month Spotlight: Cook County Circuit Court Judge Martha-Victoria Jimenez

Each year, National Hispanic American Heritage Month celebrates the cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans and their influence on U.S. history.
To recognize this month, we spoke with three Latina judges who are making an impact in the Illinois legal community.
In this spotlight, we hear from Cook County Circuit Court Judge Araceli R. De La Cruz, who was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court and sworn in on January 6, 2022.
Judge De La Cruz’s parents were born in Puerto Rico and raised her in Chicago. She received a bachelor’s from the University of Illinois at Chicago…
Continue Reading National Hispanic American Heritage Month Spotlight: Cook County Circuit Court Judge Araceli De La Cruz