Illinois JusticeCorps is an innovative new program to enhance access to justice for the growing number of unrepresented people in the courts by empowering and training student volunteers to help people without lawyers navigate the court system. Illinois JusticeCorps is modeled after the successful California JusticeCorps program, which has demonstrated that AmeriCorps volunteers can assist in providing access to the legal system for those who lack legal representation. JusticeCorps has great potential in Illinois as well to make the court system more user-friendly accessible for people without lawyers.

The CBF is currently working with several community colleges, universities and law schools in the Chicago area to recruit students to serve as JusticeCorps volunteers. The ultimate goal is for JusticeCorps to become a standing project in the courts that recruits, trains and supervises both undergraduate and law students to volunteer in the Circuit Court. These students would work with the court and with pro bono and legal aid organizations to help guide people without lawyers through the judicial process.

The initial JusticeCorps pilot started in January 2011, placing law students in various facets of the Circuit Court of Cook County's Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program.

For more information about Illinois JusticeCorps, please contact Danielle Hirsch at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (312) 554-4952.