The CBF Legal Aid Academy is an innovative new pro bono program to improve training and professional development opportunities for legal aid attorneys and staff.
Through the collective efforts of the Chicago legal community, the Academy will strive to meet the core training and professional development needs of the approximately 300 legal aid attorneys who serve the more than 1 million low-income residents of the Chicago area. The Academy will provide training mainly through two complimentary systems: (1) Coordinated Training, through which legal aid attorneys join already existing training programs at law firms and other organizations, where the subject matter is appropriate and space is available; and (2) Customized Training, through which firms, legal consultants, and others in the legal community create and present trainings customized for the legal aid community.
The Academy will use pro bono resources to provide training and professional development to legal aid attorneys. Without further sapping already stretched legal aid budgets, the Academy aims to provide legal aid attorneys with improved opportunities for needed training and professional development so that low-income individuals in the Chicago area will continue to be represented by high-quality and experienced legal aid attorneys.
The Academy was created through the CBF Advisory Committee on Training and Professional Development in Legal Aid, which consists of attorney training and professional development experts, firm leaders, representatives of legal aid organizations, and other interested parties. Click here for a list of the Advisory Committee members.
For more information, or to get involved with the Academy, please contact Kelly Tautges, the CBF’s Director of Pro Bono, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 312-554-8356.
