In an order entered on November 15, 2006, the CBF received $2 million in cy pres funds from litigation involving the Sun-Times. With these funds, the CBF created The Chicago Bar Foundation Sun-Times Public Interest Law Fellowship Program. This loan repayment program addresses an emerging crisis: lawyers increasingly are finding that careers in legal aid or public interest law are simply untenable from an economic standpoint. Lawyers graduating today have an average of more than $100,000 in law school debt, while starting salaries for legal aid and public interest law positions in Illinois average only $38,500. (For additional information on this issue, see the study, Investing in Justice: A Framework for Effective Recruitment and Retention of Legal Aid Attorneys in Illinois, available at www.chicagobarfoundation.org).

Starting in the summer of 2007, the CBF will award five (5) five-year fellowships every year over a period of ten years to 50 outstanding young attorneys who have chosen to pursue careers in legal aid or public interest law at a CBF-funded organization or at a qualifying legal aid organization serving other parts of Illinois. Each fellow will receive a total of up to $50,000 of loan repayment assistance during their five-year fellowship. One fellowship each year may be awarded to legal aid attorneys who serve Illinois residents outside of Cook County. This Fellowship Program is available to young attorneys who commit to work full time for minimum of five years at a CBF-funded legal aid organization or, for a limited number of recipients, a qualifying legal aid organization outside of Cook County (a list of these organizations is included with the Fellowship guidelines) and who otherwise meet the Fellowship Program guidelines. 

The application deadline for the 2008 Sun-Times Fellowship is July 16, 2008. Please contact Dina Merrell at (312)554-1206 or dmerrell@chicagobar.org with any questions.