Attention first-time Cook County judicial candidates!

I know you're busy right now assembling your petitions, calling the six people who still owe you sheets, trying to set up a time to meet with your election lawyer to make sure that everything you need to file is properly in order -- but there is still one thing more you need to do ASAP.

If you've not run for judge before, then you haven't been screened yet by any of the member bar associations of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening.

If you're serious about running for judge, you probably expect to receive favorable ratings from the various bar associations. But you may not know how to initiate the process. Here's how: Contact Joyce Williams at jwilliams@isba.org. Filling in the evaluation forms will take some time; you should want as much as you can get. It is to your distinct advantage, therefore, to be proactive and reach out to the Alliance first. Don't wait until the Alliance has time to sift through all the filings and realize that it doesn't yet have ratings on you.

Send the email now; then go back to your petitions. Thank me later.

The bar groups that together comprise the Alliance are the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area (AABA), Black Women’s Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago (BWLA), Chicago Council of Lawyers (CCL), Cook County Bar Association (CCBA), Decalogue Society of Lawyers (DSL), Hellenic Bar Association (HBA), Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois (HLAI), Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago (LAGBAC), Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois (PRBA), and Women’s Bar Association of Illinois (WBAI).

Oh, there's one more thing: You'll notice that the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) isn't on that list of Alliance members. The CBA evaluates candidates separately. You'll want to reach out to the CBA as well. Start on this page of the CBA website.