Illinois Bar Foundation announces matching gift opportunity

The Illinois Bar Foundation is raising money to help lawyers in need---something it has done since it was founded in 1951---but the need today may be greater than ever, as COVID-19 has rocked the legal profession, in many cases denying, or at least drastically reducing, the opportunity for some lawyers to earn a living.

The Year of Never-Ending Pandemic, now finally seeming to subside, has had, in the IBF's words, a "catastrophic effect... on our colleagues, particularly those working as solo practitioners or in small practices."

Some of us---most of us, hopefully---who have been impacted by COVID closures will, eventually, claw our way back to profitability. But some of us will need a helping hand along the way. Dollars donated to the IBF's COVID-19 Lawyers Care Relief Fund during the month of May will be matched by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers as indicated in the graphic above. And, yes, that is a link, in the preceding sentence, to an IBF donation page.

And here's another link: this one brings up the COVID-19 Lawyers Care Relif Fund page of the IBF website, from which lawyers who need a hand can apply for assistance.

The IBF says that it has noticed that the "vast majority of our recipients work with lower-income clients, providing much-needed legal services to an underserved population and creating a ripple effect of aid to the community at large. Providing support to our colleagues in need and making legal aid accessible to everyone, particularly those of limited means, is at the very core of what we do."

Online forms are great. How-to websites and call centers are very nice, too. But for now and for the foreseeable future, access to justice in this State means access to lawyers. Big firm pro bono efforts and law school clinics are well-intentioned, but none of these, or all of these put together, cannot possibly reach all of our fellow citizens who need timely, practical legal advice. If you have weathered the COVID storm safely, consider helping out those less fortunate. And they will help others in turn.