Sheila Simon, visiting assistant professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Law and former Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, spoke recently on the topic of “The Responsibility of Attorneys To Address Pervasive Societal Issues: Why Law Clinics Should Care about Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.” In her speech, she discussed a successful effort during her tenure as lieutenant governor: launching a virtual legal clinic that gives domestic violence victims in remote areas of Illinois access to consultation by practicing lawyers via online technologies. She also mentioned an idea that she would like to see come to fruition: an AmeriCorps-type program in which new lawyers would work pro bono on domestic violence and sexual assault cases and get law school loan relief in return.
Ms. Simon spoke at The John Marshall Law School to launch an initiative of Chicago Says No More, an organization dedicated to educating and engaging individuals and organizations about the challenges of domestic violence and sexual assault. The new initiative is a task force aimed at recruiting university-based law clinics to join the fight against domestic violenceand sexual assault. The task force is co-chaired by Partner Keri Holleb Hotaling.
Please click here to read more about the task force.
