Selected Accomplishments
1969 - 1979

1969
The Council holds its first Annual Meeting.

1970
The Fund For Justice is incorporated as a tax- exempt charitable organization.

The Council files the case of Chicago Council of Lawyers v. Bauer which successfully challenges restrictions which had been imposed by the federal district court on public comment by attorneys about anticipated and pending litigation. The suit was dismissed by the District Court but the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari and the gag rule was struck from the books in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

As a result of the Council's study of the Cook County Eviction Court, Presiding Judge Eugene L. Wachowski adopts a number of reforms.

The Council begins evaluating state judges and candidates for the federal bench. The Council's evaluations of candidates for the federal bench are particularly influential with Senator Charles Percy during the Nixon and Ford administrations. Beginning in 1977, Senator Adlai E. Stevenson III continues the practice of utilizing the Council's evaluations when considering candidates for the federal bench.

The Council has evaluated candidates for the state bench in every judicial election since 1970.

1971
The Council recommends that disciplinary procedures should be "under the direct supervision and control of the Illinois Supreme Court and divorced from the Illinois and Chicago Bar Associations." The report helped lead to the creation of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

The Council conducts a pioneering survey of lawyers regarding the judicial performance of federal district court judges in Chicago.

1972
The Council is admitted as a local affiliate of the American Bar Association.

1973
The Council opens a Lawyer Referral Service for victims of police misconduct and produces a booklet, Women: Jobs and Justice, on sex discrimination in employment.

1974
The Council and the Fund For Justice first produce the Legal Services Directory, a directory of private and public agencies providing free and low cost legal services.

1975
The Council files an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, in support of eliminating a ban on advertising by lawyers. The Council supports advertising in order to make legal services more accessible. The Court struck down the advertising ban on First Amendment grounds.

1976
The Council conducts a survey of lawyers regarding the judicial performance of local federal district court judges.

1977
The Council and the Fund For Justice open the South Shore Law Office, an experimental project offering legal services to persons of low and middle income.

The Council and the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago begin the Legal Services For the Mentally Disabled of Uptown law clinic.

The Council produces a booklet on wage garnishment, Wage Assignments and Wage Deduction Orders, sponsors programs on Lawyer Advertising and Minority Lawyer Recruitment and produces the L-19 Model Lease, a residential lease fair to both tenants and landlords.

The Council receives the Harrison Tweed Award from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and the American Bar Association, "In recognition of the outstanding leadership and support given in developing and maintaining a broad program of legal aid for the indigent citizens of Cook County."

1978
The Council inaugurates a new publication, Chicago Lawyer, which in 1985 became independent of the Council.

The Council and the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago complete a two-year study of 8,000 Cook County housing eviction cases. As a result, one eviction court judge is reassigned and another is subjected to disciplinary proceedings.

The Council begins its Indigent Criminal Defense Referral Panel.

The Council is largely responsible for the defeat of Judge John Boyle in his bid for retention. Judge Boyle was serving as the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County but the Council found that he was performing in a "highly political, autocratic and incompetent manner." The voters agreed.

The Council issues a 65-page investigative report on the operation of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

1979
The Council completes its 1979 survey of attorneys regarding the performance of local federal district court judges.

The Council, the Fund For Justice and the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago produce the Tenant-Landlord Handbook which details the rights of both landlords and tenants.