December 15, 2006
A comprehensive research study conducted by
Chicago School alumna Megan Connolly, M.A. ’02,
has garnered recognition that may promote change
for legal aid lawyers in the state of Illinois.
A graduate of the I/O program, Connolly served
as research director and co-author of Investing
in Justice: A Framework for Effective Recruitment
and Retention of Illinois Legal Aid Attorneys,
released in November by The Chicago Bar Foundation
and the Illinois Coalition for Equal Justice. The
study, which focused on 26 Illinois legal aid organizations,
showed that there is only one legal aid lawyer
for every 4,752 legal problems faced by low-income
Illinoisans. It also reported that more than 40
percent of legal aid attorneys plan to leave their
jobs in the next three years due to low pay and
high law school debt.
Connolly, who works for a survey research firm
and is a part-time Chicago School affiliate professor,
spent two years collecting and analyzing data,
writing, and editing the 50-page study.
She originally handled human resource consulting
for The Chicago Bar Foundation on a freelance basis
when they approached about conducting a study on
the issue of recruitment and retention of public
interest attorneys.
“I was honored for the chance to help in anyway
I could because research is my complete passion
and to be able to do research for social change
was a treat,” she said. “I couldn’t have done this
without my training at The Chicago School because
my education gave me all of the skills I needed
to take on project of this magnitude.”
As a result of the study the Chicago Bar Foundation
is working with with the Chicago Sun Times to
create a fellowship program that will provide loan-repayment
for young attorneys who are committed to working
full-time for a minimum of two years for a legal
aid organization.
The complete study can be found at www.chicagobarfoundation.org.
