IIT Chicago-Kent honors alumni and student commitment to public service
IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law will hold its 6th annual Public Interest Awards Night on April 25, in the law school's Governor Richard B. Ogilvie Auditorium, 565 West Adams Street (between Clinton and Jefferson streets), in Chicago. The program will begin at 5 p.m.
The program, co-sponsored by IIT Chicago-Kent's Alumni Association, Career Services Office and Public Interest Law Program, showcases graduates who have devoted their careers to the public good and demonstrate outstanding public service leadership. Current IIT Chicago-Kent students who have devoted time to public service activities and graduating students who are receiving J.D. certificates in Public Interest Law will also be honored.
Jonathan Rhodes '09 and Jill Roberts '08 will receive the 2013 Honorable Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Public Interest Law Award, which recognizes IIT Chicago-Kent alumni who have demonstrated outstanding public interest leadership and who most reflect "the character, life and work" of Judge Marovitz '25. These endowed awards, given in memory of Judge Marovitz, include monetary stipends to assist the recipients with their educational debt as they work to benefit the public good.
Jonathan Rhodes is projects counsel for the Louisiana State Bar Association, where he develops and implements special projects designed to increase access to justice for Louisiana's poor and other vulnerable populations. Rhodes also serves as executive director of the Louisiana Civil Justice Center, the statewide legal assistance and disaster response hotline that assists low-income and underserved populations. Jill Roberts currently holds a unique position at Cabrini-Green Legal Aid (CGLA), where she serves dual roles in its housing and family law programs. Roberts began working at CGLA in 2006 as a law student intern and joined as a staff attorney in 2010.
The Public Interest Partner Award recognizes organizations that make outstanding contributions to public interest law and provide opportunities for IIT Chicago-Kent students to gain meaningful experience in public interest practice. This year's honoree is Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services (CARPLS), an innovative legal aid service that offers an immediate response to legal problems confronting low-income residents of Cook County.
The Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award was created to recognize IIT Chicago-Kent alumni who have demonstrated a strong commitment to pro bono work throughout their careers. Recipients Salvador Lopez '09 and Kathleen Robson '10 are the founding partners of Robson & Lopez LLC, a consumer protection law firm. The partners' extensive pro bono activities include providing basic advice at the Bankruptcy Help Desk, representing clients in mortgage foreclosure mediations, and taking on full litigation cases.
Founded in 1888, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is celebrating "125 years of distinctive legal education." IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. Students at IIT Chicago-Kent who have a special interest in human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, social justice, increasing access to justice, and battling discrimination can carve their own professional niche by pursuing a J.D. certificate in Public Interest Law. The certificate program enables students to demonstrate their commitment to public interest law, define public interest career goals, customize course work to match both interests and career objectives, and connect with related events, conferences and professional opportunities.
