D.I.C.E. oversees The Chicago Bar Association's efforts to examine diversity issues impacting our communities and our legal profession. D.I.C.E. further aims to create activities and events designed to promote diversity, inclusivity, equity, and engagement in all aspects of the CBA. The overarching mission of D.I.C.E. will be to ensure that: Diversity, which is the range of different human characteristics that make us different from each other, includes to the extent possible within the membership, a focus that incorporates, race, gender, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, age, physical attributes and disability or challenges, religious and political beliefs. Click here to read our complete mission statement. Click here to find a comprehensive list of the CBA's diversity and inclusion programs and initiatives.
Special Announcements:
Black History Month Programming:
The DuSable Black History Museum is presenting "A Conversation on the Reverberations of the George Floyd Murder in America" on Friday, February 16, 2024, at 6:15 p.m. Click here to find out more about the free event.
CBA Sexual Harassment Task Force Testifies Before Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee
On February 15, 2023, CBA Secretary Katie Liss appeared by the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee to request that Illinois Supreme Court Rule 794(d)(1) be amended to expand the definition of the professional responsibility requirement as applied to MCLE credits so that it includes sexual harassment prevention as an additional definition within that category. View her remarks here.
Diversity Scholarship Grants Available from American Arbitration Association
The Diversity Scholarship Fund was established by the AAA-ICDR Foundation through a special gift by the American Arbitration Association. The Fund provides diverse students/professionals with up to $2,000 of financial assistance towards participation in a degree program or fellowship in alternative dispute resolution or attendance at a well-recognized conference. The mission of the Diversity Scholarship Fund is to encourage diversity and inclusion within the field of ADR by supporting the pursuit of knowledge and skill development through training experiences that encourage inclusive leadership growth in the field of ADR. Learn more here.
Native American Women Study
The National Native American Bar Association (NNABA) collaborated with the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession (Commission) to publish the study report, “Excluded & Alone: Examining the Experiences of Native American Women in the Law and a Path Towards Equity.” The report documents the stories of Native American women attorneys’ experiences navigating their pursuit of a legal education and their careers in the legal profession. Read the study here.