10 December 2003
From: Executive Director, Malcolm Rich 
To: Members/Friends of the Chicago Council of Lawyers
     & the Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice
Special Request: 
The Chicago Council of Lawyers is about to embark on a new round of state judicial evaluations.  We will continue to do joint investigations and judicial candidate interviews with the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening.  But the Council will continue to have independent assessments and provide written reasons for our findings. 
 
We are looking for investigators to interview lawyers who have practiced against judicial candidates running in the March Primary.  
Investigators will be asked to conduct 10 to 20 phone interviews over a 2-3 week period (each phone interview varies between 5 and 15 minutes).  Investigators attend the interview session, if possible, to brief the interviewing panels about the findings of the investigation.  I will be available to answer your questions and to strategize about how to obtain the most thorough,objective information possible about each judicial candidate.  The investigation period will be between December 22 and January 24. 
 
Judicial evaluations in the Primary Election make a difference.  In a 2003 report issued by the Council and the Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice, our statistical analysis showed that between 1988 and 2000, Chicago Tribune endorsements in the countywide judicial elections and in some subcircuits are influential in predicting winners.   And there is a positive statistical correlation between Chicago Tribune endorsements and the findings of the Chicago Council of Lawyers.  
 
Please contact me to volunteer to be a judicial evaluation investigator. 
 

Malcolm Rich
Direct Phone:  312-988-6552
Email:  ccl@chicagocoucil.org
Fax:  312-654-8644