Studio 55 — Celebrating the 55th Anniversary of the Fund for Justice
2025-06-12 18:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Greenhouse Loft, 2545 W Diversey, Chicago, IL
Join Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Chicago Council of Lawyers at Greenhouse Loft on Thursday, June 12, 2025, in celebration of the 55th anniversary of the Fund for Justice!
The Fund for Justice was founded in 1970 by the Chicago Council of Lawyers to research systemic issues and reforms in the Cook County courts. In 1997, the Fund for Justice joined the national Appleseed Network and became Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts. For the past 55 years, the two organizations have worked together to fight for court transparency, accountability, and economic justice.
We hope you’ll join us to celebrate our Collaboration for Justice!
Click here for tickets.

Regularly-priced individual tickets are $200.

Add $150+ to your individual ticket purchase to donate tickets to students and community members!

Tickets for nonprofit and public interest workers are $80. Tickets for people under the age of 25 are $25.
If none of these ticket price options are accessible to you, click “other amount” and give what you can.

Click here to sponsor.

Sponsorship information can be found here.
All sponsorships are tax-deductible less the cost of meals for tickets used.

Please contact Ali Longbottom at ali@chicagoappleseed.org if you have questions.

FJLOC 2025 Capstone Event
2025-08-08 12:00 - 14:00 | ArentFox Schiff
On Friday, August 8th, the 2025 cohort of Future Justice Lawyers of Chicago (FJLOC) students—59 undergraduate and 11 high school students, our largest cohort yet—will have their capstone event at ArentFox Schiff.
Please fill out this form to RSVP. Entry to the capstone event is free, but we welcome and encourage optional donations for those who are able to support our students.
More information to come!

Karaoke Night Fundraiser: Raise Your Voice for Advocacy!
2025-09-30 18:00 - 23:00 | Gman Tavern, 3740 N Clark St, Chicago, IL, 60613
Join us on Tuesday, September 30th, at Gman Tavern (3740 N Clark Street) for a night of karaoke and fun in support of our advocacy!
Fundraiser begins at 6:00 pm with song requests for $5 each beginning at 6:30—stick around until 10:00 pm to bid on the last song of the night.

Walk-ins are welcome but space isn’t guaranteed unless you register in advance here.

Advance tickets are $15 each and guarantee your spot on 9/30.
For $20, you can guarantee your spot at the fundraiser and reserve one song ticket in advance.
Additional song tickets will be sold at the event for $5 each. Check out Pop Up Karaoke’s catalogue of 70,000+ songs at PopUpKaraoke.com.
You can purchase additional song tickets in blocks of 5 online when you purchase your event ticket. Song tickets are transferable but non-refundable! Share them with your friends or donate unused song tickets back to support our work. (We estimate 10-12 singers can take the stage per hour.)

Any additional donations go to support our mission to interrupt cycles of poverty, mass incarceration, and racial injustice in the legal system. To donate or learn about becoming an event sponsor, visit this link.

November 10, 2025: Cultivating Seeds of Change
2025-11-10 18:00 - 21:00 | Ivy Room Chicago, 12 East Ohio Street, Unit 100, Chicago, 60611, United States
Cultivating Seeds of Change
From policy to practice, we’re planting the seeds that transform courts, communities, and culture.
Join Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts and the Chicago Council of Lawyers for our annual fall fundraiser on Monday, November 10 at 6:00 pm at the Ivy Room (12 E Ohio St, Chicago, IL 60611) to celebrate where we’ve been and where we’re going—and how we’re staying rooted in justice along the way.
We’re thrilled to welcome Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle as our guest of honor, who we’ll be presenting with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her decades-long commitment to promoting policies and practices to improve equity and accessible justice. President Preckwinkle and Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr., will join us as featured speakers.

RSVP: https://secure.chicagoappleseed.org/forms/tickets
Sponsor: https://secure.chicagoappleseed.org/forms/sponsorships

Click here for more details about becoming a sponsor.

Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts is a nonpartisan, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We do not endorse, support, or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by speaker(s)/participant(s) are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Chicago Appleseed, its staff, or the Board of Directors. All donations to Chicago Appleseed are tax-deductible, less the cost of services rendered, and will be used for charitable purposes consistent with our mission.

COEP Training: Domestic Violence Pretrial Detention Hearings (February 10)
2026-02-10 18:00 - 19:30 | Online
Chicago Appleseed’s Court Observation & Education Program (COEP) is back with two new court-watching projects, which are both virtual!
Starting this month, we will be collecting data in domestic violence pretrial detention hearings to understand what arguments court actors are making in pretrial detention hearings for domestic violence cases, and our joining our partners in the End Policing for Profit Coalition to collect more data on civil asset forfeiture cases, in which people try to reclaim their possessions from law enforcement.
We need your help to collect this data! Sign up for a training today:

Domestic Violence Pretrial Detention Hearings: Tuesday, February 10th @ 6-7:30 PM (Zoom) | Sign up here!

Civil Asset Forfeiture Hearings: Tuesday, February 17th @ 6-7:30 PM (Zoom) | Sign up here!

Contact court-watching@chicagoappleseed.org with any questions.

COEP Training: Civil Asset Forfeiture Hearings (February 17)
2026-02-17 18:00 - 19:30 | Online

Spring Luncheon Fundraiser
2026-06-16 11:30 - 13:30 | Ivy Room Chicago, 12 East Ohio Street, Unit 100, Chicago, 60611, United States
Join Chicago Appleseed’s Spring Luncheon on June 16!
We invite you to join our spring luncheon at the Ivy Room as we uplift leaders in our community and celebrate our collective efforts for justice. Chicago Appleseed is excited to gather with you and raise funds to support our work for court transparency, economic accessibility, decarceration, and community autonomy.
At the event, we are proud to honor Robert Held, a lawyer and community activist whose viral videos and national media interviews have focused on protecting the free speech rights of protesters speaking out against the policies and tactics of those carrying out national immigration policies. Robert’s videos have garnered millions of views as he has gained a national following.
We will also share about Chicago Appleseed’s efforts to build the next generation of justice-oriented lawyers through our Future Justice Lawyers of Chicago (FJLOC) program. Hannah Callentine, Appleseed FJLOC Fellow and President of the Northwestern University Black Pre-Law Students Association, will be discussing the FJLOC and its powerful skill-building, mentoring, and community development. We are thrilled to have 75 pre-law undergraduate and high school students involved in FJLOC, along with a robust Alumni Association.
Get your tickets here and sponsor the event here.
See you there,
Rachel Lyons
Executive Director
