The National Lawyers Guild Chicago chapter is thrilled to announce that we’ll be hosting the first NLG Midwest Regional Conference since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us for a weekend of community building and education (including CLE credited sessions!) from April 12-14th at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
We welcome activists, organizers, lawyers, law students, legal observers, and other legal workers to join us as we plan to help organize on-the-ground responses for the upcoming Republican National Convention (Milwaukee, July 15-18) and Democratic National Convention (Chicago, August 19-22). We hope to use this conference to establish connections with one another and build power in movements that prioritize human rights over property rights.
Get Your Tickets Here!
Friday, April 12th
6pm: Welcome Happy Hour!
Welcome to Chicago! Come raise a glass with your fellow midwest Guildees at The Glenwood (6962 N Glenwood) in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood!
Accessibility: Please note that this event is at a public bar where masks will not be required. To make this event as accessible as we could, we selected a bar with ample covered outdoor space (with airflow & not tented) to prevent the spread of COVID-19!
Saturday, April 13th
Loyola School of Law (25 E Pearson St, Chicago, IL 60611)
8:45-9:30am: Registration & Breakfast (13th floor)
Get checked-in and enjoy vegan breakfast sandwiches and parfait cups from Ste Martean.
9:30-10am: Defending Environ mental Activists (Room 1401)
As the climate crisis worsens throughout our region, we must unpack the lessons learned from defending environmental activists to better support Indigenous nations and local communities on the frontlines. Attorneys, legal workers, and a Bad River Ojibwe tribal elder/activist will discuss current threats to the Great Lakes including oil pipelines, mines, and Enbridge Line 5. They’ll also dive into the last six years of environmental resistance in the midwest including Enbridge Line 3 and the Dakota Access pipeline.
9:30-10am: FOIA: How to File and Fight Back (Room 1403)- CLE accredited session.
Frequent FOIA filers Matt Chapman (Lucy Parsons Labs) & Merrick Wayne (Loevy & Loevy) will discuss how attorneys can help activists, advocates and journalists get the information they seek through litigation. This session will include a training on how to file Freedom of Information Act requests.
10:45-11:45am: Defending Protesters: Misdemeanor Case Training (Room 1401) – CLE accredited session.
Participants will learn how to represent protesters charged with misdemeanors. An emphasis will be placed on providing a defense in-line with the client’s political goals. Chicago based participants will be eligible to join our misdemeanor case delegation listserv following the training so that they can put their new skills to use.
10:45-11:45am: Drug War Justice: Ways to Activate Your Advocacy (Room 1403)
The Cannabis Equity Coalition was founded in Illinois in 2019 to hold the State accountable for the War on Drugs, and to ensure that there is true equity in the cannabis industry. To achieve their goals, they offer a variety of wraparound re-entry resources (Record clearing, Technology Literacy Training), education (Know Your Rights & Political Education), and policy advocacy in the State Capitol.
From record clearing services, policy research & advocacy, to know your rights education, and more, there are many ways to get activated. The Cannabis Equity Coalition will offer attendees a full history of the legalization process (and pitfalls) in Illinois, and the specific context in which the work is done.
11:45-1pm: Lunch Break! (13th Floor)
Sit back, relax and enjoy a vegan lunch from Chicago Diner!
1-2pm: Litigating to Support Campaigns (Room 1401) – CLE accredited session.
When leveraged alongside grassroots organizing, litigation can help movements take giant leaps forward. Sharlyn Grace (Cook County Public Defender’s Office) will discuss how litigation can be used to support organizing campaigns with Adele Nicholas (Voices for Reform), Kate Schwartz (Hugh Socol Piers Resnick & Dym) and Jonathan Manes (MacArthur Justice Center). This conversation will touch on the campaigns to end money bail, stop ShotSpotter, and reform registries for people convicted of sex offenses.
1-2pm: Working with Immigrants & Asylum Seekers (Room 1403)
Susan Gzesh (Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, University of Chicago Instructional Professor, former Board chair of the National Lawyers Guild National Immigration Project) will be joined by Jorge Muijca (Arise Chicago) & Kalman Resnick (Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym) for a discussion on how lawyers are working to protect the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers. Topics will include the Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement program, advocacy to persuade the Biden Administration to grant Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelans who arrived before August 2023, and the national Political Action Committee Immigrants’ List. The session will conclude with space for NLG members from across the Midwest to share experiences with local immigrant leadership.
2:15-3:15pm: Station House Representation Training (Room 1401) – CLE accredited session.
Learn how to defend protestors and any other arrestees by representing them at Chicago police stations. This session will offer an overview of Illinois law on the rights of persons in police custody, and offer practical tips for locating and accessing clients, as well as ways to overcome common strategies of police resistance and obstruction at the station. Drawn off of First Defense Legal Aid’s more than 20 years operating a 24/7/365 police custody hotline, this session will equip you to support protestors at the station. Chicago based participants will be eligible to join our station house listserv following the training so that they can put their new skills to use.
2:15-3:15pm: NLG Chicago History Project: Staffing the Chapter in the Early ‘70s (Room 1403)
The session consists of a short documentary film about when six friends revived the Chicago National Lawyers Guild Office in 1972, followed by a Q&A session. Three of the friends – Ed Schwartz, Suzie Gamm and Adi Kahn Johnson – describe the programs they started, many of which continue to this day. The film makers will also participate and all will be available for questions. Participants in the session include Ed Schwartz, Suzie Gamm, Adi Kahn Johnson, Peter Kuttner and Pat Handlin.
3:30-4:30pm: First Amendment Protections for Peacekeepers and Violence Interrupters (Room 1403)
Join Shelia Bedia & Kara Crutcher (Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law) & youth activists with GoodKids MadCity for a session on legal and organizing strategies to end police harassment and abuse of violence interrupters and peacekeepers.
4:30-6pm: Radical Histories: Exploring Puerto Rican Resistance in Chicago (Starts from 2502 W Division St)
Meet at the check-in table at 3:30pm to travel together to the walking tour via public transit.
Journey through the streets of Humboldt Park to explore Puerto Rican history and resistance. Led by José E. López (Puerto Rican Cultural Center), the walking tour takes place against a backdrop of colorful political murals, cultural institutions, and stories of resilience and self-determination. Participants will gain insight into the colonial relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico as well as the intersections of race, class, and activism in Chicago’s Puerto Rican history.
6:30-9:30pm: Conference Celebration (1775 N Clybourn)
Conference Celebration Tickets are Available Here! Proceeds will help pay for legal support during DNC & RNC!
Come together with NLG members from across the Midwest for a rooftop party with 360 degree views of the city of Chicago! The event space has ample indoor and outdoor hang out areas, a fire pit, ping pong table & more. We’ll be serving up Palestinian food & have drinks available for donation.
Accessibility: In order to advocate for disability justice & accessibility for all, we are asking that people wear a high quality mask when not eating or drinking indoors. Masks will be available and we will have air filters thanks to Clean Air Club Chicago! This event space has ample outdoor space, including covered space in the event of rain! It is also wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, April 14th
Loyola School of Law (25 E Pearson St, Chicago, IL 60611)
8:45-9:30am: Registration & Breakfast (10th floor)
Get checked-in and enjoy a full vegan breakfast from Soul Vegan.
9:30-10:30am: DNC Chicago: Then and Now (10th Floor Courtroom)
Join longtime organizer, educator and author, Bill Ayers in conversation with activists planning to march on the Democratic and Republican National Conventions this summer. Participants will include Kobi Gilroy (Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression), Mandy Medley ( worker/owner Pilsen Community Books; organizer with Chicago for Abortion Rights and Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws) Muhammad Sankari (Arab American Action Network), Omar Flores (Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression).
10:45-11:45am: Drop the Charges on the Uhuru 3! (Room 1401) – CLE accredited session.
The Uhuru 3 are facing 15 years in federal prison on bogus “foreign agents” charges for exercising the First Amendment right to free speech to advocate for reparations to the African community and oppose U.S. imperialist wars. The trial is set for September of this year in Florida. Join members of the Uhuru 3 and one of their attorneys, Leonard Goodman, for a conversation about their case. The NLG passed a national resolution in support of the Uhuru 3.
10:45-11:45am: Mobilizing Legal Support for Mass Mobilizations (10th Floor Courtroom)
For decades, NLG lawyers and legal workers have come together to leverage their skills to support grass movements in the streets and in the courts. Join Brad Thomson, Garret Thomas, Lillian McCartin, Traia Theil & Victor Forberger as they share lessons learned from organizing legal support for Line 3 protests, the Madison Singer cases, Occupy Chicago and the George Floyd Uprising.
11:45-1pm: Lunch Break! (10th Floor)
Sit back, relax and enjoy a vegan lunch from Chicago Diner!
1-2pm: Legal Observer Training (10th Floor Courtroom)
The Legal Observer program is the foundation of NLG’s legal support for social movements. If you’ve ever been to a protest, you’ve likely seen our members monitoring police activity wearing bright green hats. This training will share the ins and outs of legal observing and get you ready to play a supporting role during this summer’s conventions. Chicago based participants will be eligible to join our Legal Observer listserv following the training so that they can put their new skills to use.
1-2pm: Eviction Defense (Room 1401)
After the end of COVID-era eviction moratoria, evictions in Chicago and across the country jumped back up to pre-pandemic levels, and in some cases now exceed pre-2020 filings. Sam Barth and Lydia Elmer from the Law Center for Better Housing (formerly Lawyer’s Committee for Better Housing) will discuss the landscape of housing work and eviction defense in Chicago, in the face of rising rents, aging buildings, and a patchwork of legal protections for renters.
2:15-3:15pm: Safeguarding the Right to Advocate for Gaza in the Employment and Academic Settings (10th Floor Courtroom)
As Israel’s war and siege on Gaza intensifies since October 7, 2023, so do efforts in the academic and employment settings to exclude employees, students and faculty who challenge the orthodoxy.
Rifqa Falaneh (Palestine Legal), Peter Kirstein (Professor Emeritus, St. Xavier University), Rima Kapitan (Kapitan Gomaa Law, P.C.), Jinan Chehade (civil rights attorney and activist), and Paul Vickrey (Vitale, Vickrey, Niro, Solon & Gasey LLP) will explore current and historical trends and case studies illustrating the exclusion of advocates for Palestinian rights. Topics will include the rise of “New McCarthyism” in academia, an analysis of the changing landscape since October 7, legal strategies for challenging repression of activists and employees, and the First Amendment as a remedy for retaliation.
