LAP is proud to announce this year’s Joseph R. Bartylak Award recipient, ISBA President, the Honorable James McCluskey, for his outreach and advocacy promoting LAP’s programs for law students, attorneys and judges throughout the state of Illinois.

Keynote Speaker:
Honorable Sheila Simon 

Sheila Simon rejoined the Southern Illinois University School of Law faculty after serving as Lieutenant Governor of Illinois from 2011 to 2015. As Lieutenant Governor she worked on many issues including education policy and secure funding for rape crisis centers.

In addition to her experience in state government and local government, Simon has been a long-time teacher at the School of Law, and serving as the first staff attorney for the Domestic Violence Clinic. Before joining the faculty, she was an assistant state’s attorney for four years, with two of those years spent prosecuting domestic batterers. Her civil law experience includes five years as a staff attorney at Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance, and three years in private practice.

Simon graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1987, and from Wittenberg University in 1983. Ms. Simon has served on a panel to screen federal judge applicants and been a member of the board of directors of the Women’s Center and a pro bono attorney for the Association for Late Deafened Adults. She also served on the Carbondale City Council from 2003 to 2007.