Basic Skills Course for Newly Admitted Attorneys (12/03/25)

This is a hybrid event with an in-person and a webinar option. Please select the appropriate button when registering if you plan to attend in-person. Event will take place at The Chicago Bar Association, 321 S. Plymouth Court, Chicago, IL 60604.

This course is for new lawyers only. The CBA's Basic Skills Course for Newly Admitted Attorneys will satisfy the Supreme Court of Illinois' MCLE Rule 793 Requirement for Newly Admitted Attorneys 6.00 hours of basic skills course requirement which includes Professional Responsibility, 1.00 Diversity / Inclusion & 1.00 Mental Health / Substance Abuse PR-MCLE Credits. 

8:40 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. Opening Remarks

8:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Part 1: MCLE Requirements
Karen Johnson, Director, Illinois MCLE Board  

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Part 2: Ethics for New Attorneys
Mary Andreoni, Ethics Education Counsel, Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois (ARDC)

10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Part 3: Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession
Avani Patel, Project Specialist, Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession
Sandra Yamate, Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession 

11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. BREAK

11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Part 4: Pro Bono:  Supreme Court Rules and Opportunities 
Sarah Blair, Director of Pro Bono & Training, The Chicago Bar Foundation

11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Part 5: Business Transactions for New Attorneys
Douglas Murray, Member, Aronberg Goldgehn

12:15 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. LUNCH BREAK

1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Part 6: Taking and Defending Depositions
Eirene N. Salvi, Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.

1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Part 7: Legal Research: Mining the Web for Information
Catherine Sanders Reach, Director of the Center for Practice Management, North Carolina Bar Association

2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. BREAK

2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Part 8: Enhance Legal Work with AI
Mathew Kerbis, The Subscription Attorney

3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Part 9: Wellness and Mental Health for New Attorneys
Karen Munoz, Lawyer and Founder of Roaring Grace Mindful Wellness
Jonathan Safron, Attorney, Swanson Martin & Bell

4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Part 10: Civility in the Profession . . . How to Play Nice
Leonard Brahin, Associate, Holland & Knight
Bianca Ciarroni, Taft
Moderator: Hon. Andrea R. Wood, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois

To confirm you are ready to participate in an on demand webcast, please take the browser test here: http://eventcenter.commpartner...

Live CBA Committee meetings and seminars will take place via Zoom webinar.  You will click on "view video" and be directly connected to the meeting/seminar on Zoom.  (You will not receive a Zoom link.)

You MUST have Zoom Desktop Client on your Mac or PC to view a live program. If using a mobile device, you must have the Zoom App (available in the App Store or Google Play).

System requirements for Mac & PC can be found here. System requirements for mobile devices can be here.  

Please note that audience members do not need video or audio access.  Audience members are able to submit questions via the chat or Q & A features of Zoom. 

Chat: Open in-meeting chat, allowing you to send chat messages to and send a message to the host, panelists, and attendees (if permitted). Question & Answer: Open the Q&A window, allowing you to ask questions to the host and panelists. They can either reply back to you via text in the Q&A window or answer your question live.