“… the essence of professionalism is a commitment to develop one's skills to the fullest and to apply that responsibly to the problems at hand. Professionalism requires adherence to the highest ethical standards of conduct and a willingness to subordinate narrow self-interest in pursuit of the more fundamental goal of public service. Because of the tremendous power they wield in our system, lawyers must never forget that their duty to serve their clients fairly and skillfully takes priority over the personal accumulation of wealth. At the same time, lawyers must temper bold advocacy for their clients with a sense of responsibility to the larger legal system which strives, however imperfectly, to provide justice for all.”
 - Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

On June 27, 2008, the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel will present Ethics and the Legal Profession at the Union League Club of Chicago. This conference is being presented to fulfill the requirement that all Illinois attorneys earn four hours of professionalism/ethics credit during their reporting period.

Professionalism is a wide umbrella of values encompassing competence, civility, legal ethics, integrity, commitment to the rule of law, to justice and to the public good. The goal of this Conference is to fulfill the requirement while making our attendees better attorneys.

The IDC is very fortunate to have a large corps of talented, committed volunteers. We are very proud of the work they do for the defense bar and the association and invite you to gather at the IDC Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet to recognize our volunteers’ service.