Chicago attorney Richard Levy was honored by Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS) for his “dedication and exemplary work.” An expert in real-estate law, Levy helped many people who could not afford an attorney with landlord-tenant issues, foreclosures, and evictions. CVLS’s mission is to coordinate, support, and promote voluntary, pro bono legal representation of the Chicago area’s poor.

Levy served as Vice President and General Counsel of Lexington Homes and has been a frequent lecturer on real estate and construction matters. He volunteers with JUF’s Community Legal Services (JCLS), which provides those in need of legal services with access to free, and much-needed, representation. JCLS is staffed entirely by volunteer attorneys like Levy, who donate their time to provide pro bono legal assistance in civil matters. Levy was nominated for the CVLS honor by JCLS, part of JUF’s TOV volunteer network; many of its attorneys are recruited through JUF’s Lawyers’ Division.

In nominating Levy for the honor, JCLS Director Sima Blue wrote that, “Each of his clients has come away with a deep respect and admiration for his skill, advice and compassion. The clients view him as kind, empathetic, and as easy to talk to as a member of their own family. He understands that his clients rely on him, and he feels that he owes them all the time and expertise that he can bring to their cases; he has a level of commitment to his clients that is unrivaled.”

Levy explained that the cases he takes for JCLS often involve people who cannot afford to stay in their houses or apartments due to lack of funds. He is often able to help them stay there, he said, at least until they find other places to live. Levy can also help people start over with no debt to their landlords or mortgage holders – a “clean slate,” as he put it.

He began volunteering, he said, “because the law has been very good to me, and because I felt it was important to give back to the community, especially the Jewish community.”

Levy added that he derives “a huge amount of satisfaction” from his pro bono work, saying that “helping people… during a rough spot in their lives, through no fault of their own, is enormously satisfying. It means a lot to me.”

To learn more, contact JUF Community Legal Services at (847) 568-1525 or email [email protected] for more information.