Dear Employers:

The Cook County Bar Association (“CCBA”) is pleased to invite your firm/organization to participate in its 34th Annual Minority Law Student Job Fair (“Job Fair”). The Job Fair historically has attracted over 500 students and approximately 100 law firms, corporations and government agencies. The Job Fair will be open to students in the classes of 2018 and 2019 (3Ls and 2Ls) from accredited law schools that are: ranked among the top 30 as determined by U.S. News and World Report; associated with historically black colleges and universities; located in the Midwest as defined by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP); and participating members of the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO).

The Job Fair will be held on Friday, August 11, 2017 from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Job Fair will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel Chicago-Downtown/Lakefront (“Hotel”), located at 511 North Columbus Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60611. The Embassy Suites is located two blocks from the Magnificent Mile entertainment and shopping district and is minutes from Navy Pier, Lake Michigan and several world-class museums. In addition, the Hotel’s large suites are conducive to a formal interview environment, as the separate sleeping area may be closed off while interviews are in progress.

Registration for the Job Fair will be completed online through Symplicity, an internet- based interview scheduling program. Online registration allows employers to input their own profiles, firm description, hiring criteria and office locations for positions. Additionally, employers will be able to review and print student resumes and pre-select preferred candidates and alternates electronically. Registered employers will be sent reminder and confirmation e- mails throughout the registration period. To register, please visit the CCBA Symplicity by clicking here.  Please note: Employers who participated in the 2016 Job Fair must register again online for the 2017 Job Fair. Returning employers, however, may use their same user names and passwords from 2016.

Students registered for the Job Fair will have the opportunity to submit their resumes to 25 employers and employers will have the ability to view the resume of every registered student who wishes to interview with them. Each employer’s schedule contains 16 interview slots. Employers will pre-select one-half of their interview schedule(s) and rank 10 alternates. With pre-selection, each employer is guaranteed to meet those students it considers most promising amongst the students expressing an interest in that particular employer. The remaining one-half of the employer interview schedule will be filled based upon the student bidding process. Employers will be electronically notified of schedule cancellations as they occur in the months leading up to the Job Fair.

Interviews will begin promptly at 8:30 a.m. and will conclude at 3:50 p.m. Each interview will be 20 minutes in length. Students will not be scheduled for back-to-back interviews to ensure that they will be on time for their next interview. There will be a morning and afternoon break. Breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. and lunch from 11:30 p.m. until 12:30 p.m. will be provided for all employers. The Job Fair will conclude with a Reception from 4:00 p.m. until 5:30 p.m.

The registration fees for the Job Fair are as follows: $500.00 for public interest organizations and government agencies; $800.00 for mid-size and small law firms (less than 85 attorneys); and $1,300.00 for large law firms (85 attorneys or more) and corporations. Employers who wish to interview with more than 16 candidates may request additional interview schedules. The registration fee for each additional schedule is as follows: $250.00 for public interest organizations and government agencies; $350.00 for mid-size and small law firms; and $500.00 for large law firms and corporations. Employers who register and submit payment by March 27, 2017 will receive a 10% discount off of their registration fees.   To get an idea about the type of employers that register for the Job Fair, please visit our Employers List webpage.

A $100.00 late registration fee (in addition to the regular registration fees noted above) will be imposed upon employers who register after May 1, 2017. The deadline for registration, which must be completed online, and the payment of fees is June 1, 2017. Please submit a check for your registration fee, payable to the Cook County Bar Association, at your earliest convenience to Cook County Bar Association, Attn: Cordelia Brown, 19 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 702, Chicago, Illinois 60603. Credit card payments may be processed in the coming weeks.  Employers who require an invoice, please visit the document library at https://law-ccba-csm.symplicity.com and look in the document library to print the appropriate invoice for your organization or firm.

Employers wishing to cancel their participation in the Job Fair may do so by emailing LeDeidre Turner at ledeidre.turner@gmail.com without penalty until June 1, 2017. After June 1, 2017, employers canceling their participation will not be refunded any registration fees.

Because interviews begin early Friday morning, employers may wish to reserve overnight accommodations in their interview suite on the Thursday preceding the Job Fair. Employers are welcome to stay in their interview suites through the weekend to enjoy downtown Chicago. Employers seeking to reserve overnight accommodations in their interview suites, or additional employer sleeping rooms, on any night from Thursday, August 10, 2017, through Saturday, August 12, 2017, may do so at a rate of $249.00 per night (plus all applicable taxes and incidental fees). Rooms must be reserved by June 30, 2017, and a link will be sent in the coming weeks.  Please note, the $249.00 per night rate for Friday and Saturday is based on availability and can be changed by the hotel with or without notice.  Additionally, interviews must promptly end at 3:50 p.m., at which time all interview suites must be vacated, unless overnight accommodations have been made. Checkouts after 4:00 p.m. will be charged the full rate of $249.00 plus all applicable taxes and incidentals. Employers who have reserved additional rooms must check out of their rooms by 12:00 p.m. on Friday August 11, 2017, unless they have made overnight accommodations for Friday night.

Employer Sponsorship Opportunities

Employers that are interested in demonstrating their commitment to diversity by becoming a sponsor of the CCBA Minority Law Student Job Fair should send an inquiry via email to info@ccbaminorityjobfair.org.  High visibility sponsorships are still available for the Job Fair.

2017 CCBA Minority Law Student Job Fair Fee Schedule

We look forward to your participation in the 34th Annual CCBA Minority Law Student Job Fair. If you have any additional questions about employer registration, please contact Raymond Rushing at raymondrushing@gmail.com or Dibora Berhanu at dibora.berhanu@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

The 2017 Cook County Bar Association Minority Law Student Job Fair Committee