Prairie State Legal Services (PSLS) named Illinois State University Pre-Law Acting Chair and Professor Tom McClure as an Outstanding Pro Bono Community Honoree for 2022 for “generous contributions and heartfelt commitment to providing legal services to low-income persons.” Adrian Barr, the managing attorney for Bloomington PSLS, presented McClure with the award.
PSLS offers free legal services for low-income persons and those age 60 and over who have serious civil legal problems and need legal help to solve them. PSLS maintains 11 office locations, serving 36 counties in central and northern Illinois. Each of the PSLS local offices with a pro bono program chose one attorney for the 2022 award.
McClure was chosen because he established the Illinois State Expungement Clinic and continues to provide legal work for dozens of PSLS clients by supervising students who prepare court documents seeking to expunge and seal clients’ criminal records. The Expungement Clinic offers students hands-on legal experience and a civic engagement opportunity. All legal studies majors and minors will work on an actual expungement or sealing case under McClure’s direction as the supervising attorney. He is supervising 44 students in the clinic this semester.
