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Intake Policies and Procedures

Rights Violated? Please Read This First

As one of more than 50 local affiliates around the country, the ACLU of Illinois covers only the state of Illinois. We are unable to provide assistance outside our geographic area. If you wish to contact the ACLU affiliate in you area, please consult the affiliate directory prepared by the National ACLU.

You can now report LGBT/HIV discrimination to the ACLU of Illinois online. To report LGBT/HIV discrimination only, click here to fill out our secure form.

The ACLU of Illinois' Intake Department is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday-Friday. During those hours an intake counselor is available if you wish to explain your problem. Our counselors are dedicated volunteers, but they are not lawyers and cannot give you legal advice, but will simply obtain the facts pertaining to your problem. Depending on the nature of your problem, the counselor may give you an appropriate referral or present the facts of your case to a staff attorney for review. The ACLU cannot refer you to individual private attorneys.

Contacting the ACLU to describe your problem will not guarantee the ACLU will represent you. Due to the enormous demand for representation and our limited resources, the ACLU cannot represent everyone who has a valid legal claim. Every decision regarding representation must meet specific guidelines and requires special approval.

Important Note About Deadlines:
All legal claims have time deadlines. The deadlines may be different depending on who violated your rights and which rights were violated. For some kinds of violations, you may need to file a claim with a government agency before you can sue, and these agencies have their own time deadlines. If you do not comply with the applicable statute of limitations, you may be legally barred from pursuing your claim in court. Contacting the ACLU to describe your problem does not mean that the ACLU represents you, and will not stop the statute of limitations from running. The ACLU cannot give you advice about the deadlines that apply to your case. To protect your rights, please consult an attorney promptly to find out what deadline may apply in your case.

The Intake Department can be reached:

By Phone: (312) 201-9740
(800) 572-1092 (inside Illinois only)

By Fax: (312) 201-9760

By Post: ACLU of Illinois Intake Department
180 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2300
Chicago, IL 60601

Email:

For LGBT/HIV Discrimination cases only

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ACLU of Illinois » 180 N. Michigan, Ste 2300 » Chicago, IL 60601 » Phone: 312-201-9740   Fax: 312-201-9760 » Email: acluofillinois@aclu-il.org   Website: http://www.aclu-il.org