This year’s CLF auction, which raised $54,000 and counting, featured several pandemic-era twists. All bidders participated via Zoom, the limited in-person support team remained fully masked and distanced, and items up for bid included remote gatherings in addition to in-person dinners and other events that will take place once public health guidelines allow.

In keeping with tradition, Professor Douglas Baird presided over the live auction—auctioning items in front of a camera in the Green Lounge while participants bid via Zoom.

The annual event raises money for the Chicago Law Foundation (CLF), a student-directed, not-for-profit group that awards grants to law students who devote their summers to working in the public interest.

Students bid on hundreds of items, including opportunities to interact remotely with high-profile alumni, such as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, ’88, and former FCC chair Ajit Pai, ’97.

Members of the faculty also offered a variety of popular items. Dean Thomas J. Miles, an avid birder, offered an opportunity to observe avian migration with him along Chicago’s lakefront. Professors Emily Buss and Claudia Flores offered a socially-distanced afternoon tea on the Quad, “complete with table cloths, teapots, scones, and cucumber sandwiches straight out of Wonderland.” And Professor Randal Picker offered dinner at his Hyde Park house followed by an improv lesson (for vaccinated attendees in Autumn 2021 at the earliest.)

The silent auction, long a popular aspect of the Auction, moved entirely on line this year. Bidding began the day before the live auction and students could bid on over 150 items, including wine, books, spa packages, home-baked and hand-knitted treats, time spent with students’ pets, the opportunity to choose a photo for the Glass Menagerie or the topic of a faculty blog post, custom sneakers (and faculty custom sneaker expertise), and rides to the airport, just to name a very few.

Congratulations to all winners--and to CLF for a great event!!