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Illinois Lawyers Trust Fund rolls out AI initiative, grants and peer-learning for grantees

Conference session: Strategy to action — building AI capacity in legal aid · February 3, 2026

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Summary

The Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois described a 2024 AI initiative supporting 57 grantees with discovery work, peer learning groups, strategic opportunity grants (including AI phone agents and document automation pilots), an online resource hub and plans for an AI learning platform.

Lisa Colpoyse, senior consultant to the AI initiative at the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois (LTF), described the funder's statewide program to help legal-aid organizations understand and responsibly use AI. Colpoyse said LTF is providing over $31,000,000 in annual funding to 57 grantees and launched the AI initiative in 2024 to help grantees leverage AI to expand capacity.

The initiative began with a discovery process and outreach to all 57 grantees. Colpoyse described multiple program elements: virtual office hours that evolved into targeted monthly sessions, an introductory webinar series on AI ethics and prompting, peer learning groups (the first focused on using AI for grant-writing and management), and an online resource library with recorded trainings and sample policies.

LTF awarded strategic opportunity grants for one-time AI projects, she said. Examples included Legal Aid Chicago’s AI phone agent for intake and pilots for immigration-document automation and legal-research tools. Colpoyse said the grants also supported organizations buying staff licenses for general AI tools to accelerate adoption.

Colpoyse shared survey results from two waves: a 2024 baseline and a 2025 follow-up. About 25% of Illinois legal-aid professionals responded (roughly 400 people). She said familiarity with AI and integration into work both increased substantially over the year. LTF plans to continue cultivating a "coalition of the willing," consider in-person convenings and explore launching a statewide AI learning platform available to all grantees.

Colpoyse framed the initiative as augmenting, not replacing, staff: "It is to augment and empower them," she said. The LTF will continue grants, peer groups and targeted training and invited grantees to contact the initiative for support.