Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Transcription

1 222 N. LaSalle Street Suite 300 Chicago, IL Phone: (312) locations Appleton, WI Belleville, IL Boston, MA Chicago, IL Edwardsville, IL Fort Lauderdale, FL Jacksonville, FL Lisle, IL Los Angeles, CA Miami, FL Milwaukee, WI Minneapolis, MN New York, NY Peoria, IL Phoenix, AZ Portland, OR Providence, RI Rockford, IL Saint Louis, MO San Francisco, CA Schererville, IN Springfield, IL Tampa, FL THE STATS. of Attorneys: 467. of Offices: 23 Chairman: Donald L. Mrozek Hiring Partner(s): Mary J. Hess EMPLOYMENT CONTACT Mary Beth Walsh Attorney Recruitment & Development Manager Phone: (312) Careers website: MAJOR DEPARTMENTS & PRACTICES Departments: Business Transactions Business Litigation Lawyers for Professionals Defense Litigation, and Specialty Litigation & Insurance Coverage. Practices: Alarm & Security Law Appellate Bankruptcy & Creditors Rights Business & Commercial Transactions ERISA Litigation Environmental Equine Law Estate Planning & Wealth Preservation Family Law Fidelity Law Gaming Law Government Health Care Law Insurance Services Intellectual Property Labor & Employment Lawyers & Law Firms Personal Injury/Property Damage Defense Litigation Product Liability Professional Liability Real Estate & Lending School Law Surety Law Toxic Tort Transportation Law White Collar Crime & Internal Investigations. 263

2 Who s Who Does the firm have one or more pro bono coordinators and/or partners? If so, how many? 2 Please provide a general description of how much of their time each of your pro bono coordinators and/or partners spends on pro bono work and/or administering the firm s pro bono program (e.g., less than half of their time, more than half of their time, all of their time). Less than half for both. Please provide the primary pro bono contact(s) s information below. Dan L. Boho Partner, and Leader, Defense Litigation Department Phone: dboho@hinshawlaw.com Joshua G. Vincent Partner, and Director of Professional Development Phone: jvincent@hinshawlaw.com Does the firm have a pro bono committee? How often does the committee meet? Semi-annually Please describe the composition of the committee. The Pro Bono Legal Services Committee consists of seven members from across the firm. It is chaired by Dan Boho (Chicago). The current members include: Marissa Delinks (Boston), Peter Frommer (Ft. Lauderdale), David Jones (Peoria), Russell Ponessa (Minneapolis), Joshua Vincent (Chicago), and Lora Zimmer (Appleton). THE SCOOP Does your firm have a pro bono policy? Can associates bring pro bono matters of interest to the firm? How does the firm decide whether to take on a pro bono matter? Larger pro bono projects are approved in advance with the acceptance of individual assignments under the main approval. With regard to other, individual matters, the regional member of the Pro Bono Committee initially makes a decision unless 264 the commitment calls for the resources to be decided by the Committee as a whole or the Committee Chair. Has the firm signed on to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge? What are some of the areas of law in which your firm has performed pro bono legal work since 2012? Appellate, Civil rights, Community economic development, Disability benefits, Domestic violence, Employment, Executive Clemency, Fair housing/tenants rights, Family law, First Amendment and constitutional issues, Homeless advocacy, Indigent criminal defense, nprofit corporate law, nprofit incorporation/tax exemptions, Prisoners rights, Probate law, Real estate transactions, Social Security law Are there areas of law in which, as a matter of policy or practice, your firm does not perform pro bono work? Police misconduct List up to 10 of your firm s pro bono clients or partners since 2012, including legal service providers or clearinghouses. Criminal Justice Act - Appointed Counsel by 7th Circuit Life After Innocence Project Cabrini Green Legal Aid University of St. Thomas Bankruptcy Clinic Community Alliance of Tenants United Way of Rock River Valley American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon Center for Constitutional Rights Executive Clemency Clients Marquette Law School Volunteer Legal Clinic List up to three representative examples of your firm s pro bono matters since Please limit your answer to a short paragraph per matter. An area of focus within Hinshaw s pro bono efforts is its support of the Life After Innocence (LAI) program, spearheaded by Laura Caldwell, a law professor at Loyola. The program provides legal services to people who were wrongly charged and subsequently exonerated of crimes. A centerpiece of Hinshaw s pro bono efforts is representing indigent criminal defendants in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Members of the firm s Appellate Practice Group supervise first-year associates in the briefing and argument of appeals for clients who could not otherwise afford representation by lawyers with such expertise in appellate practice. Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and the Chicago Council of Lawyers are undertaking a project in memory 2014 Vault.com Inc.

3 of the late Jerold S. Solovy Solovy Revisited, a project that will compare the reform-minded recommendations issued 20 years ago by the Solovy Commission with today s administration of justice. A Hinshaw partner will serve as co-chair of the project. The Solovy Revisited project arose out of a desire to build on the original Solovy Commission s work by assessing how far the courts have progressed in the past two decades. The ultimate goal of the project is to publish a report that will not only pay tribute to the work done by the Commission, but will also serve as a springboard for continuing to improve the courts. The project will focus on selected recommendations emanating from the original Solovy Commission to ascertain to what extent they have been implemented and what additional efforts are needed to bring about systemic reform. In addition, the Project will raise and analyze new ideas for systemic reform of the courts. The final report will be distributed to the Illinois Supreme Court, other leaders in the judiciary, community leaders, and the public at large. Hinshaw, along with several other law firms, has committed to provide pro bono legal support for the project. List up to three pro bono matters that are highlights (e.g., a Supreme Court case). Please limit your answer to a short paragraph per matter. One of the firm s partners assisted a man who had suffered a catastrophic injury in 1995 that left him permanently paralyzed from the waist down. In 2012, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services cut off the man s services - services that were essential to his ability to meet his needs of daily living. In December of 2013 shortly before Christmas, our attorney took that agency ruling to the Circuit Court of Cook County on administrative review, and obtained an order requiring the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to rehear the case. Then, in a pretrial conference at the administrative level, our partner persuaded the agency to fully restore the gentleman s benefits. Two of the firm s attorneys won a reversal on a major case in 2013 on direct appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The decision addresses an issue of first impression in the Seventh Circuit. The defendant had been convicted of attempted extortion, interstate transmission of a ransom request, and two counts under 18 USC 924(c) (1) of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The first firearm count carried a mandatory minimum of seven years in prison. The second, however, carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years, to run consecutively to the first. On appeal, our attorneys presented an oral argument in vember After more than a year of deliberation, the Seventh Circuit agreed with our attorneys and held that only a single conviction could be entered where the evidence established only a single use of a firearm. The case has been ordered remanded to the district court for resentencing consistent with the decision, potentially resulting in as much as a 25-year reduction in the defendant s sentence. The firm has represented three men who were imprisoned without charge by the United States at Guantanamo Bay. Two men were resettled as free men to safe third countries in The third man, a native of Tajikistan, remains behind bars after 12 years. For that client, the firm is advocating to the State and Justice Departments against his involuntary repatriation to Tajikistan, and is prepared to litigate this issue in the courts if necessary, because such a transfer would violate the United States obligations under the Convention Against Torture to not repatriate a person where there is a substantial risk of torture in the receiving country. The firm is also involved in efforts to resettle this client in a safe third country where he can resume his life. BY THE NUMBERS What is the total number of hours that lawyers at your U.S. office(s) spent performing pro bono legal services, as defined by the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge, in 2012 and 2013? Do not include summer associate or non-lawyer pro bono hours in your answers. Total number of pro bono hours in 2012: 8,316 Total number of pro bono hours in 2013: 6,894 What was the attorney headcount in your firm s U.S. offices? Number of attorneys as of December 31, 2012: 494 Number of attorneys as of December 31, 2013: 467 Using the number of attorneys listed above, what is the average number of pro bono hours per attorney in your firm s U.S. office(s) during the following years? Average number of hours per attorney in 2012: 25 Average number of hours per attorney in 2013: 15 What percentage of attorneys employed during 2012 and 2013 in your firm s U.S. office(s) did at least 20 hours of pro bono during that calendar year? Percentage of attorneys who did pro bono work in 2012: 21 30% Percentage of attorneys who did pro bono work in 2013: 21 30% SUPERVISION AND EVALUATIONS Is there partner supervision on all pro bono matters? Do partner supervisors or, if applicable, senior associates provide written evaluations of associates work on pro bono matters? Are those evaluations taken into account in determining salary or bonuses?, they are taken into account when determining salary, they are taken into account when determining bonuses Visit for company rankings, ratings and reviews to learn what it s really like to work in an industry or company and how to position yourself to land that job. 265

4 Are those evaluations taken into account in determining advancement within the firm? Is there a pro bono requirement at your firm? What is the requirement and to whom does it apply? Associates entering the firm are required to undertake at least one pro bono representation during their first year of practice. There are no other pro bono requirements. Does the firm give billable hour credit for pro bono work? Does the firm have a maximum number of pro bono hours that can be applied toward the billable hour target? Does the firm consider pro bono hours when determining bonuses? PRO BONO POINTS What training opportunities are open to associates working on pro bono matters? The training opportunities open to associates working on pro bono matters are the same opportunities available to those associates working on billable matters. Does the firm offer the use of support staff in handling pro bono matters? Does the firm have established programs, such as externships, that enable its associates to work in a public interest setting? What other law-related public interest and community service programs (that are not pro bono as defined by the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge) do you offer and manage? For example, list any law school collaborations and public interest scholarships, auctions at law schools, monetary support, or fellowships. The firm works with the DePaul Diversity Scholarship; the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow; and the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession. One of firm s partners serves as pro bono General Counsel for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and Hinshaw attorneys serve as board members for many law-related, public interest and community service programs, including: Advisory Council Institute for 266 Inclusion in the Legal Profession; ALPFA Chicago Corporate Advisory Board; American Board of Trial Advocates, Missouri/ Southern Illinois Chapter; Appellate Lawyers Association; Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago; Center for Disability and Elder Law, Young Professionals Board; Central Illinois Women s Bar Association; Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women (AFW); Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms; Chicago Committee, Associate Board; Circuit Court of Cook County Elder Law Task Force; Coalition of Women s Initiatives in Law; Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago; Dade County Defense Bar Association; Dean s Council of the DePaul University College of Law; Defense Research Institute (DRI); Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana; DRI Intellectual Property Committee; Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania; Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois (HLAI); Illinois Appellate Court Selection Panel; Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel (IDC); Illinois Bar Foundation; Illinois Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board; Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education; Indian-American Bar Association (IABA); Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession; Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago; Lincoln Douglas American Inn of Court; National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL); National Foundation for Judicial Excellence; rthern California Association of Defense Counsel; Peoria County Bar Association; Prairie State Legal Services; Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI); Rockford Legal Follies; Sangamon County Bar Association; Schiller DuCanto and Fleck Family Law Center; South Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation; St. Clair County Bar Association Memorial Law Committee; St. Louis County Bar Executive Committee; State Bar of Wisconsin, Health Law Section; State Bar of Wisconsin, International Practice Section; The Fund for The Legal Aid Society; The Lesbian & Gay Bar Association of Chicago; Winnebago County Bar Association; Winnebago County Bar Foundation; Women s Bar Association of Illinois. What non-law related volunteer opportunities does your firm offer? For example, list any work with high school students and non-legal volunteerism for organizations like Habitat for Humanity. The firm continues as a participant in the IILOP Pledge to the Profession. Hinshaw attorneys participated in the Lawyers in the Classroom program, teaching law lessons to students in two Chicago Public Schools (Shields Elementary School and Shields Middle School). The firm also had high school interns from Cristo Rey and Christ the King schools working in the Accounting Department. Hinshaw also participated in the Urban Alliance program which placed an intern from Hubbard High School at the firm. Please list any special recognition or awards your firm has won since 2012 for its pro bono work. Hinshaw is the 2013 recipient of the Charles J. O Laughlin Memorial Award. Awarded by the Chicago Legal Clinic, one of the foremost pro bono organizations in the Chicagoland area, this award recognizes outstanding efforts by a law firm to make legal services available to the poor. In addition, Hinshaw has been recognized annually since 2011 by the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) in Chicago for its public service. Life 2014 Vault.com Inc.

5 After Innocence awarded Hinshaw with its first annual award, intended to recognize people and organizations who do work for the innocent without compensation or other recognition. Joshua G. Vincent, a partner in our Chicago office, received the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Pro Bono and Public Service Award. Please add any additional information about your firm s pro bono program. Pro bono work at Hinshaw provides a rallying point and outstanding professional development for our young lawyers. While our firm has won numerous awards for our pro bono work, we do it because we find it to be the ultimate winwin: we gain as much or more as the people and community we are helping. Pro bono work provides our lawyers with personal and professional satisfaction, and we believe it helps our recruiting and mentoring of young lawyers, giving them an opportunity to interact with clients in a more direct and personal way very early in their legal careers. For example, we have had approximately 25 lawyers argue appeals before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of indigent criminal defendants, giving these clients high level appellate attention and giving our youngest lawyers a leg-up on other lawyers and tremendously maturing them. The mentoring that occurs with seasoned lawyers advising younger lawyers in pro bono matters is a large part of the glue that binds Hinshaw together we feel it helps define the soul of the firm. Visit for company rankings, ratings and reviews to learn what it s really like to work in an industry or company and how to position yourself to land that job. 267