Around the water cooler: Asylum for Iraqi refugee

Jenner & Block’s client, Ala Farid Atya, was an Iraqi National who worked for the U.S. military at Al-Asad Air Base in al-Anbar Province, Iraq in 2003. Beginning in 2005, Atya and his family began receiving written and oral threats from Iraqi militias and insurgent groups as a result of his collaboration with the U.S. military, according to Jenner.

Persecution escalated to include death threats, the bombing of his home during a Ramadan dinner, shooting at Atya and three of his coworkers, and a kidnapping of his father in 2006. In October 2006 the family fled Iraq in fear of their lives. At that time, Atya was engaged to a U.S. soldier from Nebraska.

Atya received his K-1 fiancé visa in December 2007, and flew to the U.S. to be with his fianceé. Upon arriving at O’Hare International Airport, Atya was notified that his fianceé no longer wanted to marry him, and he was accused of visa fraud and taken into custody.

At that time, Abraham Saiger, an associate at Jenner & Block, began representing Atya.

When commenting on the importance of this pro bono case, Saiger said, “I believe it’s important that Iraqis who are risking their lives by working with us need to know we are behind them.”

Saiger prepared an asylum application for the client and submitted a 44-page brief, an expert witness report, and other supporting documentation to the immigration court.

Saiger provided support from Eric Davis, a professor at Rutgers University, for the expert testimony. As a professor of political science with a focus on the Middle East and Iraq, Davis was able to provide background about the Shiite and Sunni struggle, and illustrate that the Iraq government was not able to control the militia groups that were attacking Atya; and if he returned to Iraq there would be reasonable fear that he would be attacked further, Saiger said.

Saiger demonstrated that Atya was carrying with him at the airport a letter written by a family friend congratulating him on his marriage. This evidence illustrated that Atya told his friends and family he was getting married, and believed he would reunite with his fianceé, and consequently had not committed any fraud, he said.

Also, Atya was told it was impossible for him to fly from Damascus directly to Nebraska, where his fianceé was, so he planned to fly through O’Hare. Accordingly, Saiger said he showed that Atya had hundreds of dollars with him while traveling — illustrating that he planned to fly to Nebraska, but was never allowed to pass Chicago where he was put in jail for several months.

At the hearing the judge ruled that no visa fraud had been shown, and granted Atya asylum.

“As a result of helping us in Iraq all sorts of terrible things happened to Mr. Atya,” Saiger said. “After surviving multiple attacks and kidnappings, he traveled to us legally and we locked him up and started getting ready to deport him. It just seemed we should be embracing people who are clearly our friends and allies and not slamming the door in their face, forcing them back into terrible conditions where there lives are clearly at risk.”

– Danielle Feinstein

Around the water cooler: Lifting weights for charity

Each week Chicago Lawyer will highlight a different case or legal happening, and solicit your thoughts on the impact of it in the legal community.

Daniel Cotter, vice president deputy general counsel at Argo Group U.S., Inc., is not your typical lawyer.

The typical lawyer cannot lift a weight comparable to a small car. But Cotter can.

For the past eight years, Cotter has participated in competitive power weightlifting.

Cotter started lifting weights as a hobby at age 13, when he would go to the gym with his dad. But he put the hobby on hold while studying at Monmouth College. After taking the suggestion of a colleague from college, Cotter started weightlifting again — this time competitively.

Cotter now competes, on average, twice a year, and can lift 1,500 pounds in a combined three lifts. When preparing for a competition, Cotter trains five days a week for an hour a day, and uses the weekends to rest.

Cotter became vice chair of the young lawyers division of the Chicago Bar Association in 2003. During that time, the young lawyers section was involved in WITS [Working In The Schools], a volunteer mentoring program.

Cotter said WITS “was always a difficult thing because a lot of lawyers don’t have the capacity to go off-site and tutor. And back then I had two young sons and wasn’t able to do it. I thought about it, and I was weightlifting anyways and could make a contribution to mentoring in that way.”

It was at this time that Cotter began using his competitive weightlifting to raise money for the Sun-Times Judge Marovitz Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth Program, which was created by the CBA and the Chicago Bar Foundation.

It promotes one-on-one mentoring relationships, provides grants to one-on-one mentoring programs across the state, and recruits attorneys and judges to serve as mentors.

Cotter raises money each year through his competitive weightlifting to give to the Lend- A-Hand program. He sends e-mails to his friends and colleagues to remind them of the event, and they either pledge him a certain amount per pound that he lifts or give him a flat donation, Cotter said.

This year marks the sixth year that Cotter has raised money for Lend-A-Hand through competitive weightlifting, with an expected amount of around $26,000 to have been raised.

– Danielle Feinstein

Around the water cooler: Q & A with Todd C. Jacobs

Each week we will pose these three questions to different lawyers in the legal community.

Today we talk with Todd C. Jacobs, managing principal at Grippo & Elden, which is primarily a litigation boutique with 46 lawyers handling complex, high-stakes commercial cases. He’s been practicing since 1989.

What do you find the most interesting about your practice?

Because we litigate all manner and variety of commercial cases nationwide, I am continually exposed to a variety of subject matters before different courts and arbitrators and involving counsel from across the country. This exposure to a variety of different situations and actors keeps the practice fresh.  For example, in the past two years, I tried a case in New York, had extensive pretrial proceedings in two cases in California and was also involved in active litigations pending in Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. I really enjoy the challenge of dealing with these different situations. In addition, because I am the firm’s managing principal, I’m extensively involved in the business end of running our law practice. Helping to run a small business in an increasingly competitive marketplace means there are fresh challenges daily.

What makes a good lawyer?

I think a good lawyer needs to have the full package: Good analytic and people skills, experience, adaptability and the ability to solve problems in a timely and efficient manner. A really underrated skill is the ability to listen to a client’s concerns and implement a strategy designed to assist the client achieve its goals. A successful result should be defined as one that is in-line with the client’s needs and concerns, not necessarily his or her lawyer’s.

What is the biggest legal news right now, and what is its impact?

There are a number of interesting current developments in the profession, but the one that concerns me the most is the reputed widespread disaffection of young lawyers. Young lawyers in large numbers are unhappy, not getting adequate training or experience and planning to leave their firms and/or the law entirely. These people are the future of our legal system and, not to be too melodramatic about it, the future of justice in this country.

We need to do more as a profession to make sure talented young lawyers are properly mentored and trained.  Many of the internal programs we have implemented at Grippo (training, mentoring, early responsibility on cases etc.) are designed to buck the trend and ensure that young lawyers are provided opportunities to develop and be challenged from their first day at work.

Around the water cooler: Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione sponsors legal institute

Each week Chicago Lawyer will highlight a different case or legal happening, and solicit your thoughts on the impact of it in the legal community.

Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, a sponsor of Just the Beginning Foundation’s 2008 Summer Legal Institute, hosted a panel discussion June 20 for more than 40 high school juniors and seniors.

The panelists, which consisted of Brinks president Gary Ropkski; shareholder Nick de la Torre; and associates Julie Leichtman, Michelle Miller, and Rashad Morgan, introduced students to the field of intellectual property, shared memorable cases and answered students’ questions.

Morgan said the students were not afraid to ask questions and talk to the lawyers. They were very impressive, Morgan said. They even came with business cards that they handed out to lawyers they met.

Just the Beginning Foundation is a non-profit organization supporting students of color and traditionally underrepresented groups by providing free educational and mentoring programs to inspire at-risk students and increase diversity in the judiciary and legal profession.

The foundation was built on the contributions of African-Americans in the federal judiciary, and offers a series of pipeline programs aimed at keeping underrepresented students of all ages on a path towards a legal career.

Morgan said, “It’s a great program to explain to kids what kind of law our firm is involved in, open them to areas of law beyond those exposed on TV, and show these kids we do care about them.”

– Danielle Feinstein

Around the water cooler: Q & A with Sandra Frantzen

Each week we will pose these three questions to different lawyers in the legal community.

This week we talk with Sandra Frantzen, a shareholder at McAndrews, Held & Malloy, who has been practicing since 1999.

– What do you find the most interesting about your practice?

Patent lawyers are lucky because we are constantly learning about new technologies.  I have litigated cases involving ultrasonic toothbrushes, angioplasty catheters, rail car parts, printers, bone paste, and other technologies.  In one case, I got to learn how a lava lamp works. It’s a lot of fun. You always get a chance to challenge yourself.

– What makes a good lawyer?

There’s a tendency sometimes to “over-lawyer” things.  A good lawyer takes a business-focused and value-oriented approach to legal matters. He or she understands the client’s business and finds the most cost-effective and value-enhancing way to meet the client’s objectives.

– What is the biggest legal news right now, and what is its impact?

For me, two things. As a patent lawyer, the big news is the Supreme Court’s sudden interest in patent cases. In the past, like many courts, the Supreme Court seemed to avoid patent issues. However, in the last few years, the Supreme Court has changed the patent landscape quite a bit with rulings limiting the scope of patent owner’s rights; for example, making it easier to invalidate patents and harder to get an injunction. The Federal Circuit (which generally has jurisdiction over patent cases) has seemed to respond to this trend.  And even the Patent Office has tried to implement changes. As the public becomes more aware of patent rights, it’s a new world out there.

As an Arab American, I constantly hear about issues swirling around my community.  In fact, there has been a lot of news about immigration generally. Sometimes we forget that we are a nation of immigrants, but there has been a lot of progress. We are in a period in history where we have to strike a delicate balance between national security and the freedoms that make our country so great.  Justice Kennedy recently said that “[l]iberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system they are reconciled within the framework of the law.”  I believe that. And, as legal practitioners, we should work to ensure it.

Around the water cooler: DLA Piper and Accenture’s partnership

Each week I will highlight a different case or legal happening, and solicit your thoughts on the impact of it in the legal community.

About 10 years ago Accenture and DLA Piper attorney David Mendelsohn began working together on the issue of Y2K.

That client-lawyer relationship blossomed over time and today DLA Piper and Accenture team up not only on legal matters, but also on projects to improve diversity through pipeline programs, and provide pro bono services.

“Both of the organizations have values that are in common,” said Christina Martini, hiring partner for DLA Piper’s Chicago office. “A lot of it is about giving back to the community, and a lot of it is about diversity.”

Both companies work together on a number of programs and projects.

For example, they participate in a project with Chicago Public Schools’ John Barry Elementary School to help improve the students’ literacy and vocabulary skills. Each fall attorneys from both organizations teach a semester-long program about the basics of constitutional law. There is also an annual literacy night where volunteers read to the students, and that occurs in tandem with a book drive. And in the spring they work together on a career-tutoring program to help the Barry students think about career interests early on.

“You have to reach out to students at all levels, and try to make a meaningful difference in their lives,” Martini said.

Accenture and DLA Piper also work together on a program called, “Accentuating the DLA Piper Summer Experience” It’s a summer associate program where a group of DLA Piper summer associates get to spend two weeks at Accenture learning about what an inside counsel does.

Last year, five summer associates participated. This year six participated, and visited the Chicago and Reston, Va. Accenture offices for two weeks on a rotation basis, said Joel Stern, Accenture’s director of legal services, Americas.

This program has a number of benefits including exposing summer associates to inside counsel, giving them additional mentors, and helping them create a relationship with Accenture that may benefit them when they someday work at DLA Piper, Stern said.

Many of the law students who participated went back to their law school excited about what they experienced, and excited about Accenture and DLA Piper, he said.

Accenture gets to not only experience high-quality, cost-effective legal support with DLA Piper, but also experiences a partnership that allows them to try to make a difference in people’s lives, he said.

“We have been able to take a normal attorney-client relationship and extend it to the corporate citizenship area,” Stern said. “It continues to grow to this day. It is not only a partnership, but also a lot of fun … The more we talk about it the more these messages will get out and once again that will make a difference. We want other companies to copy us and we are looking at what other companies are doing as well.”

“I think it would be fair to say that the personal relationships that exist are much more meaningful,” Mendelsohn said. “and much more personal than ever would be the case if we would not work on these projects together.”

Around the water cooler: Lawyer endows IP speaker fund

Each week I will highlight a different case or legal happening, and solicit your thoughts on the impact of it in the legal community.

Welsh & Katz founding partner A. Sidney Katz endowed a new intellectual property law speaker fund at The George Washington University Law School called The A. Sidney Katz Intellectual Property Law Speaker Fund.

The law school plans to host at least four speakers each year, and is contemplating also hosting lectures of interest to law school students pursuing a career in intellectual property law. All of the events will take place at the university’s campus in Washington, D.C.

“I think it’s a way of keeping abreast of the changes in intellectual property law, and from people who are in the know,” Katz said. “There are a number of legislative proposals to revise the patent laws in the United States pending in Congress. I would expect those issues will be the subject of discussion also. It could help even our legislators get a handle on what the best reform should be for patents.

“Intellectual property is really become more and more important, I think, strategically for corporate America. There have been a number of recent and major developments in intellectual property.”

Katz received his law degree from the school in 1966 and serves on the Dean’s Intellectual Property Advisory Board. He’s also endowed the A. Sidney Katz Admissions and Financial Aid Reception Center in 2003, and the A. Sidney Katz Archway in 2006, which connects the University Yard to 20^th Street, between G and H Streets, on the school’s campus.

“When I went to George Washington in the 1960s, I think they had the most prominent patent law department in the country,” he said. “And I still think, in my view, that it ranks at the top of all the law schools with respect to particularly patent law. Because that’s my profession, I’ve stayed in touch with them.”

Husch Blackwell Sanders announced in June its intent to combine with Welsh & Katz.

Around the water cooler: Lawyer joining council

Each week I will highlight a different case or legal happening, and solicit your thoughts on the impact of it in the legal community.

Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias recently appointed Anita Ponder to the Women’s Affairs Council.

The goals of the council include making recommendations to the Illinois State Treasurer regarding initiatives, policies and programs that will have a tangible, positive impact on the female community in Illinois.

Ponder, a partner in Drinker Biddle & Reath’s government and regulatory affairs group, said some of her responsibilities in the council include advising the treasurer’s office on broad community trends, upcoming events, potential partnerships and outreach opportunities. The council will also help the office develop programs, and connect with the community.

“I think this council will help the treasurer have an open dialogue with women throughout the state,” she said, “and build positive relationships that can help him kind of initiate and implement significant programs and services that make a difference in the lives of women in Illinois.”

She said the council will meet quarterly, and members will receive information regarding activities and initiative that they can also pass along to others.

“I’m very honored to be part of a group that I think will be making a significant difference in how the treasurer’s office will affect change in the lives of women,” she said.

Around the water cooler — Sailing with Alice O. Martin

Each week I will highlight a different case or legal happening, and solicit your thoughts on the impact of it in the legal community.

Alice O. Martin has been on water since about age 3.

Her father owned many powerboats that they used on Lake Erie. By the time she was a teen she was joining racing boat crews.

Now a partner and co-chair of the life sciences practice group at Barnes & Thornburg, she’s been racing in Chicago since about 1976 or 1977.

It’s not unusual for her to be one of only a small group of female skippers competing in a boat race. Her gender often makes her more noticeable, which can be good and bad. If she makes a mistake, then everyone notices it, she said.

“More women are getting involved at the crew level, and on some smaller boats,” she said. “But it is still basically a man’s sport. It’s a little rough. You have to be a little bit more aggressive, and a bit more thick-skinned.”

She plans to compete in the 100th Race to Mackinac, which begin July 19 off of the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse. With the largest fleet in race history, more than 400 crafts will make the 333-mile trek. The race centennial will be celebrated on Mackinac Island with a gala fireworks display on July 22.

She’s competed in about 15 Macs. She plans to do most of the driving of her boat, “Painkiller4,” which is named after a drink that uses Pusser’s rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and hallucinogenic nutmeg.

Her crew for the Mac will consist of nine people and herself.  Her crew will alternate shifts in four-hour increments, unless the weather gets bad.

“It’s very challenging,” she said about racing. “It’s one of the places where it is you against the elements. It promotes teamwork. I’ve met a lot of interesting crews, and it’s very physically demanding. It keeps you in good shape. And it’s unpredictable, so it’s a good problem-solving activity.”

Sailing helps her connect with some of her clients, Martin said. She’s brought some clients out on her boat for social sails, and a few clients have been on past crews.

Clients tend to trust her lawyering skills even more after they see her on her boat maneuvering through potentially challenging situations, she said.

Her boat at the Mac may be easy to see because it has a very large, pink, shiny wheel; and she sometimes wears a pink flamingo hat and pink boa.

“We do win races,” she said. “We are serious about the races, but when we finish we like to have a lot of fun.”

Around the water cooler — Q & A with Dave Glatz

Each week we will pose these three questions to different lawyers in the legal community.

This week we talk with Dave Glatz, a partner at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, who has been practicing almost 10 years.

– What do you find the most interesting about your practice?

The variety. Every day it’s something new. The intellectual challenge is constant.

— What makes a good lawyer?

Technical knowledge is always necessary, but I think communications skills, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence are key.

– What is the biggest legal news right now and what is its impact?

In my area of practice - M & A and Securities - the economy is the big story.

Deal flow has slowed considerably but the middle market still has some life. The credit markets have tightened up, this has led to a decrease in financing for private equity firms on the buy side and has caused investment companies and mutual fund complexes to find alternative sources of leverage financing for their funds.

« Previous Page — Next Page »