Around the water cooler: Drinker Biddle’s scholarship

In 1995, what was then Gardner Carton & Douglas, started a college scholarship for its staff members’ children, said Glenn Ferencz, a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath.

The firm later renamed the scholarship the Stephen M. Gatlin Scholarship after Gatlin, a lawyer at the firm who died in 1997 of lung cancer, said Edwin A. Getz, a managing partner, and regional partner in charge of the Chicago office.

“Steve was really an outstanding corporate lawyer, but he was a very sort of quiet and private person and very well-liked here and very well-regarded,” said Ferencz, who was a close friend. “As we learned a little bit more about him we realized he was very involved in a number or different organizations that promoted education and helped children.

“While he was at Gardner Carton, he was a mentor for younger attorneys here and he was very free with his time to help them develop and learn about the practice of law.”

The firm announced recently that it has increased the scholarship amount from $2,500 to $5,000, and it will now go to a child of a staff member in any of the firm’s offices, Getz said.

A committee studies the different applications, and looks for not only a student’s academic success, but also a concentration on social responsibility, Getz said. While one new person receives the scholarship each year, the firm can award four in one year because the scholarships are renewable for four years if the students stays in good academic standing.

“It’s really very gratifying that it helps keep Steve’s memory intact at the firm,” Ferencz said. “It’s really very meaningful to the staff and the family who gets it …

“I’ve been involved with the award. I was very close with Steve and very good friends. We were fishing buddies, and his loss was a tremendous loss.”

Around the water cooler: Q & A with Anne Hamblin Schiave

As part of our weekly online Q & A, we talk with Anne Hamblin Schiave, a partner in corporate and mergers/acquisitions at Holland & Knight. She has been practicing for over 30 years.

What do you find the most interesting about your practice?

The people–usually clients–and the business challenges they confront. The business world is changing so radically and so fast that our clients need to identify opportunities and problems on a weekly, if not daily basis. Crafting the responses to those opportunities and problems is an ever-evolving challenge requiring an open mind, new skills, and courage. I enjoy and admire how clients evolve in response to both their personal and professional lives.

What makes a good lawyer?

All lawyers need a minimal level of substantive knowledge and skills, but what makes a good lawyer is intellectual curiosity, an ability to achieve results, and dedication to the interests of her clients. An intellectual curiosity about the context in which the legal problems arise provides a lawyer with not only alternative avenues to assist her client, but also the insights to redefine what the client really needs or wants.

To be a good lawyer, one must achieve results, which can translate into (depending on your area of practice) filing the brief on time, meeting the client on Sunday morning, biting one’s tongue with arrogant opposing counsel, anticipating the bank’s position at the closing table, finding third parties to support the client’s position, and listening to the client’s personal woes before he commits to a substantial business decision.

Finally, a good lawyer is dedicated to the interests of the client because lawyers are in the “personal service” business: a good lawyer applies her personal intelligence, skills, experience and insights into making the client look better or perform better than the client would do without her.  To me, dedication to the client’s interests does not include breaking the law, or playing loose with the rules, or sacrificing the lawyer’s integrity, because doing so will, at most, only help the client’s short-term interests.  Long-term interests of the clients always depend on compliance with the law, the rules, and integrity, and, sometimes, it is the responsibility of a good lawyer to reminder her client of that fact.

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

The remaking of the financial markets: given that our legal system is based on a capitalist society, everything in the legal system is driven by the state of the economy, the direction it is moving, and the speed at which it is moving.

Around the water cooler: Law firm hosts hotline

Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon recently announced that it is one of the first Chicago law firms to host a free telephone hotline to provide legal aid to low-income residents in Cook County with a primary focus on landlord/ tenant issues.In joining the initiative, called the Go Bono Program, the firm is partnering with Coordinated Advice & Referral Program For Legal Services (CARPLS), a non-profit agency that offers free assistance for the everyday legal problems confronting low-income residents of the community.

As part of the program, Wildman Harrold attorneys will sign up to field hotline calls at the firm’s Chicago office, as their time and schedule permits. The volunteer attorneys will assist callers with basic landlord-tenant problems, such as evictions, security deposit disputes, and below standard living conditions in apartments and rental homes.

As all client engagements begin and end on the same day with the hotline program, volunteering is feasible even for lawyers with limited time to commit. In helping clients understand their rights and the remedies available to them, Wildman Harrold’s volunteers will have the additional support of CARPLS’ supervising attorneys, and, if in-court representation is required, the ability to refer callers to an appropriate full-service legal aid agency.

The Go Bono Program serves residents who are at or below the federal poverty level - about $41,300 for a family of four — and who typically cannot afford the services of a private attorney. Go Bono is an extension of Cook County’s legal aid hotline, which CARPLS operates, and which assists more than 39,000 people annually.

David Askew, Wildman Harrold’s director of pro bono and community service, said he hopes the hotline empowers people by teaching them their rights. For example, they need to know such basic tenant information as their right to receive interest on their security deposit, and why they are entitled to receive their security deposit back.

Askew said he also hopes it empowers the firm’s lawyers to participate in other pro bono projects.

“Housing is one of our life requirements,” Askew said. “Many tenants would find our legal advice to be one of the most valuable things they receive, particularly if they are being wrongfully evicted.

“It gives our attorneys a little taste of what I like to call ‘public interest law.’ To have tenants, before they hang up the phone, thank them profusely; to have that attorney come back to me and say I want do to more — that is what I want.”

He said he also hopes that other firms learn about this project and donate their time to the hotline.

Prior to taking part in the initiative, Wildman Harrold’s volunteer attorneys will undergo full training on site, provided by CARPLS. The lawyers are expected to start manning the hotline this Thursday, and will do it every Thursday, Askew said.

Around the water cooler: Q & A with John Anderson

Today we talk with John Anderson, an associate at Thompson Coburn Fagel Haber, who practices in the firm’s business litigation group.After graduating from The John Marshall Law School in 1999, he clerked for Justice Thomas L. Kilbride on the Illinois Supreme Court, and for Justice Robert C. Buckley on the Illinois Appellate Court.

He is also an elected official, serving on the Will County Board of Commissioners and the Will County Forest Preserve Board. He is also on the Board of Directors for the Lawyer’s Trust Fund.

What do you find most interesting about your practice?

I am fortunate that I often have an opportunity to work on complex cases and issues.  Often the issues are ones of first impression, or involve nebulous concepts like economic loss doctrine, restrictive covenants, or constitutional questions. My job offers a great blend of practical lawyering (such as making an argument in court or deposing a witness) and an almost academic level of sophistication. Nearly every case is unique, and lends itself to new opportunities of learning and applications of concepts.

What makes a good lawyer?

I suppose there are a lot of necessary attributes, including legal and practical skills, preparation, continuing education, empathy, integrity, and dedication, to name just a few.  The one that sticks out most in my mind, however, is a desire to serve a higher purpose.  As lawyers, we have a meaningful impact on peoples’ lives and the society in which we live. It is a real responsibility to take part in a major lawsuit, for example. I have worked on cases where the livelihood of a company and its employees (and their families) were on the line.

I’ve worked on cases involving the pensions of firefighters and police officers, and cases involving public finances and tax-dollar expenditures. These sorts of lawsuits help shape the future of our communities and our neighborhoods, and a good lawyer is cognizant of the responsibility and trust that others place on him.

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

I was just reading about the California Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage. This ruling is just the latest in a recent string of cases considering the constitutional implications of gay relationships. While the cases do not impact me personally, I think they are interesting because they involve the evolution of civil rights and constitutional jurisprudence, and it is very much becoming a new civil rights movement. I was not around for the civil rights movement of the 1960s, so I think this one is interesting to watch as a lawyer, regardless of whether one views it as a good or bad thing.

Around the water cooler: Running for a cause

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.George Jackson III, counsel at Bryan Cave, plans to run not one, not two, but three marathons in October.

And he’ll be doing it in the name of charity.

He will run in the Crazy Horse Marathon on Oct. 4 in South Dakota, the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 12, and the Dublin Marathon in Ireland on Oct. 27. He will raise funds for the Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc., where he is a board member.

Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki, a founder of the clinic, will also run in the Ireland marathon. Paprocki selected the Ireland race for them to run in together, and Jackson selected the other two.

The Chicago Legal Clinic is a non-profit organization that makes the legal system accessible to the impoverished and disabled community, Jackson said. Since its inception in 1981, the clinic has served more than 155,000 clients in matters ranging from foreclosure to domestic violence.

Jackson, 48, has run marathons since 1993, and has completed 33 so far.

“Last year we raised just over $25,000 combined,” Jackson said of Paprocki and his goal. “We would like to raise at least $30,000 between the two of us.

“It’s rewarding. It gives me determination.”

The biggest challenge this year, he said, was finding the time to train.

“I don’t have an established training regime at present,” he said. “The thing is, we’ve thrown down the gauntlet this year that I’m going to beat him in Ireland. It’s not going to happen.

“I’m constantly pushing myself to find that pace that will be rewarding in the end, where I gave my best but didn’t die at the end.”

He encourages those interested in donating their cause should contact the clinic at:

Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc.

2938 E. 91^st Street

Chicago, IL  60617

(773) 731-1762

Fax (773) 731-4264

Around the water cooler: McDermott Will & Emery’s pro bono project

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.

McDermott Will & Emery recently announced that it completed a comprehensive legal assessment for the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago.

The firm worked on this pro bono project in connection with the Non-Profit Legal Assessment Program, which is part of the Community Economic Development Law Project (CEDLP).

The AIDS Legal Council is a not-for-profit organization that serves to preserve, promote, and protect the legal rights of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, according to the firm.

The McDermott team consisted of Chicago partner Todd Solomon and Chicago associates, Tonya Wilkes Moore, Menna Eltaki, Tiffini Hines, Eugene Garmize, and Patrick McCurry.

They worked with the council and its board of directors in conducting a review of and making recommendations with respect to issues of corporate governance, internal controls, client services, federal taxation, intellectual property, and employee benefits.

The McDermott lawyers on the project worked 205 pro bono hours, with an approximate value of $63,000.

The group produced a 104-page document providing the council with recommendations, draft documents, and legal memoranda on various corporate governance, employee benefits, and federal income tax issues.

“What was especially nice about this [project] was that the number of attorneys involved got to work together on a team,” said Solomon, co-chair of the firm’s pro bono committee in Chicago and point-person on the project.

He said he liked how different practice areas were represented, and how everyone got to work within their own area.

“Sometimes it is nice to have everybody add their own expertise,” he said. “It is so hard to get good transactional pro bono opportunities.”

Jody Adler, attorney for the Non-Profit Legal Assessment Program, said CEDLP is part of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc., and coordinates transactional pro bono services for community-based organizations, low-income small businesses and first-time home buyers.

“We have a small staff. Each one of us works with clients to make sure that they have identifiable transactional legal needs and then we recruit attorneys to provide legal assistance on a pro bono basis,” Adler said.

The assessment program started in its new form about a year ago, and McDermott’s pro bono efforts for the AIDS Legal Council is one of the first, she said.

“So far all of the [projects] that have taken place have been excellent,” Adler said. “It’s been a great experience for attorneys and a really amazing opportunity for clients.”

Around the water cooler: Q & A with Michael Conway

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

This week we talk with Michael Conway, a principal at Grippo & Elden, a 46-lawyer commercial litigation firm.  He also serves as the firm’s hiring partner, and has been practicing since 1989. He’s been at Grippo & Elden since 1991.

What do you find the most interesting about your practice?

As a commercial litigator, I love the fact that every new case gives me the opportunity to immerse myself in the details of a different industry and business.  In addition to the legal complexity of the work, this kind of factual complexity makes every case different and ensures that my work is always interesting and challenging.

What makes a good lawyer?

A good lawyer must be intelligent, creative, detail-oriented and tenacious. Good lawyers keep their eye on the end-game and do not get swept up in their own egos and agendas.

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

The economic downturn and credit crunch are having a significant impact on the legal business. This environment not only creates problems and challenges created for our clients, but also results in significant management issues for law firms. During the 16 years I have been involved in hiring, I have never seen a market more saturated with resumes from highly qualified lawyers searching for new positions. Fortunately, we are in a position to capitalize.

Around the water cooler: The MDA telethon

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.

For the past several years, Morici, Figlioli & Associates has been an active supporter of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, which is Monday.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is a voluntary health agency working to defeat neuromuscular diseases through worldwide research, services and professional and public health education, according to the organization.

The first telethon was in June 1955 at Carnegie Hall in New York, and it raised $600,000 for MDA. Today about 40 million viewers in North America watch the telethon each year.

To celebrate the firm’s 10^th anniversary, it will be a matching pledge sponsor, and donate up to $20,000 - with the potential of raising as much as $40,000.

Dave Figlioli, a founding partner of the firm, said the firm wanted to use the money it would have spent on an anniversary party or dinner for a charitable cause.

“It’s kind of in lockstep with what the philosophy is of the firm,” Figlioli said. “We handle personal injury workers compensation, and we handle a lot of tradespeople who are seriously injured. We are here to help these people during a time that is very difficult for them … If they are seriously injured, hopefully we will make a good recovery so they are taken care of for the rest of their lives.”

The firm supports the MDA because it shares a similar mission of helping those in need, he said.

He said his hope is that clients and family members will donate during the firm’s designated time in the telethon so it can match those donations. Figlioli said the firm is not sure of that exact designated time, but it is supposed to be some time between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.

For more information about MDA and the telethon visit www.mda.org.

Around the water cooler: The Democratic convention

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.

Many local lawyers dedicated their week to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Anita Ponder, a partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath, attended the convention because she wanted to support Barack Obama. And as a member of her firm’s government and regulatory group, and head of its government contract team, she wanted to connect with some of her clients who also attended the event.

And she also attended the convention as a member of Women Impacting Public Policy’s Democratic Presidential Power Team/Business Women for Obama. The team tries to help frame ideas, recommendations, business solutions, and policy targets for Obama.

“It’s so exciting,” she said. “Everyone is energized, and united toward a common goal and purpose. It’s just been very uplifting, and it’s just been a very exhilarating experience.”

Most know Obama as the presidential candidate, but others have known him before he decided to run for U.S. president.

Alan King, another partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath, grew up with Obama’s wife Michelle and her brother, Craig Robinson. He’s known them since he was about age 10 or 11.

He met Barack about 10 years ago on the basketball court, and plays regularly with the candidate in his now-famous basketball games.

King is part of the Illinois delegation and spent the week in Denver at the Democratic Convention. He plays a variety of roles in the campaign, but he said his most important role is being a supportive friend to the Obama family.

“They’re both wonderful people, and they’re really about family first and foremost and they are very loyal to each other, obviously, and their children,” King said. “But to their friends, for those of us who have known him before they became ‘Barack and Michelle’ all in caps, they are very much still the same people. And we’re just hopeful that the country will not miss this opportunity to really benefit from his leadership and the vision I think he has for the country.”

King described the convention atmosphere has very supportive, with people of all different ages and ethnicities showing their support. He said having two Chicago lawyers take this path to the White House is important for the city and the legal community.

“It can only reflect positively on the Chicago legal community when one of our own is on the verge of reaching the ultimate height,” he said.

Jesse Ruiz, a Drinker Biddle & Reath partner and chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education, is a member of the Democratic National Committee’s rules committee.

Ruiz met Obama in 1992 when he was a University of Chicago law student and Obama was a professor at the school. For the past 10 years they’ve tried to have annual lunches or breakfasts to catch up.

When Obama’s first book came out in 1995 Ruiz remembers joking with him that he better sign his copy because Obama could be famous someday.

He also remembered a conversation they had during one lunch where Obama talked about how he was considering going into politics and thought he might someday run for Chicago mayor. But Ruiz suggested that he better set his sights on another position, because that job was already taken.

When Obama entered the political world, Ruiz would volunteer on his campaigns, and host modest $20-a-head fundraisers for his professor.

Ruiz said it can sometimes be difficult to believe that “somebody you know, somebody you interacted with in the classroom, somebody you shared meals with who had a dream and a passion” is where he is today.

Ruiz has spent his time at the convention supporting Obama, and attending various events and committee meetings. He’s also part of a group of Latino leaders trying to bring in Latino voters and raise funds for Obama.

“This is what can come from lawyers,” Ruiz said about Obama’s run. “Lawyers have a distinct role in society in that they are always civically active. They believe not only in justice in court, but justice in communities and making sure everybody has equal opportunities and access …

“It’s really nice to see one of us is going to hopefully lead the nation forward for the next eight years. I think it’s an honor for the entire legal community that two Illinois lawyers will soon occupy the White House, and represent not only the state and city but also the profession.”

Around the water cooler: John Marshall’s veteran’s clinic

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.

The John Marshall Law School’s Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic (VLSC), which began in January, is one of the nation’s first law school clinics dedicated solely to addressing the legal needs of veterans seeking their benefits from the Veterans Administration (VA).

A number of organizations and studies have highlighted the unavailability of competent legal representation for our veterans, according to the law school. The purpose of the VLSC is to assist veterans filing VA benefit claims as well as to provide representation for veterans during the appeals process through the statewide network of pro bono attorneys.

Since the clinic has opened, it has taken over 300 calls from veterans and currently has about 70 active cases, said Brian Morris, staff attorney at the clinic. About 16 law students participate in the clinic, and about 120 Illinois lawyers offer to take on these cases on a pro bono basis.

“The focus of the clinic is to try and help veterans of all generations navigate that [military law] system,” Morris said. “We train law students to take phone calls from veterans. Under my supervision, we review the claims for disability or compensation, and where we can help them directly we do.”

The law school’s Veterans Advocacy Course includes the study of federal, state, and local laws pertaining to veterans’ advocacy. Through examining the historical origins of veterans’ advocacy law and the procedural and substantive texts used by the courts and attorneys, students learn federal agency litigation practice, sharpen their analytic skills and become confident in their ability to deal with clients, federal agencies and the courts, according to the law school.

In addition to dealing with the theoretical legal problems presented by veteran status, the Clinical Program emphasizes the practical aspects of handling Veteran Benefits Administration claims from the initial factual intake to the technical aspects of representation at the appellate level.

“People sometimes forget that liberty comes at a cost,” Morris said. “Families that sacrificed to various degrees are promised that ‘if you are injured in the line of duty, our government in our country will take care of you.’ Sometimes to get that promise fulfilled, it takes some advocacy. That is why we are there — to guide those veterans through the process.”

The clinic is working on creating a continuing education book that would serve as a practical guide to military law, and how that law impacts veterans, Morris said. The clinic is also working with the University of Southern Illinois as they start a similar program.

“I’m a veteran. For me it’s personally rewarding. I know firsthand about the frustration that comes with having to prove you were injured in the line of duty,” said Morris, who has spent 18 years in the Army and Army Reserves. He is currently a major in the Army Reserve who was deployed in 2003, 2004, and 2005 to such places as Bosnia and Iraq.

“The VA system is complicated for a reason. It’s a huge bureaucracy with a lot of red tape. The system is designed to thwart people that want a quick solution or a quick answer to a claim. It takes determination to persevere in this process.”

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