2014 Pro Bono Community Service Report

Transcription

INSIDE THIS ISSUE
WORLDWIDE IMPACT
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SIDLEY’S FIRMWIDE PRO BONO INITIATIVES
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❯❯ Capital Litigation Project
❯❯ Political Asylum and Immigrants’ Rights Project ❯❯ Veterans Benefits Project
❯❯ Africa & Asia Agricultural Enterprise Program
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PROTECTING INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS 19
ESTABLISHING INTERNATIONAL LEGAL NORMS
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SEEKING JUSTICE FOR CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS
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PROTECTING CIVIL AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
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SERVING NEIGHBORS IN NEED
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❯❯ Helping Children and Families
❯❯ Helping People with Disabilities
❯❯ Protecting the Right to Housing
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SUPPORTING NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
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CONTRIBUTING TO THE BROADER COMMUNITY
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PRO BONO HONORS AND EVENTS
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PRO BONO AWARDS CEREMONIES – HONORING OUR OWN
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SPONSORSHIP OF PRO BONO GRADUATE FELLOWS,
EXTERNS AND LOANED ASSOCIATES
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PRO BONO AND PUBLIC INTEREST LAW COMMITTEE MEMBERS
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2015 marks ten years since Sidley launched its first firmwide pro bono initiative, the Capital Litigation Project. The Project
was a response to a call from the ABA’s Death Penalty Representation Project to help the scores of unrepresented men on
Alabama’s death row in post-conviction proceedings. A year later, already recognizing the benefits of our collaborations,
we embarked on another firmwide effort, the Political Asylum and Immigrants’ Rights Project. The third firmwide pro bono
effort, the Veterans Benefits Project, began in 2007 and was the offshoot of a nationwide initiative organized by the National
Veterans Legal Services Program, veterans’ organizations, law firm leaders, and the Pro Bono Institute. Finally, our latest
firmwide pro bono project is the Africa & Asia Agricultural Enterprise Program, which offers the full range of the firm’s
services to smaller agricultural enterprises and non-governmental organizations in Africa and Asia. By facilitating access to
financing, removing trade barriers and providing related legal services in important markets, we help smallholder farmers
expand their operations and compete globally, ultimately increasing their incomes and enhancing their quality of life.
We are proud of all of our pro bono endeavors (to which firm lawyers and staff dedicated more than 107,000 hours in 2014),
but our firmwide projects are unique because they allow us to build a reservoir of expertise and experience that enhances
our ability to make a significant difference in the lives of the projects’ beneficiaries. Our knowledge of Alabama post-
Sidley Austin LLP • 2014 Pro Bono and Community Service Report
WORLDWIDE IMPACT
conviction procedures, of conditions in countries in which human rights are routinely denied, of the bureaucracy that denies
payments to veterans disabled in the service of their country, and of export/import laws that thwart the efforts of poor
women farmers to sell their goods, means that with each new client, we do not need to reinvent the wheel. By drawing upon
the experience of all firm lawyers who have worked on project matters, we can increase the number of people we serve, as
well as foster a spirit of community among firm lawyers working toward a shared goal.
While the impact of our work is not measured by accolades received, we are heartened that others have recognized our
efforts. The ABA awarded Sidley its Pro Bono Publico Award in 2007, noting that no other firm has represented as many
prisoners on death row at one time as Sidley. The ABA Death Penalty Representation Project also has honored Sidley’s
Capital Litigation Project with two awards, most recently with the Exceptional Service Award in 2014. The Veterans Benefits
Project received a National Law Journal Pro Bono Award in 2008, and the National Immigrant Justice Center and the Capital
Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition have recognized Sidley’s efforts under the Political Asylum and Immigrants’ Rights
Project. The ABA’s Business Law Section honored Sidley’s latest firmwide initiative, the Africa &Asia Agricultural Enterprise
Program, with its 2014 National Public Service Award.
On this tenth anniversary, we celebrate all the Sidley lawyers and staff who have contributed so much to the success of
these projects. We also thank our many legal services partners who have made it possible to do this work, as well as our
clients’ in-house lawyers who have partnered with us on cases and clinics. We look forward to the continued success of these
projects over the next ten years.
Carter G. Phillips
Chair, Executive Committee
Larry A. Barden
Chair, Management Committee
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SIDLEY’S FIRMWIDE PRO BONO INITIATIVES
Capital Litigation Project
In December 2004, judges from the Seventh Circuit and Northern District of Illinois invited Sidley and other large
Chicago firms to an ABA-sponsored meeting. The director of the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project spoke
of the desperate need for legal assistance for defendants on death row, citing Alabama as a state where the need was
especially acute. In response, Sidley established its Capital Litigation Project, through which the firm now represents 18
indigent inmates on Alabama’s death row in their post-conviction proceedings. At the end of 2014, Alabama had more
than 190 prisoners on death row. Approximately a quarter of the death sentences in Alabama are the result of judicial
override of jury recommendations of life in prison by elected judges. John Gallo spearheads the Project, and Kelly
Huggins manages the work from our Chicago office.
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Sidley’s Capital Litigation Project is a long-term, resourceintensive undertaking that provides hope to inmates
incarcerated on Alabama’s death row. Since the project’s
inception, more than 100 Sidley partners, counsel and
associates, along with legal assistants and project assistants,
have volunteered more than127,000 hours to these cases. In
2014, lawyers and staff donated more than 9,000 hours to the
representation of these men on death row.
Over the last ten years, Sidley teams of lawyers and legal
assistants from across Sidley’s domestic offices have
represented 21 prisoners, traveling to Alabama to visit their
clients, interview witnesses, and participate in hearings. In
addition, one of Sidley’s Capital Litigation teams includes
in-house lawyers from one of the firm’s largest clients, Exelon
Corporation, who participate fully in all aspects of the
representation.
Sidley’s partnership with
the ABA Death Penalty
Representation Project and
the Equal Justice Initiative
of Alabama (EJI) has been critical to our ability to represent
Alabama’s death row inmates effectively. EJI , a non-profit
organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, has achieved
national prominence from its advocacy on death penalty issues
and provides on-going expert guidance to Sidley’s lawyers
on Alabama post-conviction practice and procedure. Bryan
Stevenson, EJI’s Executive Director, is the best-selling author
of Just Mercy, a new book in which he describes his work
defending clients on death row.
Recognition of Sidley’s Capital Litigation Project
On September 11, 2014, Sidley received the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project’s Exceptional Service Award at the Project’s
annual Volunteer Recognition & Awards Event in Washington, D.C. One of two firms to be recognized with the award, Sidley was
honored for our commitment to providing pro bono legal services to Alabama’s death row inmates and for our work on the successful
appeal of the capital murder conviction and death sentence of William Ziegler. In May 2014, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
affirmed the circuit court decision granting Mr. Ziegler a new trial, finding numerous constitutional violations in connection with the
original capital murder trial. The team of Sidley attorneys representing Mr. Ziegler includes partners Ben Nagin, John Lavelle, Nick
Lagemann, and Andy Hart, and associates Drew Rolle, Francesca Brody*, Tim Hargadon, Jackie Lu, Michael Mann and Ashley
Pfeiffer. New York partner Ben Nagin accepted the award on behalf of the Firm.
From left to right, Sidley firm-wide Pro Bono Chair, Jeff Green, D.C. Pro Bono Counsel Becky Troth, John Lavelle (NY), Sidley Partner (and
former Firm Managing Partner) Chuck Douglas (CH), Ben Nagin (NY), Capital Litigation Project Manager Kelly Huggins (CH) and Nick
Lagemann (NY).
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HN/NY Our efforts in capital cases often extend beyond
Bryant, a death row inmate in Alabama. On March 18,
the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals issued a decision
remanding Mr. Bryant’s case to the circuit court to consider
his claim that his counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach
a witness with his prior inconsistent statements. The Court
of Criminal Appeals concluded that the circuit court erred
in determining that the prior statements would have been
inadmissible. The Sidley team includes John Gallo (Chicago),
Emily Caveness (SF), Jeff Carroll (Chicago) and two lawyers
who are now firm alumni: Aaron Brooks and Serena Lee.
In-house lawyers from Sidley client Exelon Corporation are
also on the team, including Tamra Domeyer, Traci Braun and
Nicole Nocera. Emily Caveness presented the oral argument in
the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Sidley alumnus Glenn
Newman worked on the case before his retirement from Exelon.
Alabama. At the request of the Texas Psychological
Association (TPA), Sidley filed an amicus brief in July in a
capital case on appeal from the denial of a habeas petition
to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Through
Sidley’s brief, the TPA offers a professional scientific opinion
on the inadequacy of the protocol historically used by the
Texas Department of Corrections for assessing the intellectual
disability of inmates who are subject to capital punishment.
Although the national parent organization, the American
Psychological Association, asked to prepare the brief, the TPA
advised the national organization that it preferred to have the
lawyers at Sidley handle the matter. In drafting the brief, Sidley
worked with a panel of TPA experts. Mark Glasser (Houston)
and David Denton (NY), who is slated to argue for the TPA
before the Fifth Circuit, drafted the brief.
CH/SF A Sidley team obtained a victory on behalf of Jerry
There is a certain amount of presumptuousness involved in presenting the Project’s Exceptional
Service Award for 2014 to the firm of Sidley Austin. It is presumptuous because Sidley has set the gold
standard in the representation of Death Row inmates, especially in the very difficult venue that is the State
of Alabama. Sidley’s commitment to this cause is deep and extensive. Over the last decade, the firm has
represented no fewer than 21 prisoners condemned to death, investing some 110,000 hours in ensuring
that these individuals have at least some opportunity to receive quality legal counsel, trying to right the
imbalance that so often leads to miscarriages of justice.
The Firm was last called to this platform to receive this Award in 2006. And it continues to take on more and
more such cases: to the Project’s knowledge, it has handled more cases, and has committed more resources to
them, than any other firm in the country.
In late 2012, Sidley accomplished the nearly unimaginable in securing a new trial for William Ziegler, who
spent over a decade on Death Row, all the while maintaining his innocence. Sidley persuaded the trial judge
that Ziegler had received ineffective assistance of counsel, that his prosecutor had concealed evidence, and
that members of the jury had been less than honest in their voir dire responses. That decision was upheld
on appeal this past May. It was an amazing result, and those of us who continue to labor in the trenches in
Alabama are awed by this outcome. Randy Susskind, in his letter of support for Sidley’s nomination, wrote of
the firm’s unique commitment to fighting for fairness and due process, demonstrating an unparalleled level
of excitement, diligence, and skill.
Excerpts from the Remarks of Steven M. Schneebaum Presenting
the 2014 Exceptional Service Award to Sidley Austin
September 11, 2014
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Political Asylum and Immigrants’ Rights Project
In 2006, Sidley established a firmwide pro bono initiative to help indigent asylum seekers and other indigent
immigrants fleeing persecution abroad who are seeking legal protection in the United States. Mel Washburn of our
Chicago office and Martin Gold of our New York office spearheaded the initiative. In 2014, Mel Washburn transitioned
his responsibilities to Russell Cass in our Chicago office, where Kelly Huggins serves as the Project Manager. Through
the Project, Sidley handles a wide variety of immigration matters for persons fleeing persecution in their home country,
as well as women and children who have suffered violence or abuse. These matters include asylum cases, Violence
Against Women Act (VAWA) cases, U visa cases, adjustments to lawful permanent residence, and representation of
immigrant minors in Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) cases. In 2014, our attorneys and paralegals volunteered
more than 8,000 hours to this project.
Federal law provides that individuals who have suffered or fear persecution in their home country based on their
race, religion, nationality, political opinion or social group may apply for asylum in the United States. The VAWA selfpetition is a remedy for immigrant victims married to abusive U.S. citizens and green card holders. Successful VAWA
self-petitioners are granted employment authorization and lawful status in the United States on an annual basis until
they receive legal permanent residency. The U visa is a remedy for immigrant victims of certain crimes who have helped
with the investigation or prosecution of those crimes. Successful U visa petitioners receive employment authorization
and lawful status in the U.S. for four years and become eligible to apply for lawful permanent residency. SIJS petitions
provide immigration relief to immigrant minors who have been abused or neglected in their native countries.
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Since 2007, with the assistance of the National
Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Sidley’s Chicago
office has hosted quarterly clinics with our client Exelon
to help asylees and refugees obtain lawful permanent
resident status and bring family members to the United
States. Each clinic begins with a training session that
NIJC conducts on how to complete the applications,
and NIJC staff members are available during the clinic
to answer questions. In its first seven years, the clinic has
assisted more than 284 clients. In our quarterly clinics
in 2014, we helped asylees and refugees from Jamaica,
the Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Colombia, Cameroon, Togo,
China, the Republic of Congo, Bulgaria, Guatemala and
Syria apply for legal permanent resident status. We also
helped asylees and refugees from Ethiopia, Togo, Eritrea,
Rwanda and Cameroon petition to have family members
join them in the United States. Sidley attorneys Catherine
Kim, Rae Bimmerle, Natalie Chan, Michael Gustafson,
Teresa Napoli, Kristen Rau, Alexandria Glispie, Alan
Bielawski, Laura Sexton, Candice Kline, Nadan Sehic,
Audrey Austin, Mel Washburn, Jacqueline Pruitt, Greg
Marrs, Eric Schmitt, Sharon Stone, Juris Benitez, Chad
Vance, Briordy Meyers, Elizabeth Schubert and Kelly
Huggins participated in the clinics.
CH Sidley obtained a victory for a
Colombian woman and her family
in the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Seventh Circuit. In a widelypublicized 32-page decision,
the Court concluded in N.L.A. v.
Holder that the Immigration Judge and Board of Immigration
Appeals (BIA) had improperly denied our clients asylum.
Our clients sought asylum based on life-threatening political
persecution because of their membership in a social group
(Colombian landowners) who refused to cooperate with the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The decision
is particularly significant because it reaffirms the Seventh
Circuit’s approach to particular social group claims following
two recent Board of Immigration Appeals precedential
decisions that arguably introduced additional requirements
for such claims. On remand, the Immigration Judge granted
asylum to our client and her family in November 2014. Sidley
undertook this pro bono representation in December 2004.
Jason Adler* argued the appeal last year, working with
Kelly Huggins and co-counsel Charles Roth of the National
Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC ). Claire Korenblit* provided
post-decision assistance.
Adjustment of Status Clinic
This year, teams of Sidley lawyers working on a pro bono basis
obtained victories for clients from locations as diverse as Syria,
Darfur, Colombia, the Palestinian Territories, Tanzania and Haiti.
These included victories before appellate courts, in merits
hearings before the Executive Office of Immigration Review
(EOIR), and in affirmative asylum application interviews.
NY A Sidley team represented
a teenage girl from El Salvador
who applied successfully for
Special Immigrant Juvenile
Status and subsequently
received permanent U.S. residency in January 2014. We
represented the client in Nassau County Family Court, before
the Immigration Court in New York and before U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS). The client is now living with
her aunt and uncle on Long Island and doing well in school.
Maureen Crough handled the case with assistance from David
Beller* and Srikant Cheruvu.* Kids in Need of Defense
(KIND) referred the case to Sidley.
In 2014, lawyers and paralegals
volunteered more than 8,000 hours to cases
in the Political Asylum and Immigrants'
Rights Project.
D.C. Sidley won an emergency
stay of removal in the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
on behalf of a Haitian immigrant
who has been in the United States
since 1984, was in a lawful immigration status and is married
to a U.S. citizen. In 2013, Immigration authorities alleged
that he had been convicted of an aggravated felony in 1996,
took him into custody and placed him in expedited removal
proceedings. Less than a week after Sidley was retained, the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that
it would imminently remove our client to Haiti. The Sidley team
filed an emergency motion for a stay of removal, which the
Fourth Circuit granted one day before our client’s scheduled
* Indicates former Sidley lawyer or staff member
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CH In December 2013, Sidley associate Emily
Underwood helped an asylee from Togo who was a
client at our pro bono immigration clinic with NIJC and
Exelon. With Emily’s help, our client was able to petition
to bring his wife and son, from whom he had been
separated for eight years, to the United States. The
petition was successful and the client emailed Emily on
December 22, 2014, to let her know that his wife and
son finally had arrived.
Our client reunited with his wife and son.
removal, directing DHS to stay proceedings until the court has
decided our appeal. That appeal will challenge the underlying
aggravated felony determination, which is founded on a nearly
20-year-old conviction for a state-law misdemeanor. The team
consists of Quin Sorenson, Kwaku Akowuah, Fran Faircloth
and Chris Eiswerth. The matter was referred to Sidley by the
Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition.
CH Sidley obtained asylum on behalf of a Syrian artist and
professor on the basis of the Syrian government’s persecution
of her because of her political opinions and membership in
a particular social group (“artists that have used their art as a
vehicle to convey social commentary publicly”). As a result of
her outspoken critiques of the Syrian government, our client
was placed under surveillance and interrogated by Syrian
intelligence agents and had experienced an escalating pattern
of threats against her life. The Sidley team included Dave
Gordon, Kelly Huggins, Jason James,* Kelly Albinak Kribs
and Jina Yun.
LA An Immigration Judge in Los Angeles granted asylum
to our client, a Palestinian man who was forced to flee the
West Bank after Hamas operatives tried to recruit him as a
suicide bomber. Tom Hanrahan supervised the case, which
lasted nearly eight years. A number of Sidley lawyers laid
the groundwork for the recent victory in the early years, but
the case took a decisive turn two years ago when Lillian
Park* stepped in, shortly after the case was remanded from
the Board of Immigration Appeals, which had reversed an
Immigration Judge’s decision to grant asylum. Lillian not only
crafted and developed new evidence and arguments for the
case on remand, but ultimately persuaded the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security to withdraw its opposition to the
application for asylum and waive its right to appeal an order
granting asylum.
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D.C./CH Sidley lawyers secured permanent U.S. residence
status for a Tanzanian woman who was the victim of severe
abuse by her former husband. Sidley has worked on the matter
since 2009 and obtained U visa approval for the woman in
2010, which formed the basis of her application for lawful
permanent residence. Lawyers working on the case successfully
addressed the complex matters of criminal law at issue and also
overcame the initial reluctance by law enforcement to issue
a re-certification, without which the woman’s ability to adjust
status would have been severely impeded. Andy Shoyer (D.C.)
and Katie Durick (formerly in D.C., now in Chicago) handled
the case, which Catholic Charities referred to the firm.
NY Sidley lawyers obtained a grant of asylum for a client from
the Darfur region of Sudan, where, over ten years ago, he was
subjected to imprisonment, interrogations, and physical and
psychological torture due to his ethnicity and political beliefs.
The client fled to the United States in 2005, seeking asylum.
His asylum application remained open-ended and pending for
years, until the firm became involved in early 2010, when we
helped the client re-start his asylum application, and provided
representation through several rounds of briefing, a full merits
hearing with a comprehensive submission of primary and
corroborative evidence, and a year of additional hearings on
subsidiary issues. On June 24, 2014—nearly nine years after
the client arrived in the United States—an Immigration Judge
granted the application for asylum, in a thoughtful, 40-minute
oral opinion. The grant of asylum became final on July 7, 2014,
when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security informed
the client that it did not intend to appeal. The Sidley team
consisted of associates Adam McClay, Ritu Ghai, Pouneh
Aravand and Sean Powers.*
CH Sidley successfully represented two brothers who fled their
Immigration Review (EOIR), Sidley successfully represented our
client, who had been a lawful permanent resident of the U.S.
for more than 20 years, who was facing removal because of a
15-year-old felony. After several years of litigation, including
a successful appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Seventh Circuit on an issue of first impression, and four years in
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detention, our client
will be permitted to remain in the U.S. as a lawful permanent
resident. Mel Washburn led the team, assisted by Laura
Sexton, Michelle Ramirez, paralegal Danuta Lucenko and
project assistant Mónica Rivera. Christina Coleman,* Laura
Jakubowski* and Susan Spies Roth* also worked on the case.
native Honduras to escape forced recruitment by local criminal
gangs and entered the United States as unaccompanied
children. Because of their ages, we were able to file affirmative
asylum applications on their behalf with U.S. Citizenship &
Immigration Services (USCIS). Although the older brother
was in removal proceedings, the Immigration Court granted
a continuance to permit USCIS to consider his asylum
application. In August 2014, the Sidley team filed written
submissions in support of the asylum applications, and USCIS
then conducted interviews with the children. On December 23,
2014, USCIS granted asylum to both brothers. The Sidley team
included Barbara Barreno, David Weller, Gregory Oguss and
paralegal Arturo Rodriguez, with supervision from Russ Cass.
Staff members Daniel Ruiz Bucio, Juan Vaca and Andie Silva
provided support.
NY In September, Sidley obtained a green card for a client
from Haiti, after successfully representing the client in prior
asylum proceedings in federal immigration court. The client
had fled Haiti after suffering persecution based upon his
family’s affiliation with the country’s former president. Jon
Muenz and Christine LiCalzi* secured the client’s green card,
while Mr. Muenz and Stephen Rutenberg* represented the
client in his multiple asylum hearings.
D.C. Sidley successfully represented a husband and wife in a
December merits hearing in immigration court in Alexandria.
The team won withholding of removal for the husband under
the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”) and asylum protection
for the wife. This hearing followed a series of proceedings held
since the case’s inception in December 2007. The husband
was admitted to the United States as an asylee in 2002 after he
was imprisoned and tortured for political reasons in his native
Yemen. The wife, who was similarly pursued by the Yemeni
government, followed in 2005 under derivative asylee status.
In 2007, the husband was convicted of immigration fraud (he
had not disclosed that he had secretly returned to Yemen to
see his mother) and both clients’ asylee status was revoked.
In 2010, the Immigration Judge granted CAT relief to the
husband and asylum to the wife. The Board of Immigration
Appeals (“BIA”) remanded that decision, directing the
Immigration Judge to make further findings of fact with regard
to the husband and reversing the asylum grant for the wife.
Sidley successfully appealed the BIA’s decision with regard to
the wife to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth
Circuit, which remanded her case back to the BIA. In its second
opinion, the BIA remanded her case to the Immigration Judge
to make further findings of fact. The Sidley team submitted
additional evidence and proposed findings related to the
Yemeni government’s pursuit of the husband and wife and their
continued fear of capture and torture. The Immigration Judge
adopted and incorporated those proposed findings in his most
recent decision, again granting CAT relief to the husband and
asylum to the wife. Many Sidley attorneys have worked on the
case since 2007. Ray Mangum and Fran Faircloth comprised
the most recent Sidley team, which previously included Sidley
alumni Aaron Wredberg, Kimberly Leaman, Katie Carner,
Elisa Jillson, Noah Clements and Matthew Wright. Andy
Shoyer supervised the case initially and Robert Keeling has
supervised since 2008. In all, Sidley lawyers devoted more
than 3,900 hours to this matter. The Capital Area Immigrants’
Rights (CAIR) Coalition referred the case to Sidley.
LA Sidley lawyers represented a mother from Guatemala who
CH In a merits hearing before the Executive Office of
became a victim of domestic violence in the United States.
After our client assisted in the investigation of that crime, she
was eligible for a U visa, which the team successfully obtained
for her. The U visa also allows her to bring three of her children,
who had remained in Guatemala, to the United States. Our
client is now eligible to work in the United States and, in three
years time, may be able to adjust her status to that of a lawful
permanent resident. Jodi Lopez, Aerin Snow, Shelley Azizi
and Claudia Espinoza handled the matter.
CH Sidley has a longstanding relationship
with Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant
Justice Center (NIJC), a leading human and
immigrants’ rights organization with offices in
Chicago and Washington. In June, the NIJC
awarded Sidley lawyer Kate Falahee Newman
a Rising Star Award at the NIJC’s 15th Annual
Human Rights Awards luncheon. Kate has been
actively involved in pro bono matters with the
NIJC for many years, including a recent victory
for an asylum seeker from Cameroon and
frequently volunteering at Sidley’s pro bono
immigration clinics with the NIJC and Exelon
Corporation. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Jose Antonio Vargas, the keynote speaker at
the NIJC’s event, also was recognized for his
commitment to immigrant and human rights.
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VETERANS BENEFITS PROJECT
In 2007, then national pro bono Chair and alumnus
Ronald Flagg led Sidley’s effort to establish the Veterans
Benefits Project. Sidley is a leader in providing pro bono
assistance to veterans, military service members and military
families, and has represented them in more than 150 matters.
Sidley receives many of its cases from
the National Veterans Legal Services
Program’s (NVLSP) nationwide referral
network of “Lawyers Serving Warriors.”
NVLSP is a longstanding partner of the
firm. Over the past decade, Sidley’s LA
office has worked with the NVLSP on a class action in California
representing Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. The
case has produced more than $3.6 billion in veterans benefits
for class members.
The Project also helps veterans referred by the following
groups: Veterans Legal Support Center & Clinic at The John
Marshall Law School, the Veterans Consortium Pro Bono
Program, Swords to Plowshares, the Veterans Assistance
Project of the New York City Bar Justice Center, the
American Bar Association’s Veterans’ Claims Assistance
Network and Metroplex Veterans Legal Services. Sidley is
proud to work on behalf of the servicemen and servicewomen
who have given so much to our country, to ensure that they
receive the benefits to which they are entitled to provide for
themselves and their families. In 2014, Sidley lawyers and staff
devoted more than 4,600 hours to matters under the Veterans
Benefits Project.
Emily Wexler manages the Project out of the Chicago office.
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This initiative focuses primarily on two types of clients:
#1
Veterans seeking “service-connected” disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Attorneys represent veterans in both administrative agency and appellate court proceedings. In 2014, Sidley took
17 new VA benefit cases.
#2
Veterans seeking Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) from the military. Clients meeting certain
prerequisites whose disabling conditions are “combat-related” are eligible for additional disability compensation.
Sidley prepares these applications on behalf of the veterans and in 2014, took
18 new CRSC cases.
11
LA The firm obtained an increase in VA service-connected
DA The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims remanded
disability benefits for a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who, after
serving in Iraq, suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) and major physical injuries. Sidley argued that a
2009 rating of 50 percent for PTSD was too low, and that the
veteran also qualified for Total Disability based on Individual
Unemployability (TDIU). Our client was ultimately granted both
TDIU and a 100 percent rating for PTSD, retroactive to January
2009. His disability benefits increased by approximately
$2,000 per month going forward, and he also received more
than $70,000 in retroactive payments. Jen Ratner and Johari
Townes* handled the matter.
the claim of our client, a widow of an Army veteran who, we
contended, committed suicide due to uncontrollable back
pain he had suffered since his time in the military. The court
held that the VA had erred by relying on overruled case
law and by failing to provide the widow a medical opinion
regarding whether her husband’s back pain could have led
to his depression and suicide. The VA must now reexamine
the widow’s claim. Demarron Berkley* and Michael Hatcher
handled the matter.
NY Sidley obtained an increase in VA service-connected
disability benefits for a U.S. Air Force veteran discharged in
1959. The VA denied his original claim from 2005 because
the agency could not find his military medical records.
The veteran’s files were subsequently located, and he was
awarded disability benefits at a 10 percent rate. Sidley
appealed, arguing that the disability rate was too low and that
the effective date should be 2005 because the VA had the
probative files all along. Sidley prevailed on both arguments.
Our client’s disability benefits were increased to 30 percent,
retroactive to December 2005, entitling him to approximately
$25,000 in retroactive benefits, and a monthly increase in
benefits of approximately $270 per month. Marianne Bellucci
and Jim Arden handled the matter.
CH Sidley successfully represented an Army veteran who
served in Vietnam and suffers from PTSD. The veteran had
managed to function for decades following his service, but
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan made it impossible for him
to ignore his memories from Vietnam, and he eventually had
to quit his job because of his PTSD. The VA had denied his
claim previously, but Sidley submitted additional medical
and “stressor” evidence proving his claim. The veteran was
assigned a 70 percent disability rating and will receive benefits
going forward worth more than $1,400 every month. He also
received a retroactive award worth approximately $75,000.
Retired partner Robert Watson handled the matter.
12
DA/CH Sidley filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the Court
of Appeals for Veterans Claims alleging that the VA’s failure to
rule on certain claims that had been pending for more than a
decade constituted an arbitrary refusal to act. After the writ was
filed, the VA quickly began to act in the case. While the court
ruled that a writ was unnecessary (given the recent activity),
the petition's purposes were achieved. Aryn Sothbarr, David
Dummer and Vance Beagles handled the matter.
D.C./Boston Sidley obtained a remand from the Court of
Appeals for Veterans Claims for a Vietnam-era veteran who
suffers from frequent migraine headaches and tendonitis in
both feet. In setting aside the VA’s decision denying benefits,
the court rejected the VA’s reasoning that the record before
the agency contained conflicting or inadequate evidence. The
remand means that the veteran has another opportunity to
persuade the VA that he should receive benefits. Corey Winer,
Scott Border and Joseph Micallef handled the matter.
D.C. The firm obtained a remand from the Court of Appeals
for Veterans Claims for a peacetime Navy veteran who seeks
an earlier effective date for his acknowledged disabilities. The
veteran sought benefits pro se in 1992 but was denied. In 1997
he tried again and was awarded benefits going forward but
not back to 1992. He argued, with our help, that the decision
in 1992 was a “clear and unmistakable error” and that he is
entitled to the benefits he would have earned between 1992
and 1997. The court vacated the agency decision because
it failed clearly to articulate its determinations, making it
impossible for the court to review. Jeffrey Beelaert* and
Richard Klingler handled the matter.
of Appeals for Veterans Claims in which we represented a
Vietnam veteran who challenged his ratings for PTSD. The
court held that the VA failed to comply with a prior remand
order requiring it to review the evidence and provide adequate
reasons and bases for the PTSD disability ratings assigned
pre-2012. The court also found that it was error for a VA
physician to consider the veteran’s “current financial status”
when assessing his disability because financial status is “wholly
outside the rating criteria.” Kenneth Coffin* and Yvette
Ostolaza handled the matter.
DA/D.C. The firm settled a claim with the VA favorably after
briefing began in the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Sidley filed its opening brief arguing that the VA had erred in
denying the veteran disability benefits for a right knee injury.
The VA then agreed to settle the case, conceding serviceconnection. Art Dykhuis,* Andrew Langford, Michael
Franzinger and Paul Zegger handled the matter.
SF Sidley was able to obtain a 70 percent disability rating for
a Navy veteran who suffers from PTSD after helping him with
his claim at a VA Regional Office. The veteran’s award means
he will receive benefits worth more than $1,400 every month,
and he also received a retroactive award worth approximately
$17,000. Jennifer Gaspar and Teague Donahey handled the
matter.
CH/DA/D.C./HN/LA/NY Sidley teams in multiple offices
obtained Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC)
awards in 2014 for 19 veterans who served in Vietnam, Iraq
and Afghanistan. CRSC is a supplemental disability payment
available to eligible military retirees who can show that their
disabilities are “combat-related.” Erik Carlson and Theodore
Chandler (both LA) obtained CRSC benefits for an Army
veteran who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
and a hand injury. The veteran received $37,000 in a retroactive
award and will receive more than $600/month in additional
disability compensation going forward. In another case, Steve
Carlson (Chicago) and Ariele Lessing (NY) obtained CRSC
benefits for an Army veteran suffering from PTSD after proving
that his disability was a direct result of armed conflict. Their
client received a retroactive award of approximately $20,000
and will receive ongoing benefits of approximately $400/
month. Other attorneys who handled successful CRSC matters
for their clients in 2014 are: Kathyrn Sirolly, James Mizgala,
Jessica Rothenberg, Jessica Fitzpatrick, Brian MacAleenan,
Emily Underwood, Brett Myrick, John Levi, Nadan Sehic,
Jessalyn Pe, Andrew Stern, Thomas Devlin,* Lawrence
Walders, Geoffrey King, Bindu Donovan, Sarah Pruett,
Melissa McGrane, Jonah Roth, Neil Wyland,* Madeleine
Dowling, Sara Goldstein, Kate Falahee Newman, Robert
Olian, David Weller, Tracy Nicastro, Nathan Huey,* Kara
McCall, Michael McGarry, John Lavelle, Francesca Mead,*
Benjamin Kelly* and Michael Hatcher.
DA Sidley was successful in another case before the Court
HN/NY The firm secured a remand from the Court of Appeals
for Veterans Claims for our client, the widow of a Korean Warera Navy veteran who alleges that her husband’s death was
caused by medical negligence at a VA hospital. Sidley argued,
and the court held, that the VA failed to fulfill its “duty to
assist” when it did not give the widow notice of and access to
certain medical records when assembling her claims. The court
rejected the VA’s position that it satisfied this duty by having
a VA physician render an opinion on the matter. On remand,
the VA must reevaluate the widow’s claim. David Denton and
Tracy LeRoy handled the matter.
13
Africa & Asia Agricultural Enterprise Program
In 2012, Sidley launched its fourth firmwide pro bono initiative and its first firmwide international pro bono initiative,
offering pro bono assistance to clients in Africa and Asia. The Program harnesses the experience of Sidley’s team of
lawyers around the world by using their strategic and technical know-how for the benefit of the poorest people in rural
communities in sub-Saharan Africa and less-developed countries in Asia. The Program aims to empower farmers and
businesses to expand their operations to improve the livelihoods of the world’s poorest farmers and their communities.
In 2014, Sidley lawyers and staff devoted more than 5,400 hours to projects under the Program.
14
Trade Advice. Helping exporters understand and navigate
international trade agreements and rules can help remove barriers
to markets as well as increase the potential value of the product.
Market access through advice on compliance with
regulatory measures. Complex and restrictive regulatory
requirements can shrink global market opportunities and
present an onerous barrier to trade, especially for producers
in developing countries who are neither aware of nor able to
cope easily with such regulations. Being able to navigate such
regulations will empower producers to reach larger markets
and potentially generate significantly greater earnings.
The major components of the Program are:
Intellectual property/Trademarks/Plant Variety Protection.
Registering a unique characteristic of a product or
commodity—whether it be a technological improvement,
a specific process, or a geographic provenance—can
differentiate the product in regional or world markets and
improve prices. It also can be important to license a protected
technology or seed variety to improve yields and quality.
Investment & Finance advice. The Program helps entities
seeking financing to meet donor/fund eligibility requirements
and also helps clients structure equity or loan deals of various
sizes. Sidley lawyers also provide best practice advice on
governance for microfinance and other financial entities
working in the agricultural sector, as well as advice on
innovative forms of collateral to secure financing.
Franchising and Dealer Networks. Franchising offers huge
opportunities to rural communities in the developing world.
Extending distribution networks to the village level creates
entrepreneurial opportunities for individuals. Bringing agroinputs and processing such as seed, fertilizer, herbicides, and
drying/storage facilities closer to the farmers facilitates access
to markets and methods of higher productivity.
In developing the Program, Sidley engages with a range of
entities working toward agricultural and economic growth in
Africa and Asia. These include producer and trade associations,
cooperatives, not-for-profit organizations, foundations, funds,
banks, microfinance and insurance providers, private sector
advisory services, intergovernmental organizations, universities,
and individuals. Sidley also partners with a range of NGOs,
government and private sector entities, including the World
Bank, Food and Agricultural Organization, TrustLaw, Advocates
for International Development, Gatsby Charitable Foundation,
New Markets Lab.
This cross-border Program is led by Scott Andersen and
Ronalee Biasca in Sidley’s Geneva office.
15
Projects Under the Program Have Included:
The Kenya Forest Growers Association (KEFGA) represents
and promotes private forestry and commercial tree growing
interests in Kenya. It is a member-based, non-partisan, nonprofit making association that is committed to the welfare of
private commercial forest growers. At the beginning of 2014,
a Sidley team reviewed documents and reports on issues
pertinent to smallholder commercial tree growers, and assisted
in drafting recommendations for the Kenya Forest Act in line
with international forestry best practices and international
forestry agreements. One of the Sidley lawyers participated
in legislative negotiations in February 2014. The Sidley team
consisted of Maurits Lugard, Anna Pavlou and Sarah Panis (all
in Brussels) and Judah Ariel (D.C.).
Sidai Africa Ltd. is a social enterprise operating in the livestock
sector in Kenya. The enterprise's aim is to revolutionize
the way that livestock and veterinary services are offered in
Kenya, creating a more sustainable model of livestock service
delivery. In May 2014, Sidley helped negotiate a contract for
the manufacture of Sidai-branded pharmaceuticals and feed
supplements with a manufacturer in Kenya. This contract was
significant for Sidai in the sense that local counsel did not have
this specific expertise and was not able to assist the company.
The Sidley team worked together with local counsel to make
sure the contract was completed and that Sidai could expand
its operations. James Stansel, Sean Dickson and Lisa Taylor*
(all in D.C.) worked on the matter.
STC Indonesia is an environmental consulting and technology
company specializing in ecosystem mapping, forest
conservation, chain of custody, remote sensing and GIS
mapping. The company’s goal is to produce a framework that
benefits up to 12,000 smallholder palm oil producers and
local communities through alternative income generation
from waste-streams, while encouraging and monitoring forest
conservation. Sidley provided legal support to STC Indonesia in
negotiations with a larger company concerning a joint venture
with STC. The Sidley team consisted of Timothy Spangler (LA),
Paul Michael Jindra (NY), Courtney Hikawa (D.C.), Josephine
Law (Singapore), Joy Lam (HK) and Lauren Grau (DA).
Trees grown by smallholder commercial tree
growers from the Kenya Forest Growers
Association (KEFGA).
16
MicroEnergy Credits is a company dedicated to empowering
people in developing countries (India, Mongolia, Bangladesh,
Uganda and Kenya) to make healthy, clean and affordable
energy choices. The company helps microfinance the purchase
by low income households of clean energy products, thereby
reducing the cost of energy to such households, improving
health and ultimately enabling education. Over a period of
5-6 months in 2014, Sidley advised on the private placement
of securities to a new investor in Micro Energy Credits, the
proceeds of such placement providing substantial funds for the
company to continue operations. Sidley lawyers working on
this matter were Benjamin Rosemergy (CH), Christian Pilhofer
(CH), Harry Layman,* summer associate Benjamin Schoener
(NY), Michael Yanowitch (NY) Tennie Tam (NY), Thomas
Tarnay (DA) and Rob Hardy (NY).
AgFlow Ventures manages Mekelle Farms and AgFlow
Farms. Mekelle Farms is a poultry farm that supplies improved
breeds, inputs and management methods to a network of
entrepreneurial farmers, which they develop into successful,
profitable links to rural farmers throughout the country. AgFlow
Farms’ mission is to build a modern mechanized commercial
farm, catalyze the development of a vibrant soybean industry,
and supply the animal feed market of the region. Sidley
reviewed investment agreements between AgFlow Ventures
and its funders. The Sidley team that worked on this matter
included Ram Burshtine (NY), Octavio Hernandez (NY),
Pamela Martinson (PA), Christopher Masterson (PA), Tanya
Landon (Geneva) and Harry Layman*(NY).
Grain Coast’s farms in Liberia use methods and techniques
of organic agriculture, such as terracing, composting and
mulching, to minimize the environmental damage from
farming while maximizing the positive economic impact on
local communities. Sidley helped draft a contract for the sale
of organic vegetables to a European buyer. The Sidley team
consisted of Scott Andersen (Geneva), Chad Vance (CH), and
Paul Michael Jindra and Mioko Okubo (both in NY).
STC Indonesia providing training for the creation of
nurseries for tree seedlings.
A Grain Coast farm in Liberia.
60
PROGRAM STATISTICS
NUMBER OF PROJECTS
SINCE THE PROGRAM’S
INCEPTION IN 2012
270
COUNTRIES WITH PROJECTS
UNDER THE PROGRAM
N U MBER O F S I D L EY
18
IN AFRICA
6
LAWYERS
B eni n
B ur un d i
D em o c r a t i c
R ep u b l i c o f
t he C o n g o
E t hi op i a
G ha n a
L i ber i a
Kenya
Malawi
Mali
M oz a m b i q u e
N i ger i a
R wa n d a
Si er r a L e o n e
Soma l i a
Sout h S u d a n
Ta nz a n i a
Uga n d a
Za m b i a
PARTICIPATING
I N THE PR OGR A M
IN ASIA
B a ngl a d e s h
Ca mb o d i a
Indi a
Indon e s i a
M ong o l i a
N epa l
FROM
16
SIDLEY OFFICES WORLDWIDE
17
In April, the Business Law Section of the
American Bar Association honored Sidley
with its 2014 National Public Service Award.
Initiated in 1995, this award highlights
those individuals, law firms and corporate
legal departments that have demonstrated
exceptional commitment to providing pro
bono services to the poor or under-served in a
business context. This year, nine nominations
were submitted for the award. A selection
Committee comprising leaders from the ABA
Business Law Section’s Pro Bono Committee
reviewed all entries to determine the strongest
nominees. In selecting Sidley, Pro Bono
Committee Chair William Woodward said
that the firm stood out for its “innovative and
timely” Africa-Asia Agricultural Enterprise
Pro Bono Program. “The unique structure
and the international scope of this project,
in addition to the variety of other pro bono
projects in which the firm participates, are an
outstanding model that the Section is excited
to recognize.” Agriculture is the sector that
employs many of the poorest people in Africa
and Asia. As part of the Africa-Asia Enterprise
Pro Bono Program, Sidley lawyers across the
U.S., Europe and Asia are providing legal
services to agricultural enterprises that cannot
afford international legal advice, including
women-owned cooperatives.
18
Sidley’s work with the Idera Olori Women Co-operative &
Credit Society and Beniseed Apex was supported by the
Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) and the
International Trade Centre (ITC), which both helped to set up
eight processing sites for shea butter and sesame seeds in
various Nigerian regions. External investors were sought to
take over the sites. The Idera Olori Women Co-ooperative &
Credit Society and Beniseed Apex are two cooperatives that
are employed on the sites. Sidley drafted a Memorandum
of Understanding between the external investors and the
cooperatives to ensure that the cooperatives benefit from the
agreement with the investors. Scott Andersen (Geneva) and
Neil Horner and Cory Nelson (both in NY) staffed this matter.
Akilah Institute’s students during class.
The Akilah Institute for Women is the only women’s college
in Rwanda and Burundi. Akilah offers a unique model of
market-relevant education empowering graduates for success
in careers and leadership roles. Students can choose to major
in entrepreneurship, information systems, or hospitality
management. Ninety-seven percent of Akilah students are the
first in their family to attend an institution of higher learning.
The Institute aims to build future generations of women
leaders and professionals in Africa through the development
of a network of campuses. Akilah will graduate 1,200 students
by the year 2020 and holds a 95 percent job placement rate
for the first two graduating classes. Sidley, together with local
counsel, advised Akilah Institute on establishing a loan fund to
finance projects for students and graduates. The Sidley team
consisted of Richard Weiner (D.C.), Jan Yves Remy (Geneva)
and Laure-Helene Laissue (Geneva).
PROTECTING INTERNATIONAL
HUMAN RIGHTS
D.C. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)
passed a resolution in March authorizing the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) to undertake an investigation into war crimes and
crimes against humanity that allegedly took place during Sri
Lanka’s civil war (and its aftermath), when tens of thousands
of Tamils were brutally slaughtered by the Sri Lankan military
and government forces. The UNHRC resolution represents a
significant victory for several entities that we have been helping
in the past year to secure human rights and justice in Sri Lanka.
These entities have included a Sidley client, the UNROW
Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic, a student litigation
and advocacy project at American University’s Washington
College of Law, as well as the State Department and others in
the U.S. government and international community. The Sidley
team included Jeff Green, Tasha Manoranjan, who advocated
in Geneva on behalf of the UNHRC resolution, Giancarlo
Pellegrini and project assistant Meg Huntington.
19
20
Geneva/D.C./London Through a pro bono engagement
with the USAID/Mongolia Business Plus Initiative, Sidley
is collaborating with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Working
Group and local partner MDS & KhanLex LLP to support
the development of a new state-of-the-art arbitration law
for Mongolia. The MoJ Working Group has approved the
Concept Paper and is currently reviewing the draft Arbitration
Law. Sidley also has supported the MoJ by participating in a
public-private dialogue (PPD) forum in October 2014, which
was organized by the USAID-funded Business Plus Initiative
to ensure public and private sector consensus on the new
statutory framework. Based on international best practice,
the new law is expected significantly to improve the legal
environment for both domestic and international arbitration in
Mongolia. Sidley’s technical assistance is part of USAID-funded
Business Plus Initiative project’s broader collaboration with
the MOJ Working Group in developing the new Arbitration
Law, as well as facilitating education, public awareness and
local capacity building for the promotion of arbitration as
an effective and efficient dispute resolution mechanism in
Mongolia. David Roney (Geneva), Ayaz Shaikh (D.C.) and
Andrew Fox (London) are handling the matter.
ESTABLISHING
INTERNATIONAL LEGAL
NORMS
From left to right, the photo features: Maizorig Janchivdorj (MDS
& KhanLex LLP), Andrew Fox (Sidley), Dugerjav Dash-Onolt
(MDS & KhanLex LLP), David Roney (Sidley), and Cameron
Sadeghi (Sidley). The photo is taken in front of the “Nine White
Banners,” the peacetime symbol of the Mongolian state, located
in the State Ceremonial Hall of Mongolia’s State Palace.
21
22
NY After a three-week trial in the Southern District of New
York, a jury acquitted Sidley’s client of federal murder charges
as well as related weapons and narcotics conspiracy charges
for which he would have received a mandatory minimum
45-year prison sentence if convicted on all counts. Our client
was convicted on lesser weapons/drug conspiracy charges
for which he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of seven
years. The case was assigned to Tim Treanor and Dave Rody
through their membership in the SDNY’s Criminal Justice Act
Panel, a program in which the court appoints private attorneys
to represent federal criminal defendants unable to afford
counsel. The Sidley trial team (primarily in NY) was led by Dave
Rody and Mike Mann, and also consisted of Drew Rolle,
Pouneh Aravand, Dave Denton, Ken Meyer, Mark Taticchi,
Nick McLean, Tian Wang, Helena Haywoode, Cliff Laney
and paralegals Jena Goettisheim, Christine LiCalzi,* John
Shaw and Sam Schneider*. Summer associates Cynthia Chen,
Alexander Cohen, Melanie Berdecia, Leah Milbauer, Michael
Roberts and Amy Wang provided assistance.
D.C. Sidley lawyers successfully represented an 83-year-old
woman, a victim of domestic violence, who had served over 27
years in prison allegedly for aiding and abetting the murder of
her abusive husband. Although the governor had commuted
her sentence and ordered the parole board to consider her
application for parole without regard to the crime of which she
had been convicted, the parole board denied her application
based on the seriousness of the crime. After the Supreme
Court of Missouri granted her subsequent habeas petition,
the parole board released her on supervised parole. Following
a mandatory five-year parole period, the Board refused to
release her from supervision. Sidley was asked to represent
her at this stage and we advocated for her release from parole
supervision, pointing to the overwhelming evidence that
supervision was unnecessary. Following more than a year
of advocacy before the Board, and as we prepared to file a
mandamus petition in the Missouri Supreme Court asking it
to order the Board to release her from supervision, the Board
finally granted her request. Hanna Chouest and Lisa Jones*
handled the matter.
Sidley’s Supreme Court Clinic at
Northwestern University Law School
Since 2006, Sidley has sponsored the United States
Supreme Court Clinic with the Northwestern University
School of Law. Students who participate help brief
(primarily criminal) cases on the merits and identify
court of appeals and state supreme court decisions as
potential candidates for petitions for a writ of certiorari,
all in partnership with the firm’s pro bono program. In
2014, the Clinic filed nine petitions for a writ of certiorari
and three reply briefs. The Clinic also wrote five briefs on
the merits, as well as several briefs as amicus curiae at
both the petition and merits stages. In February, Judge
Gary Feinerman of the U.S. District Court of the Northern
District of Illinois (and former Sidley partner) spoke to
the students about Supreme Court advocacy. When
the students visited Washington in March and attended
arguments at the Supreme Court, Justice Scalia took
time from his schedule to offer his insights into Supreme
Court practice. While in Washington, the students also
met with White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler. After
returning to Chicago, the students heard Judge Brett
Kavanaugh of the D.C. Circuit speak on the topic of
“Judicial Wisdom.” In one of the last classes of the
Spring term, Jeffrey Minear, Counselor to the Chief
Justice of the United States, explained the procedures
in cases falling under the Court’s original jurisdiction. In
the Fall semester, Donald Verrilli, Solicitor General of the
United States, explained the role of the Solicitor General
at the Supreme Court, while Judge Roy McLeese of the
D.C. Court of Appeals described his experiences as an
appellate advocate and appellate judge. Carter Phillips,
Executive Committee Chair, and Jeff Green, firmwide
chair of the Pro Bono and Public Interest Law Committee,
direct the Clinic. Additional members of Sidley’s
Supreme Court and Appellate group who taught in 2014
include Tacy Flint, Paul Zidlicky and Constantine Trela.
Washington Pro Bono Counsel Becky Troth and legal
assistants Kristyn Kenn,* Meg Huntington and Amanda
Blau supported the program’s activities.
SEEKING JUSTICE FOR
CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS
23
NY The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New
York appointed Sidley attorneys to represent a North Carolina
man charged with procuring and selling firearms to a New York
resident. The Sidley team negotiated a plea agreement with
the U.S. Attorney’s Office and at sentencing, persuaded the
court to issue a below guidelines sentence of just one month.
Our client has since served his sentence and has returned to
his job and family. The case was assigned to Tim Treanor and
Dave Rody through their membership in the SDNY’s Criminal
Justice Act Panel. The Sidley team also included Mike Mann
and Luke Frankson.
Left to right: Joshua Hill (San Francisco Chair of Sidley’s Pro Bono
Committee), Eliza Hersh (Director & Supervising Attorney, Clean
Slate Practice East Bay Community Law Center), Our Client, and
Emily Caveness. Photo by Jan Stürmann
SF A Sidley team prevailed in an ongoing effort against
the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which
had denied Sidley’s client an ambulance driver’s license
based on prior contact with law enforcement. The
DMV’s denial of the license application had prevented
the client from pursuing a career in emergency services,
despite his successful graduation from an Emergency
Medical Technician program. Following administrative
proceedings, Sidley filed an action in Alameda County
Superior Court seeking a judgment requiring the DMV
to overturn its denial of the ambulance driver’s license
and to issue the license. Despite staunch opposition
from the DMV, Sidley obtained judgment for our client.
Emily Caveness, Greg Sherman, Ryan Fant, and
summer associate Cecily Harris worked on the matter
under Sam Miller’s supervision.
24
D.C. Sidley obtained a final dismissal of four felony murder
charges against client David Housler, Jr., bringing to a
successful conclusion Sidley’s seven-year representation of a
man who was wrongly convicted of participating in four 1994
murders based on his false confession. Sidley took Housler’s
case on post-conviction review and obtained a vacation of the
four murder convictions in 2010, leading to Housler’s release
after serving nearly 15 years in prison for crimes he did not
commit. Sidley successfully defended the vacation of the
convictions on appeal in 2011 and 2012. In late 2013, the State
of Tennessee re-indicted Housler for an entirely separate, lesser
crime that allegedly occurred in 1994, and in 2014 it sought
to try Housler for that 20-year-old crime and to re-try him on
the murder charges. Sidley negotiated a plea deal whereby
Mr. Housler pled guilty to that unrelated charge, nunc pro tunc
to 1997, but served no additional prison time and the State
dismissed the murder charges with prejudice. Mr. Housler
is now free with no threat of further prosecution, gainfully
employed, listed on the national registry of exonerated
persons (one of few who was exonerated without new DNA
evidence), and newly married. The Sidley team was headed
by Paul Hemmersbaugh, and included Mick Flanagan, Brian
Fox, Kevin Garvey, Karen Smith, Bryson Bachman,* James
Owens* and Jason Vendel.*
SF Sidley lawyers secured a victory as part
of our ongoing pro bono relationship with
the East Bay Community Law Center’s
Clean Slate Clinic (EBCLC). Our client
was a California resident who went to
college to study criminal justice with the
goal of eventually working with at-risk youth despite growing
up orphaned, abused and impoverished. He had a spotless
criminal record except for an arrest in 2003 for a crime he
didn’t commit in a case of mistaken identity. The statute sets a
very high bar for such cases (e.g., there’s a three-year statute
of limitations in place, and even if the judge is convinced to
waive the time bar, the petitioner then bears the burden of
proving his own factual innocence). Despite these obstacles,
and after multiple court appearances and the submission of
excellent briefs, Cynthia Chi and Van Swearingen*convinced
an Alameda Superior Court judge to grant our client’s petition
to seal and destroy his arrest record, which enables our
client to pursue greater employment opportunities. Josh Hill
supervised the matter.
in Chicago’s IMPACT Second Chance Project, which helps
individuals overcome past encounters with the criminal justice
system. The State of Illinois and Cook County have progressive
laws providing relief from criminal records, but the process can
be complicated without a lawyer. Cabrini Green Legal Aid
(CGLA) has been providing this service since 2005, advising
more than 4,000 people a year on their options for moving past
their criminal backgrounds.
Chicago attorneys Marjorie
Baltazar and Nikeisha Gentles*
working with their client at the
IMPACT Second Chance Clinic
in March.
Attorneys Marjorie Baltazar and Nikeisha Gentles*
participated in the IMPACT Second Chances Project Clinic
in March. They filed a petition for a Certificate of Good
Conduct for their client who, because of a 1989 conviction
for manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance,
had been subject to a statutory bar that prevented certain
types of employment. A Certificate of Good Conduct, which
is a court-ordered finding of rehabilitation, will increase
the client’s employment opportunities. A certificate also
provides employers immunity for claims of negligent hiring
of the petitioner. The client has been unable to find full-time
employment after being terminated from a job he held for over
11 years and needs to work to support his children and to pay
his medical bills following his diagnosis of diabetes.
Chicago attorneys Ryan Cloud, Eugene Schoon and Rachel
Goldberg at the November IMPACT Second Chance Clinic.
CH For a second year in a row, Sidley attorneys participated
Sidley attorneys Eugene Schoon, Ryan Cloud and Rachel
Goldberg participated in the November clinic. Ryan and
Rachel are petitioning the court for a Certificate of Good
Conduct for their client who has been prevented from
obtaining full-time employment as a result of two convictions
for non-violent conduct that occurred over a decade ago. The
client recently obtained a Class A commercial driver’s license
in efforts to provide increased financial support for his two
teenage daughters. A Certificate of Good Conduct will remove
statutory bars to employment with local metropolitan railroads
and provide evidence of rehabilitation for private employers.
Eugene Schoon is petitioning the court for a Certificate of
Good Conduct for his client who pled guilty to possession of a
controlled substance more than 20 years ago, a crime for which
he received a sentence of probation. Although he has devoted
his life to coaching and mentoring at-risk youth on the South
Side of Chicago, as well as raising his children and foster child
as a single parent, his dream is to work for the Chicago Public
Schools (CPS) in its Youth Advocate Program. A Certificate of
Good Conduct will allow the CPS to hire him for this program.
Without it, he is barred from employment by CPS in any capacity.
25
Sidley Austin and Chicago litigation
partner Richard O'Brien chalked up two
major victories last year in their long-running
fight against a punitive eavesdropping law
in Illinois. Particularly relevant in light
of recent protests nationwide over police
conduct toward minorities, the 1961 state law
criminalized—by up to 15 years in prison—the
act of recording of public officials, including
police officers in the line of duty, without
their consent. O’Brien led a team that wrote
two influential briefs for the American Civil
Liberties Union of Illinois, as amicus in
Illinois Supreme Court cases that challenged
the law. Two years earlier, the firm had
successfully represented the ACLU as a party
in a federal case challenging the same law.
Following a consolidated hearing on the
state cases, the state Supreme Court issued
two March 20 rulings in People v. Clark and
People v. Melongo striking down the law as
‘overly broad under the First Amendment.
— National Law Journal, January 5, 2015
26
CH On March 20, the Illinois
Supreme Court struck down
Illinois’ Eavesdropping
Statute as unconstitutional,
affirming dismissal of
criminal charges against two defendants charged with illegally
recording their own conversations regarding matters of
significant public concern. The Illinois statute was one of the
most draconian eavesdropping or wiretapping laws in the
United States, purportedly prohibiting the recording of all
conversations—even public conversations—unless all parties
to the conversation provided their consent. The decision
represents a major victory for our client, the American Civil
Liberties Union of Illinois. The ACLU filed amicus briefs that
Dick O’Brien and Sean Siekkinen* drafted in support of the
defendants in both cases: People v. Melongo and People
v. Clark. In holding that the Eavesdropping Statute facially
violated the First Amendment, the Illinois Supreme Court
quoted extensively from a recent decision by the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in an earlier case that Dick
O’Brien had argued successfully on behalf of the ACLU. In
recognition of Dick’s successful efforts challenging the statute
and defending the First Amendment, The National Law Journal
named Sidley’s work on the matter to its 2014 Pro Bono Hot List.
D.C. Sidley filed an amicus brief on behalf of a bipartisan
group of 38 members of the U.S. House Representatives in
the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court defending the
voluntary public recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in
Massachusetts public schools. Plaintiffs, who were atheist and
humanist parents and children, contended that reciting the
pledge violated the Commonwealth’s equal protection clause
by stigmatizing the plaintiffs, who did not believe the country is
“one Nation, under God.” In May, the court unanimously held
that the voluntary recitation of the pledge in public schools did
not violate the Commonwealth’s equal protection clause and
that the plaintiffs did not establish any cognizable injury under
state law. The Sidley team consisted of David Petron, Judy
Gallagher, Chris Mills, Maureen Soles and Andrew Blake.
LA/SF Sidley and co-counsel Lambda Legal represented two
HIV-positive men who were married in Iowa and now live in
Nevada. The team filed a petition with the Nevada Department
of Health and Human Services (“NHHS”) challenging
regulations precluding persons with HIV from being granted
a foster care license in Nevada. In response to the petition,
NHHS amended the regulations, eliminating this illegal form
of discrimination and providing foster children with access to
a greater number of safe and loving homes. The amendments
also were subsequently approved by the Nevada Legislature.
The Sidley team included Frank Broccolo (LA), Josh Hill (SF),
David R. Carpenter (LA), Francis Lam (LA), Collin Wedel (LA)
and Ryan Fant (SF).
LA In a case that generated significant media coverage, Sidley
and the City Attorney’s Office of Glendale, California, acting
as co-counsel, successfully defended the city against a federal
lawsuit that sought removal of a statue that the city had erected
in a public park in memory of the estimated 200,000 Asian
and Dutch women who were forced into sexual slavery by the
Japanese army during World War II. The plaintiffs were a nonprofit organization and two individuals who alleged that the
monument injected the city into an international debate, thus
usurping the U.S. Government’s foreign affairs power. The U.S.
District Court for the Central District of California granted the
city’s motion to dismiss and entered judgment in favor of the
city. The plaintiffs have appealed the judgment, and Sidley will
represent the city on appeal. The Sidley team included Brad
Ellis, Frank Broccolo, Mark Haddad, Chris Munsey, Laura
Richardson and staff members Katherine O’Connell, Laurie
Cameron, Jeff Kim and Rebecca Allemand. The engagement
came to the firm through Senior Counsel Peter Ostroff.
PROTECTING CIVIL AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
D.C. As appointed amicus curiae on behalf of a pro se
appellant, Sidley obtained a victory in the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Plaintiff-appellant had alleged that
he had been terminated in January 2004 (when he was 71 years
old) from his employment as a security guard at the Armed
Forces Retirement Home-Washington on account of his age
in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. On
June 3, 2014, the court of appeals reversed the district court’s
grant of summary judgment to defendants, holding that a jury
could reasonably find that statements made by the decision
maker reflected discriminatory age-based stereotypes. The pro
bono appeal was handled by Jeff Green, Eric McArthur (who
argued), Paul Ray, Jeremy Bylund* and Jeff Beelaert.*
27
28
LA Sidley lawyers Mark
Haddad, Francis Lam and
Miles Fuller, working with
the Los Angeles Center for
Law and Justice, secured a decision confirming that a trial
court does not have discretion to deny fee waiver requests
when a litigant has demonstrated that he or she receives
public benefits. During the course of custody proceedings,
the trial court had ruled that it had the “inherent discretion”
to deny several of Sidley’s client’s fee waiver requests on the
grounds of “undisclosed income,” even though the client
had shown she was receiving public benefits which, under the
fee waiver statutes, entitled her to a fee waiver. In addition to
interfering with the client’s ability to seek custody of her child,
the trial court’s ruling also threatened the ability of legal aid
organizations to predict at the outset of litigation whether
they will be able to provide free legal services to indigent
clients without having to pay filing fees as well. In reversing
the trial court’s denial of the fee waivers, the California Court
of Appeal reaffirmed the long-standing principle that “the
right of indigent civil litigants to proceed in forma pauperis
is grounded in common law right of access to the courts and
constitutional principles of due process.” It then held that
nothing in the statutes granted “trial courts discretion to deny
the fee waiver application of an applicant who is receiving
public benefits and can document that fact.” This decision
ensures the uniform and consistent application of fee waiver
statutes, and will strengthen the rights of Californians to access
the justice system regardless of their financial circumstances.
The Daily Journal, on December 31, 2014, highlighted the
victory in an article entitled “Little-noticed opinion a big boon
for indigent litigants.” The article notes that several who
practice in this area believe that the appeal, which Francis
Lam argued, “sets a small but important landmark for indigent
litigants and the legal aid groups that represent them.”
CH Sidley continues to
sponsor a monthly legal
clinic through CVLS (Chicago
Volunteer Legal Services)—
Chicago's oldest provider of
free and reduced cost civil legal aid. The first Thursday of each
month volunteers for the CVLS/Sidley Clinic conduct intake for
potential clients who have been referred by the Salvation Army
and/or CVLS. Volunteers meet with the potential clients faceto-face, record their information and discuss their (civil-only)
legal needs, primarily family law, landlord/tenant, tort cases, and
social security benefits matters. Assuming the case is one a CVLS
volunteer can handle, clinic volunteers have "first dibs" on the
case, and decide whether they would like to handle it personally.
If not, volunteers refer the client's case information along to
CVLS’s central office, which places the case with another staff
or volunteer attorney. Sidley took on several additional clinic
visitors as clients in 2014. Attorney volunteers included: Kevin
Fee (Clinic chair), Justin From, Daniel Spira, Alexis Rollins
Dunton, Annie Wallis, Kelly Kribs, Jennifer Foster, Samantha
Spiro, Benjamin Brunner, Patrick Croke, Kevin Meil, Sarah
Bermingham, Tara Amin, Kristen Rau and Andrew Chinsky.
Helping Children and Families
LA A Sidley team prevailed in a case for a woman who faced
consistent and severe physical, verbal and mental abuse by
her husband over the course of their relationship, including
repeated rapes during a four-day period last August, which
resulted in significant injuries. After a two-day bench trial, we
obtained a permanent restraining order against the husband.
The judge not only granted the restraining order, but ordered
the husband to attend a batterers’ program for 52 weeks,
granted our client sole physical and legal custody of the couple’s
two children (ages 12 and 8) and ordered the husband to pay
a significant amount of child support. Miles Fuller conducted
the direct examinations of our client and a key witness, gave the
opening statement and closing argument, and tactfully handled
a disruptive opposing counsel. The Los Angeles Center for
Law and Justice referred this case to us. Allen Kim and Lauren
McCray assisted. Andy Dunbar supervised and participated
with witness preparation and in the trial.
SERVING NEIGHBORS IN NEED
D.C. Sidley successfully
obtained special-education
services for a student of a
D.C. charter elementary school. Our client, the student’s mother,
was concerned that her son was falling behind academically
after repeating fifth grade. She repeatedly asked the school to
conduct special-education evaluations of her son, but the school
failed to follow through with evaluations or provide adequate
assistance. We retained an independent psychologist, who
conducted neuropsychological and emotional evaluations of the
student and recommended him for special-education services.
Based on the evaluations, we worked with the school to develop
an appropriate Individualized Education Program, or “IEP,” for
the student. After implementation of the IEP this school year, the
student has shown improvement and appears to be progressing
well in his new placement. Jim Huizinga and Kyle Deighan
handled the pro bono matter, which the Children’s Law Center
referred to Sidley.
CH Sidley’s client was the mother
of a 15-year-old girl who had a
three-month-old son of her own.
One night, while the family was
living in a hotel, the daughter
took the baby and left to meet
two older males at a restaurant.
A fight broke out between the boys and the police became
involved. The girl was charged with breaking curfew, underage
consumption of alcohol, and child endangerment. As a result of
her daughter’s behavior, the Department of Children and Family
Services found that our client had inadequately supervised her
daughter. After we represented our client at her Administrative
Hearing and the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) heard her
testimony, the ALJ granted her request to expunge her record
of the inadequate supervision finding. Teresa Reuter and Erinn
Rigney handled the case under Jonathan Lotsoff’s supervision.
The Family Defense Center referred the matter to Sidley.
29
D.C. After pursuing separate child support actions in Family
Court against two fathers, Sidley obtained a total of $900
per month in child support payments for our client, a nonEnglish speaker with four children. During the proceedings,
we established paternity and the fathers’ incomes, and then
secured child support orders in the amounts of $200 and $700
per month. When one of the fathers quit his job and stopped
paying the ordered amount, we located his new employer and
had the father’s wages garnished. Andrew Blandford, who
communicated with the client in Spanish, and Lisa Jones*
handled the matter.
D.C. In another Family Court proceeding involving two
separate fathers, Sidley helped a woman obtain permanent
legal and physical custody over her three grandchildren after
the shooting death of the children’s mother. Jeffrey Young,
Matthew Warren and legal assistant Jennifer Gordon handled
the matter.
D.C. Sidley obtained disability benefits for our client, a D.C.
resident suffering from bipolar and schizophrenia disorders.
We represented her on appeal at a hearing before an
Administrative Law Judge in August 2013. At the hearing, the
ALJ requested additional evidence documenting our client’s
disability and earnings history. Sidley gathered and submitted
the requested evidence, including the results of a complete
evaluation by an independent psychologist, whom Sidley
retained. The assigned ALJ retired without issuing a ruling. At
the request of the new ALJ, Sidley submitted updated medical
records and a second letter brief. On April 23, 2014, the ALJ
granted a fully favorable decision, including a finding that our
client has been disabled since January 1, 2010. Sidley then
worked with the local SSA office to ensure that it properly
calculated and disbursed a significant award for back benefits.
The Sidley team included Rick Young, Nicole Brown and
Elizabeth McEachron*, and legal assistants Monica Kulkarni,
Heath Ingram* and Kristyn Kenn.*
Helping People with Disabilities
Protecting the Right to Housing
CH Sidley’s client, a clinical psychologist who provides therapy
for patients with spinal-cord injuries, had been notified by
the Social Security Administration (SSA) that she needed
to pay back almost two years’ worth of disability benefits.
After representing herself in an unsuccessful request for
reconsideration, the client, who is a quadriplegic herself, came
to Sidley through the firm-sponsored Chicago Volunteer Legal
Services’ Salvation Army Legal Clinic. In an administrative
appeal, we argued that, although the client’s salary would
typically preclude her from receiving disability benefits, the
client qualified for a number of significant deductions from
her salary for the purposes of determining her eligibility for
disability benefits. The Administrative Law Judge who heard
the case agreed and granted our client a “fully favorable”
decision in September 2013, allowing her to keep her past
benefits and have her benefits retroactively reinstated. After
we addressed administrative delays arising from the SSA’s
misinterpretation of the ALJ’s decision, our client started
receiving benefits in June 2014, and has received more than
$140,000 to date. Justin From handled the case under the
supervision of Kevin Fee and Priscilla Ryan.*
D.C. A Sidley team secured
disability benefits for a
57-year-old woman who
suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and
major depressive disorder. The ALJ found that our client, who
had not worked for many years and was unable to perform
her prior jobs as an information clerk and street cleaner, was
disabled and entitled to benefits, which she began receiving in
September. Christian Murphy* handled the case under Paul
Moates’ supervision. The D.C. Bar Advocacy & Justice Clinic
referred the case to the firm.
30
D.C. Sidley obtained a favorable settlement for a tenant of
a homeless shelter. The landlord had accused our client of
violating the shelter’s drug and alcohol policy, but brought
eviction proceedings based solely on a boilerplate form that
it required all tenants to sign upon gaining residence. The
form purported to waive certain rights under D.C. housing law,
which grants broad procedural rights prior to eviction. Whether
that waiver was valid would have been an issue presented at
the scheduled bench trial. Upon Sidley’s representation of the
tenant, however, and in exchange for his agreement to follow
the shelter’s rules, the landlord agreed to drop the eviction
proceedings. Robert Stander,* Eric McArthur and Paul
Zidlicky, with support from project assistant Meg Huntington,
handled the matter.
D.C. Through our Loaned
Associate program with the
Legal Aid Society of the
District of Columbia, Sidley
helped secure a victory for
an elderly disabled property
owner in D.C. in his pro se appeal. At issue in Mazanderan v.
District of Columbia Department of Public Works was whether
the District’s Department of Public Works could use an antidumping statute under the District’s Litter Control Act to
penalize the property owner for overgrown weeds. The D.C.
Court of Appeals asked the Legal Aid Society to appear as an
amicus in support of the pro se petitioner in the case, and our
Loaned Associate at the time, Bill Doolittle,* filed the amicus
brief on behalf of Legal Aid in support of the petitioner. On
July 10, the Court of Appeals issued a decision in favor of the
petitioner, adopting Legal Aid’s position that the anti-dumping
statute did not give the department the authority it claimed.
This victory not only brought relief to the elderly property
owner, but further established Legal Aid as an authoritative
resource on poverty law issues for the Court of Appeals.
D.C. A Sidley team obtained a favorable settlement for
another tenant in a suit for possession in D.C. Superior Court.
The landlord claimed our client, a recipient of subsidized
housing, violated the federal housing “one-strike” regulation
by allowing an individual who was subsequently found to
possess a controlled substance onto the property. The matter
was scheduled for jury trial, but our client ultimately decided
to settle after she was arrested on unrelated charges that put
her at risk of summary eviction. Sidley negotiated a settlement
agreement on her behalf on more favorable terms than the
landlord offered her initially. Keith A. Matthews, Adam
Susser, and Andrew Arnold handled this matter, which was
referred to us by the D.C. Bar Advocacy & Justice Clinic.
D.C. In 2009, Sidley lawyers began staffing the Landlord
Tenant Resource Center (LTRC) of the D.C. Superior Court on
a monthly basis. Each year, landlords file over 40,000 cases in
the Landlord Tenant Branch of the D.C. Superior Court, seeking
summary evictions of tenants. Over 99 percent of tenants
and nearly 14 percent of landlords represent themselves in
the court. Unrepresented tenants face a high risk of having
judgments entered against them, while inexperienced pro
se landlords risk having their cases dismissed, often because
of procedural missteps. The D.C. Bar launched the LTRC in
2004 to improve due process and access to justice in Landlord
and Tenant Court. After training from the D.C. Bar Pro Bono
Program, three Sidley lawyers and one legal assistant staff
the LTRC for five hours once a month. Lawyers Rina Mady,
Marinn Carlson, Kyle Fiet, Kurt Jacobs,* Becky Troth, Ryan
Kaat, Keith Matthews, Brendan Smith, Adam Susser,* Paul
Perkins, Hanna Chouest, Andrew Blandford, Larry Walders,
John Lupton, and Lisa Taylor* and legal assistants Meg
Huntington, Jake Thorn and Kristyn Kenn* all staffed the
LTRC in 2014.
D.C. A Sidley team received a favorable settlement on behalf
of a low-income tenant. The landlord brought suit based on
our client’s failure to pay rent, but had been cited for numerous
D.C. housing code violations. Upon Sidley’s representation,
the tenant counterclaimed for previously paid rent and other
monetary relief under D.C. housing law, which grants tenants
the right to withhold rent because of serious defects, as well
as injunctive relief requiring the landlord to fix the premises.
Sidley negotiated a settlement in which the landlord agreed
to drop his claims, pay the tenant an amount equal to several
months’ rent, and give her family a rent-free period in which
they found a new apartment. Sidley’s team included Sam
Boxerman, Adam Hallowell and Lisa Jones,* with help from
project assistant Kristyn Kenn.*
31
32
SUPPORTING NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATIONS
CH In October, a team of Sidley attorneys represented
long-time firm pro bono client, People’s Resource Center
(PRC) , in its acquisition of a commercial condominium in
Westmont, Illinois, for use for a wide range of supportive
services to low-income residents of DuPage County. PRC’s
mission is to respond to basic human needs, promote dignity
and justice and create a future of hope and opportunity for
the residents of DuPage County through discovering and
sharing personal and community resources. PRC will use the
Westmont property to operate a food pantry, a homelessness
prevention assistance program, a clothing donation and
distribution program, adult learning and literacy services,
computer training/access, job mentoring, art empowerment
programs and connections to local services. In addition to the
real estate work, Sidley’s work included the conversion of the
PRC building into a commercial condominium (the first such
conversion to take place in Westmont), obtaining a zoning
(parking) variance required to accommodate PRC’s use of the
property, and helping PRC secure private and public financing
for the acquisition and development of the property. The Sidley
team included real estate group lawyers David Siegel, Molly
Novy, Anna Mommsen and Scott Saef and Bill Dickett in the
environmental group.
33
In June 2014, the Chicago office participated in the
Annual Walk to Cure Diabetes. Sidley personnel
raised $58,761 for the event. Greg Oguss and Mike
Prapuolenis chaired this program.
34
CH For more than 20 years, the Chicago office has held an
annual collection drive for the United Way. Sidley associates
and staff donate approximately $20,000 and the Sidley
Foundation contributes the balance, for an annual donation
of $150,000. In 2014, Sidley associates and staff contributed
$21,832. Jonathan Lotsoff chairs this program.
CH The office held a clothing drive for College Bound
Opportunities (CBO), which helps CBO graduates prepare to
seek employment—teaching them to dress appropriately for job
interviews through their "Suited for the Job” program. In May
2014, Sidley lawyers and staff donated two racks of clothing and
several boxes of shoes, sweaters, and shirts to the program.
CH Since 1995, the office has participated in the annual
CH Sidley-Chicago Sidley lawyers participate in the Lawyers
Chicago Cares event. This event involves staff and lawyers
spending a day at a local Chicago school cleaning, painting
and decorating the school and playground. On June 7, 2014,
21 Sidley personnel (including family and friends) volunteered
at James N. Thorp Elementary School. Sidley also presented a
$3,000 donation to Chicago Cares. Richard Astle is the chair of
this program.
in the Classroom program at Kanoon and Woodlawn Schools
where they meet with students from January to May to conduct
Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago (CRFC) training. In
2014, Scott Berliant and Teresa Reuter headed this program.
CH In December, Sidley donated $5,000 to the Chicago
Children’s Museum. This donation supports programming for
the museum.
CH Since 2000, the Chicago office has participated in the
CONTRIBUTING TO THE BROADER COMMUNITY
annual Heart Walk to benefit the American Heart Association.
Sidley staff raised $9,705 for the event in 2014 and 40 Sidley
participants walked in the Heart Walk.
CH The Chicago office participates in an annual clothing drive
for the Cara Program, a non-profit organization that provides
training and job placement services to individuals who are
homeless. The office donated 30 boxes of clothing in 2014.
CH Since 2001, the Chicago office has collected used/
outdated cell phones and accessories for victims of domestic
violence. Mark Kaufmann spearheads this program, which
collected about 100 phones/chargers in 2014.
CH Thirty years ago, at the urging of Newt Minow, Sidley
adopted the Gerald Delgado Kanoon Magnet School, a public
elementary school, as part of a private-public initiative. Since
then, Sidley contributions of time, funding and resources
have helped the school in numerous ways and improved the
educational experience of its students. Under the leadership
of John Levi and Michele Ilene Ruiz, Sidley lawyers and staff
became involved in mentoring activities at Kanoon as well as
book, winter-clothing, school-supply and food drives. During
our annual back-to-school drive for Kanoon in 2014, 107
Sidley lawyers and staff contributed almost $10,000. Sidley
also donated various items to the school, including used
computers, furniture and office supplies. Sidley sponsors Baile
Follkoric and Suzuki Violin lessons for Kanoon students, and
holds two Jeans Days per year, with proceeds benefitting
the school’s literacy efforts. In 2014, we collected $8,387 for
Kanoon from the Jeans Days. In November, the office held its
annual Thanksgiving Food Drive for Kanoon. The food drive typically generates enough revenue to feed 250 families and in 2014, we
raised $9,285 from 110 Sidley lawyers and staff. In December 2014, Sidley lawyers and staff also donated $1,475 to the Kanoon endof-year Campaign.
Chicago staff and lawyers also participated in the 2014 Book Chat with the Kanoon 5th graders. Forty-five lawyers and staff read
Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan (a book selected by the school) and exchanged questions and answers with the students
by e-mail. This event culminated with the Sidley participants visiting the students at the school to discuss the book.
35
CH The mission of the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) is to cultivate a lifelong commitment to
public interest law and pro bono service within the Illinois legal community and to expand legal services
to people in need. PILI’s Law Student Internship and Graduate Fellowship Programs (in which Sidley
participates) place law students and recent law school graduates at public interest law organizations, with
PILI providing supplemental educational, networking and mentoring opportunities. This year, Dick O’Malley, Chicago chair of the
firm’s Pro Bono and Public Interest Law Committee, became PILI’s president.
Excerpt from PILI Board Member Spotlight, October 30, 2014
The new president of PILI’s Board of Directors is Sidley partner Dick O’Malley. His practice at Sidley focuses
on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation, and he is the firm’s Chicago chair of its Pro Bono
and Public Interest Law Committee. Dick has been a Director on PILI’s Board since 1999, when his former
partner Tom Morsch, whom Dick calls “one of the stalwarts of the Chicago pro bono community,” encouraged
him to join. “I asked him for his advice as to what board I should become associated with to make the most
impact,” Dick recounts, “and his first choice was PILI as having the broadest impact.”
It may have been Tom Morsch who first convinced Dick to join PILI’s Board, but Dick soon found his own
reasons to stay and become more and more involved in leadership roles. “I’ve seen the summer Interns grow
into committed pro bono lawyers throughout their career. I’ve seen our own Graduate Fellows at Sidley
become involved in pro bono. And I’ve seen the investment that I make in PILI come back multiple times in
helping Illinois’ neediest with their legal services,” he says.
Dick has been actively involved in pro bono since the beginning of his career, and was recently recognized
for his pro bono work on behalf of the residents of the Cabrini Green housing project, a case that was in
litigation for six years. Dick and a team of attorneys from LAF (Legal Aid Foundation) were able to help avoid
the threatened immediate eviction of residents by the Chicago Housing Authority, and finally reached a
resolution that allowed the residents to leave Cabrini Green and start new lives on better terms. Dick received
LAF’s Champion of Justice Award as well as the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the
Federal Bar Association’s Award for Excellence In Pro Bono Service for his work on this case.
Prior to being appointed President, Dick previously served as Vice President of PILI’s Board, and has been
heavily involved in PILI’s strategic planning and fund development initiatives. “It is a privilege to continue my
work with PILI's talented and dedicated board and staff as President of PILI’s Board of Directors,” says Dick.
36
Sidley partner Alan Raul, Lawyers Have Heart has raised
more than $7.5 million to benefit the American Heart
Association/American Stroke Association, whose mission
is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular disease
and stroke. This year, Team Sidley finished second in the
“Large Law Firm” division in the Lawyers Have Heart
10K road race. Ryan Kaat, Giancarlo Pellegrini, summer
associate Julie Dickerson, and Sidley economist Simon
Schropp led us to this vaulted position in the standings
among all law firms in the D.C. Metropolitan area. In the
last 12 years, the team has never finished higher then
10th place, as Jeff Bosh, who organizes the event for
Sidley, noted.
Justice Samuel Alito joined Lawyers Have Heart to
celebrate its 25th anniversary.
Justice Samuel Alito
joined Alan Raul to
celebrate the 25th
anniversary of Lawyers
Have Heart.
D.C. In September, Justice Samuel Alito spoke at the
first-ever Lawyers Have Heart celebratory dinner, where
he joined LHH co-founder and Sidley partner Alan Raul.
Justice Alito devoted his remarks to the accomplishments
of athletic justices, from John Marshall to himself, noting
that he had completed a marathon “in less time than it
takes to fly from here to Tokyo.”
Eloise Repeczky donates blood during the D.C. office’s Service Week.
D.C. Sidley personnel in D.C. serve
as reading partners and mentors
to public school students at Ross
Elementary through the Power
Lunch program run by Everybody
Wins! D.C.. The Power Lunch program pairs one adult with
one student for the school year. The adult partner visits the
school one day a week during lunch to share books and the
love of reading with the student. Currently Andy Shoyer,
Larry Walders, Keith Matthews, Ellen Crisham, Amy DeLine,
Patricia Richter, Sherrice Flowers and Dick Belanger read in
the Power Lunch program. Dick Belanger also has been on the
Board of Everybody Wins! D.C. for a number of years, serving
at different times as its chairperson and general counsel.
D.C. Since its founding in 1991 by Richard Frank and
D.C. Paul Hemmersbaugh serves as the appointed General
Counsel to the District of Columbia Bar, the second largest Bar
in the United States, with nearly 100,000 members. Working
with a number of other Sidley lawyers, Paul provides volunteer
legal advice and services to the D.C. Bar and its Board of
Governors, the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program, the Office of Bar
Counsel and the Board on Professional Responsibility, and the
many divisions and programs run by the Bar. At the request of
the Bar Board of Governors and its CEO, a Sidley partner has
served as General Counsel of the Bar for more than ten years.
D.C. The D.C. office held its Eighth Annual Service Week in
July. During the week, we donated blood to the Red Cross,
stuffed backpacks for the Children’s Law Center, viewed the
documentary, “The Central Park Five,” donated dozens of
clothing items to Dress for Success and Career Gear, and
raised over $2,500 in cash for Miriam’s Kitchen (in addition to
donating hundreds of toiletry items).
Kathy Lee, Keisha Brown, Adam Hallowell and Dave Wharwood stuff backpacks
for Children’s Law Center during the D.C. office’s eighth annual Service Week.
37
A Shared Commitment to Volunteer Service
Sidley is a Corporate Sponsor
of New York Cares, New
York City’s premier non-profit
organization for bringing
volunteer support services
to non-profit agencies,
public schools and other
organizations. Our ongoing
volunteer work with New York Cares is part of the firm’s
Corporate Responsibility Program in New York, and in 2014,
our New York office participated in several events with New
York Cares. Sidley’s Corporate Responsibility Director is Stacy
Rotner. Janet Zagorin, as the firm’s Client Services Officer,
provides support to the program.
NY On June 18, our New York office hosted its annual Sidley
Service Day, a day-long volunteer event that brings lawyers
and summer associates together to perform community
service in a New York City neighborhood. Sidley Service Day is
presented in conjunction with New York Cares. This year, more
than 60 Sidley lawyers and summer associates traveled to the
Elijah Stroud Academy Middle School in Brooklyn to revitalize
the school and make it more navigable and accessible to its
students and faculty. The day’s projects included repainting
murals outside the school, constructing and arranging new
furniture, and reorganizing the school’s textbook storage
facilities.
NY On the evening of July 15 in our New York office, as part
of our Corporate Responsibility Program, Sidley hosted a
volunteer event to benefit members of Grameen PrimaCare,
a non-profit providing low-income women with innovative
healthcare solutions. The event was co-sponsored with the
Legal and Compliance Division of longtime firm client Morgan
Stanley, with whom we have partnered for this event for
several years, and presented in association with New York
Cares. The attendees included over 100 lawyers, compliance
professionals and summer associates, who assembled over 750
care kits. The volunteers were welcomed by Nate Saint-Victor
and Jennifer Zimmerman, both lawyers and Morgan Stanley
executive directors. Nate Saint-Victor is chair of the Morgan
Stanley Legal and Compliance Division’s Diversity and Inclusion
Committee. Jennifer Zimmerman is co-chair of the Women’s
Committee of the Morgan Stanley Legal and Compliance
Division’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. In their brief
opening remarks, both praised Sidley’s and Morgan Stanley’s
shared commitment to the goals of inclusion, community
involvement and philanthropy. Sidley and Morgan Stanley are
two of New York Cares’ largest corporate sponsors.
NY On July 29, in another event with New York Cares, a
group of Sidley summer associates volunteered during lunch
at the New York Common Pantry, New York City’s largest food
pantry. Sidley’s team stocked shelves, organized donations and
assembled food packages.
The New York office’s annual Sidley Service Day at the Elijah Stroud Academy Middle School.
38
NY In the premier event commemorating its first 100 years in
Sidley hosted a volunteer event to benefit New York City public
schools. The event was co-sponsored with the Forensic Practice
of long-standing firm client KPMG LLP, and was presented
in association with New York Cares. The attendees included
both Sidley and KPMG consultants, auditors, accountants and
lawyers. The attendees assembled teacher appreciation kits,
which will be used by teachers in two different New York City
elementary schools. The volunteers were welcomed by KPMG
Principal Amanda Rigby, who praised Sidley and KPMG’s
shared commitment to giving back to the community. This
event, part of Sidley’s Corporate Responsibility Program, was
coordinated with help from Gary Bendinger, Greg Ballard and
Kevin Burke.
New York on June 25, Sidley donated $1 million to New York
Cares and United Way of New York City, two of New York City’s
most important not-for-profit organizations. Each organization
received $500,000 to fund volunteer programs that provide
support and services to individuals in need within the New York
community. “Sidley Austin’s presence is deeply woven into
the fabric of New York City, and we are extremely grateful for
this incredible gift,” said Sheena Wright, President and CEO,
United Way of New York City. Paul J. Taubman, President,
Board of Directors of New York Cares, added, “New York Cares
is so grateful to Sidley for this incredibly generous gift. Their
support and hands-on commitment to our programs for the
less fortunate have been, and continue to be, overwhelming.”
In November and December 2014, Sidley’s New York office
participated in the annual New York Cares Coat Drive. Sidley
collected and donated several boxes of warm winter coats, as
well as gloves, hats and scarves.
NY On Nov. 11, Sidley hosted a Veterans Day Volunteer
Now an annual tradition, Sidley’s New York office participated
in the New York Cares Winter Wishes “Secret Santa” program.
The firm’s lawyers and staff donated gifts to 125 underserved
elementary school children in lower Manhattan this year. From
books to clothing, Sidley participants were extremely generous
in making the holiday season brighter for these children.
Morgan Stanley July 15 Diversity/Corporate Responsibility event.
Benson Cohen (Sidley), Jennifer Zimmerman (Morgan Stanley,
Executive Director) and Nate Saint-Victor (Morgan Stanley,
Executive Director).
NY On the evening of September 9 in our New York office,
Project event to benefit members of the U.S. Armed Forces
serving abroad. More than 120 Sidley lawyers, staff and guests
attended the event. The attendees assembled 1,500 care
kits, wrote over 300 thank you cards and shipped 83 boxes to
U.S. troops serving overseas. The event was part of the New
York office’s Corporate Responsibility Program and was held
in conjunction New York Cares as part of the firm’s New York
Office Centennial Celebration.
The New York office's June 25 Centennial Celebration at the New York Historical
Society. Michael Schmidtberger (New York), Sheena Wright (President and
CEO, United Way of New York City), Carter Phillips (D.C.), Paul Taubman (Board
President, New York Cares) and Larry Barden (Chicago).
39
NY Lawyers from our New York
office joined with volunteers
from firm client Credit Suisse on
November 21 to participate in
the City Harvest Repackathon,
an annual event where, over the
course of 24 hours, hundreds of
volunteers come together to repack bulk food donations into
family-sized packages. City Harvest is a non-profit organization
that seeks to end hunger in communities throughout New
York City through food rescue and distribution, education and
other practical, innovative solutions. During this year’s event,
volunteers repacked 231,337 pounds of food, enough to feed
2,400 families during the holiday season. The packages will be
distributed to more than 500 community food programs.
Susan Merrill and Patti Wu (both in New York) at the City Harvest Repackathon in
New York City on November 21.
NY On the evening of February 28, more than 20 lawyers from
the New York office participated in Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center’s annual Cycle for Survival fundraising event. All
funds raised by this event go directly toward cancer research.
This event was spearheaded by Alex Rovira, in conjunction
with the firm’s Corporate Responsibility Program led by Stacy
Rotner. Several individuals from firm client The Blackstone
Group also participated on the Sidley team. The Sidley team
raised over $35,000, with many contributions coming from
Sidley lawyers and the Sidley Austin Foundation.
Becky Troth is appointed to the D.C. Access to Justice Commission.
D.C. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals has appointed
Sidley-D.C. Pro Bono Counsel Becky Troth to the D.C. Access
to Justice Commission. The court formed the commission
in 2005 to increase resources for civil legal services, reduce
barriers that prevent equal access to justice for low- and
moderate-income D.C. residents, advocate for increased
pro bono work by local attorneys and improve planning
40
and coordination of legal services delivery. Becky will serve
a three-year term on the 18-member commission, which
includes judges, past presidents of the D.C. Bar, executive
directors of leading legal services providers, and other legal
and community leaders. Georgetown University Law Professor
Peter Edelman chairs the commission.
D.C. In October,
during Pro Bono
Week, the D.C.
office participated
in the D.C. Bar
Foundation’s
Go Casual for
Justice fundraiser
to support loan
repayment
assistance for legal
services lawyers.
Sidley lawyers and
staff contributed
$5 to wear jeans
and another $5
Firmwide Pro Bono and Public Interest
to wear sneakers
Committee Chair Jeff Green, Sylvester,
on Go Casual for
and Ben Mundel as Tweety Bird.
Justice Friday.
Each office floor competed to raise the most money. The 10th
floor, which repeated its 2013 win, won the right to wear jeans
and sneakers every first Friday of the month for a year. The
10th floor win was due in part to Ben Mundel’s agreement to
accept Gordon Todd’s challenge to dress up as Tweety Bird if
the 10th floor raised the most money. The firm overall raised
over $10,000 for the Foundation, more than any other firm in
D.C., and celebrated the victory at a pastry and coffee event, at
which Sylvester made a surprise guest appearance.
LA Sidley is a longtime supporter of Skid Row Housing Trust,
Marc Hayutin at the 25th Anniversary Celebration of Skid Row Housing Trust.
D.C. For the fifth year in a row, Sidley participated in the
Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program, which provides gifts
of new clothing, shoes and toys for children 12 and under
from needy families. At the Angel Tree Adoption Party, Sidley
employees selected angel tags that included the child’s name,
age, gender, and their present wish list. As a result of Sidley
employees’ generosity and volunteer efforts, more than 200
“Angels” received gifts during the holiday season. The gifts
were organized for pick up and distribution by the Salvation
Army, and given a festive sendoff. Members of the Angel Tree
Committee and volunteers includes Paula Friedman, Dana
Bullitt, Annette Brown, Sherrice Flowers, Kelli Pryor, Beth
Masterson, Eloise Repeczky, Maritza Rachal, Robin Cornish,
Heather Irwin, Bill Mitchell, Ilene Hillman, Latasha Senior,
Anna Weinberg, Pat Stevenson, Maureen Dayton, Pat
Richter and Zeno Lantos.
a non-profit whose mission is to provide permanent supportive
housing for several underserved populations in Los Angeles.
On Nov. 13, 2014, the Sidley Austin Foundation along with
Marc and Stephanie Hayutin, acted as a “roof sponsor” for
the organization’s 25th anniversary celebration, which was
attended by more than 300 paid guests and a number of
dignitaries. The gala, held at the historic Vibiana event space,
netted approximately $200,000 for the organization. The
occasion also marked the conclusion of Marc’s 10 years of
service as chairman of the organization’s board of directors.
Marc followed in the footsteps of former chairman Ted Miller,
who first got Marc involved in serving on the board in 2002.
Patrick Spillane of IDS Realty Group will succeed Marc, who will
remain on the board’s executive committee. Jeremy Rosenthal
has also begun working with the organization and has become
an active supporter of the trust both financially and through his
committee work.
D.C. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe appointed former
Democratic Congressman and Sidley partner Rick Boucher and
former Republican Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling to co-chair a
10-member bi-partisan commission tasked with recommending
reforms to Virginia’s ethics laws and other governance
measures in the wake of recent high-profile scandals involving
Virginia public officials. Prior to serving for 28 years in the
U.S. House of Representatives, Rick served for seven years
as a member of the Virginia State Senate. An editorial in The
Washington Post praised the formation of the commission and
the roles that Rick and his co-chair will play.
Geneva In May, Sidley participated in the final round of
the European Law Students Association (ELSA) Moot Court
Competition at the Graduate Institute of International Studies
(HEI) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Sidley is
a sponsor of the competition, a simulated WTO dispute
settlement panel process in which law students gain practical
skills in written and oral presentation on substantive WTO law
issues. Between March and April, five separate regional rounds
were held: two in Europe, the first-ever in Africa, and one each
in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region. More than 150
individuals attended the final-round event in Geneva, including
WTO staff and WTO delegations. Jan Yves Remy, Todd
Friedbacher, Nicolas Lockhart and Scott Andersen were
involved in presentations and judging and hosting students
during the competition.
41
PRO BONO HONORS AND EVENTS
Sidley frequently is recognized for its unwavering commitment
to pro bono service and the work we do.
CH Gwen Hochman Stewart received the Award for
Excellence in Pro Bono Service from the U.S. District Court
for the Northern District of Illinois, which was presented in
association with the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar
Association. Gwen received the award for her work bringing
the copyright-infringement action, Suarez v. Glassner, on behalf
of a local artist who alleged that his painting was copied by a
picture framer and resold. Despite several contested issues of
fact, the case resulted in a settlement involving the payment
of substantial funds to the artist. The award was presented to
Gwen at a major pro bono and public interest awards ceremony
in the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago on May 8. Jack
Bierig (Chicago) supervised Gwen’s work and nominated her
for this award, as well as Sidley’s Thomas H. Morsch Award (see
below, Pro Bono Award Ceremonies – Honoring Our Own).
D.C. The Chief Judges of the District of Columbia federal
courts honored Sidley’s D.C. office at the “40 at 50” Judicial
Pro Bono Recognition Breakfast. Established by the D.C.
Circuit Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Pro Bono
Legal Services, the “40 at 50” breakfast recognizes law firms
reporting that at least 40 percent of their lawyers devoted 50 or
more hours to pro bono work in the previous year. Jeff Green,
Betsy Howe* and Becky Troth represented Sidley at the April
23 event, which was hosted by Chief Judge Merrick Garland of
the U.S. Court of Appeals and Chief Judge Richard Roberts of
the U.S. District Court.
D.C. The Chief Judges of the District of Columbia Court of
Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
sponsored, for the third year, the Capital Pro Bono Honor
Roll, which recognizes the D.C. Bar members and attorneys
practicing under D.C. Court of Appeals Rule 49 who provide
desperately-needed free legal services to those living in
poverty and/or to small disadvantaged businesses and nonprofits that are critical to the economic well-being of our
community. Lawyers are eligible for the Honor Roll, based on
their contribution of 50 or more hours during 2013, or for the
High Honor Roll, by virtue of contributing 100 or more pro
bono hours. 134 lawyers in Sidley’s D.C. office were listed on
the Honor Roll, and 87 of those 134 made the High Honor Roll
for devoting 100 or more hours to pro bono service in 2013.
D.C. At the D.C. Bar’s annual dinner on June 17, former
Justin Benson and Jim Bendernagel accept their award from
Meghan Whyte of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil
Rights and Urban Affairs.
D.C. The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
and Urban Affairs honored Sidley with an Outstanding
Achievement Award at the Committee's annual Wiley
Branton Luncheon on June 18. The Committee recognized
Justin Benson and Jim Bendernagel for their work in a
housing voucher discrimination case. Our client, a civil
rights organization, sued a realty company for refusing to
rent to housing testers based on their perceived source of
income, which is illegal under District law. The Sidley lawyers
achieved a settlement that obligated the realty company to
implement a new anti-discrimination policy, advertise that it is
housing-choice-voucher friendly and train its staff to prevent
discrimination. A Sidley alumnus, Ron Flagg, former firmwide
pro bono chair who is now the General Counsel of the U.S.
Legal Services Corporation, was also recognized for his long
service on the Committee’s board. The luncheon is named
in honor of the late Sidley partner and prominent civil rights
lawyer Wiley Branton.
42
counsel Kurt Jacobs was honored as the D.C. Bar’s 2014
Laura N. Rinaldi Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year. The Rinaldi
Award recognizes an attorney who exemplifies excellence,
achievement, and commitment to providing legal services to
the poor and disadvantaged in the District of Columbia. The
Bar honored Kurt for his extensive efforts on behalf of lowincome clients of the D.C. Bar Landlord Tenant Resource Center
and Bread for the City. Tim Webster, a D.C. partner, also was
recognized as the D.C. Bar’s President-Elect at the dinner.
Paul Caron of Microsoft (Chief of Staff - Government Affairs)
presented the 2014 Pro Bono Counsel Award to Becky Troth
(D.C.). Photo credit: Ben Zweig
D.C. In September, Sidley was honored by the National
Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) with the
2014 Pro Bono Counsel Award at its annual McKinney-Vento
Awards Dinner. The NLCHP event combined football and
homelessness in honoring Steve Smith Sr. of the Baltimore
Ravens in an event co-sponsored by Sidley, the National
Football League, the NFL Players Association, the Ravens and
the Washington football team. The NLCHP functions as the
legal arm of the movement to end homelessness. It speaks
for homeless people in the U.S. Supreme Court, on Capitol
Hill, to the Administration and in support of many direct
service providers. Sidley has filed several U.S. Supreme Court
amicus briefs, handled impact litigation and written many legal
memoranda on behalf of the organization for more than a
decade. Sidley also won the 2004 Pro Bono Counsel Award. Ed
McNicholas (D.C.) is chair of the NLCHP’s board of directors
and D.C. Pro Bono Counsel Becky Troth accepted the award
on the firm’s behalf.
LA Sidley’s pro bono partner Asian Americans Advancing
Justice – Asian Law Caucus has announced that it will name
Sidley its “Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year” at its annual gala
in April 2015. The award honors the work of Heidi Larson
Howell, who argued and won a Ninth Circuit appeal in Din v.
Kerry, which strengthened the rights of American citizens to
marry the person of their choice and obtain visas for spouses
who are not citizens. Sidley represented a United States citizen
who filed a visa petition on behalf of her husband, a citizen and
resident of Afghanistan. The government denied the petition
but, rather than provide a reason for the denial, simply cited
extensive portions of the Immigration and Nationality Act
regarding "terrorist activities." The client sued, alleging that
the denial of the visa implicated her constitutional right to
freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family
life and that citation to the very broad "terrorist activities"
statute, without more, was not facially legitimate and bona
fide. The district court granted the government's motion to
dismiss the Complaint. Sidley handled the appeal and, in a
published decision, the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded,
holding that the Government's citation to a statute, absent any
allegations of proscribed conduct, was not a facially legitimate
reason to deny the visa. Geoff DeBoskey supervised the
matter and Mark Haddad helped Heidi prepare for the
argument. The Supreme Court granted review in the case and
set argument for February 2015. David Carpenter, Kathleen
Mueller and Amanda Farfel assisted with the Supreme Court
briefing and oral argument preparation.
LA Sean Commons was honored in February by California
Lawyer magazine with a 2014 California Lawyer “Attorneys of
the Year” (CLAY) Award for distinguished pro bono work in the
immigration law category. The CLAY Awards are presented
to California lawyers whose achievements had a significant
impact in 2013. Sean was recognized for leading the Sidley
team that worked with the American Civil Liberties Union and
the Stanford Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic in a highprofile case, Rodriguez v. Hayes, which established the right
of thousands of immigrants subject to prolonged detention in
California to a bond hearing after six months.
Aleah Green, winner of the Personal Achievement Award, with
Sidley partner (and NLCHP chair) Ed McNicholas
Photo credit: Ben Zweig
43
LA/NY Sidley was recognized several times during the
September 10 Public Counsel Pro Bono Awards ceremony in
Los Angeles. On behalf of the L.A. Office, Sidley was awarded
the Karen Paull Justice Cup for the third year in a row for
raising the most money for Public Counsel’s Run for Justice.
Heidi Larson Howell of the LA office came in third place in
her division for marathon time. On behalf of the New York
office, Marianne Bellucci received Public Counsel’s Center
for Veterans’ Advancement Pro Bono Award for her work with
Janet Zagorin, Lawrence C. Tondel and Marshall D. Feiring
helping a veteran incorporate the Bronx Veteran Mentors,
Inc., a not-for-profit organization created to help veterans
facing legal challenges. Public Counsel also recognized
Marianne for her work with the Public Counsel Center for
Veterans’ Advancement intake clinic.
D.C. At its 2014 awards ceremony in early December, the
Washington Council of Lawyers presented the Law Firm
Award to Sidley for its participation in pro bono activities over
many years, citing Sidley “as a top notch firm with a strong
commitment to promoting legal services for those in need.”
The Council, which is the public interest bar association of
Washington, D.C., also recognized the many contributions
of Sidley partner and D.C. pro bono chair Betsy Howe, who
has served as both the treasurer and president of the Council.
Firm-wide pro bono chair Jeff Green accepted the award on
Sidley’s behalf.
NY The Legal Aid Society awarded Partner John Lavelle and
associates Alex Shear, Ken Meyer and Adam McClay its 2014
Pro Bono Publico Award in recognition of their work on behalf
of a six-year-old kindergarten student with mild autism and his
mother. The child attends the Cooke Center Grammar School,
a private elementary school specializing in individualized
teaching, training, and other services for special needs
children. On July 7, the firm filed a Due Process Complaint
with the New York City Department of Education, asking the
Department to fund the child’s tuition at the Cooke Center,
and objecting to the Department’s recommended placement
in a public school, arguing that such a placement would not
provide the child with the free, appropriate public education
to which he is entitled under the Individuals with Disabilities
in Education Act. On July 31, the Department informed the
firm that it had recommended a settlement that would provide
nearly full tuition for his placement at the Cooke Center.
44
Marianne Bellucci receives the Public
Counsel's Center for Veterans'
Advancement Pro Bono Award.
“(From L to R) Patrick Kennell, Helena Tseregounis, Patrick Liu and Heidi Larson Howell receive the Karen Paull
Justice Cup from Public Counsel on behalf of Sidley.
45
PRO BONO AWARDS CEREMONIES – HONORING OUR OWN
CH—Thomas H. Morsch Awards
Each year, Sidley’s Chicago Pro Bono Committee hosts its
Pro Bono Reception to recognize Sidley lawyers who have
worked on pro bono matters during the past year. The Thomas
H. Morsch Award is presented to Chicago associates who
exemplify the spirit and principles of pro bono service that Tom
Morsch demonstrated by his own work and leadership for many
years. The award includes a $1,000 firm contribution that the
recipients can designate to a Chicago non-profit organization
of their choice.
Chicago held its Pro Bono Reception honoring pro bono work
performed in 2013 on February 26, 2014. John Levi, Sidley
partner and Chair of the Legal Services Corporation, was the
keynote speaker. Attendees included our partners from local
legal service agencies and non-profit organizations with whom
the firm has a strong relationship. The event allows us to
introduce our lawyers to the representatives of the legal services
agencies and possible new pro bono opportunities. For their
pro bono work in 2013, the firm honored six Chicago attorneys.
Nathan Davis was honored for his work on the sale of I-Go,
a non-profit car sharing service, to Enterprise Rent-a-Car.
Jon Sabl nominated Nathan based on the hundreds of hours
he spent representing a client unused to working on a deal,
helping him understand the process, negotiate the terms,
draft the documents and prepare the schedules. Although
Nathan was a first year associate, he assumed a great deal of
responsibility and brought great insight, management ability,
drafting skills, client counseling techniques and energy to the
transaction.
46
Kristen Seeger nominated James Fortosis and John Skakun
III for their representation of two young El Salvadoran girls
who were left with relatives and acquaintances in Honduras
while their parents came to the U.S. to find work. The girls were
subjected to terrible conditions after their parents left and
made their way to the U.S., finally reuniting with their parents
in Indianapolis. The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)
referred their case to the firm when, at ages 12 and 9, the girls
faced removal proceedings that would send them back to
either El Salvador or Honduras without their parents. John took
on the case in 2012 and began to learn about the girls, their
histories, and the abuses they suffered in Honduras. The girls
were traumatized by their experiences and talking about them
proved difficult. John traveled to Indianapolis to meet with
them and gave up many Saturdays as the hearing grew closer.
James Fortosis joined the team at that point and found experts
from El Salvador and Honduras, worked with them on their
testimony, and wrote substantial portions of the merits brief.
James also was integral to the hearing preparation, working
with John, the girls, and their parents to prepare. At the merits
hearing in November 2013, in light of the equities of the case,
the government agreed to exercise prosecutorial discretion
and cease efforts to remove the girls from the U.S. The family
could not have been happier or more grateful.
(from left to right) Nathaniel Love, Robert Hochman, Nathan Davis, Laura Leonard, Richard O’Malley, Jr., Thomas H. Morsch,
Marah Stith McLeod, Daniel Neppl, John Levi (guest speaker as Chair of Legal Services Corp.), Kristen Seeger, John Skakun III
and James Fortosis (THM).
Gwen Stewart and
Richard O’Malley, Jr. at
the Thomas H. Morsch
Ceremony in Chicago.
Jack Bierig nominated Gwen Hochman Stewart for bringing
a copyright action on behalf of an artist whose painting was
copied by a framer and resold. Despite several contested
issues of fact, the case resulted in important injunctive relief,
and a settlement resulted in the payment of substantial money
to her client. As noted above, Gwen also received the Award
for Excellence in Pro Bono Service from the U.S. District Court
for the Northern District of Illinois for her work on the matter.
Marah Stith McLeod* was honored for her work on a federal
habeas case involving ineffective assistance of counsel. Despite
unfavorable facts and, ultimately, an unfavorable ruling, Marah
exemplified the spirit and principles of the firm’s commitment
to pro bono service by devoting countless hours and her keen
intellect to challenging the client’s thirty-year sentence for
child pornography. Marah treated this pro bono case as she
would any other Sidley case, giving our client the best possible
representation.
Robert Hochman commended Nathaniel Love for his tenacity,
diligence and successful representation on appeal of a habeas
petitioner who challenged his 32-year-old murder conviction
in Hooper v. Ryan. The principal issue Nathaniel developed
was a Batson challenge. Nathaniel combed the trial record and
built an impressive case that a Batson violation occurred when
the prosecutor struck all five eligible African-Americans from
the jury venire, thereby producing an all-white-jury. The Illinois
Appellate Courts already had rejected the claim, as had the
federal district court. But Nathaniel persevered and persuaded
the Seventh Circuit that something had gone wrong in the
selection of jurors. The Court of Appeals vacated the district
court’s denial of the defendant’s habeas petition, and held that
the Illinois Supreme Court had unreasonably applied Batson
in finding no prima facie case of race discrimination, and that
the defendant was entitled to an evidentiary hearing in which
the state must articulate non-discriminatory reasons for the
prosecutor’s peremptory challenges of African-Americans in the
original trial. The state declined the evidentiary hearing and the
district court entered final judgment granting the writ.
Matt McLeod, Marah Stith McLeod* and Daniel Neppl.
47
Recipients of the 2013 Vincent F. Prada Award.
D.C.—Vincent F. Prada Pro Bono Awards
On July 21, the Washington, D.C., office held
its eighth annual Vincent F. Prada Pro Bono
Awards Ceremony, commemorating Sidley’s
late partner Vince Prada, who devoted 14
years of his life to representing an inmate on
death row in Georgia. We were honored to
have as our keynote speaker Stephen Bright,
President and Senior Counsel of the Southern
Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Harvey
Karp Visiting Lecturer in Law and Supervising Attorney at Yale
Law School. Throughout his career, Mr. Bright has fought for
the rights of poor people and people of color in the criminal
justice system, and was a major force behind the creation
of Georgia’s public defender system. Mr. Bright’s address,
highlighting the many ways in which the legal system utterly
fails those without resources or power, was an inspiring call to
action and a fitting tribute to the work and memory of Vince
Prada, whose widow, Jana Singer, also spoke at the event.
48
At the ceremony, 104 lawyers and 16 legal assistants and staff
received awards for at least 60 hours of pro bono service in
2013; three non-timekeeping staff received awards for their
significant work on pro bono matters. Attorneys in the D.C.
office devoted 32,193 hours to pro bono matters in 2013, with
an average of 118 hours per lawyer. Recipients of the Vincent F.
Prada Pro Bono Awards are allowed to designate a legal services
organization to which the firm contributes $100 in the recipient’s
name. Many representatives of those legal services organizations
also attended the event, which provided an opportunity to
explain their work to our lawyers and summer associates.
Erica Kaufman (Children’s Law Center), Nancy Drane (Children’s Law Center), Lise Adams (D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program), Carter Phillips (Sidley),
Becky Troth (Sidley), Jodi Feldman (Legal Aid Society of D.C.), Clayton Northouse (Sidley) and Raphaelle Monty (Sidley).
Keynote speaker Stephen Bright (Southern Center for Human Rights), Betsy Howe* and Becky Troth (Sidley).
Betsy Howe*, Jana Singer, Becky Troth, Paul Moates, Carter Phillips and Stephen Bright at the Vincent F. Prada Pro Bono Awards.
49
Los Angeles Pro Bono Awards
The Los Angeles office held its annual pro bono awards on July 17, 2014, to honor the numerous accomplishments of its attorneys
over the last year. This year’s keynote speaker was Paul Tepper, the Executive Director of the Western Center on Law and Poverty,
who thanked Sidley and Amy Lally, Alex Doherty* and Lauren McCray for their involvement in a lawsuit against the Upland Housing
Authority (UHA), which resulted in critical changes to UHA’s review process for Section 8 applicants to ensure that it comports with
due process requirements. The firm also celebrated, among other things, finishing first place in fundraising in Public Counsel’s Run
for Justice for the third consecutive year. Others recognized with awards for dedicating a significant amount of time to pro bono
matters this last year include Leah E. Abeles, Joshua E. Anderson, Blaire Baily,* Emily Z. Culbertson, Andrew J. Dunbar, Stuart C.
Edmiston, Melissa O. Evidente, T. John Fitzgibbons, Richard J. Grad, Thomas P. Hanrahan, Marc I. Hayutin, Robert A. Holland,*
Eva M. Huber, Lauren M. Kulpa, Patrick L. Liu, Jodi E. Lopez, Lauren A. McCray, Aerin A. Miller, Wesley R. Montalvo, Karen
A. Nelms, Brent L. Nichols, Christopher D. Penhall,* Nitin Reddy, Clarence A. Rowland, Anand Singh, Helena G. Tseregounis,
Catherine M. Valerio Barrad and Collin P. Wedel.
50
Sidley’s Fellowship/Externship program allows associates to work at non-profit organizations in the community either before they
begin working at the firm or after they have been with the firm for some time. Through the program, Sidley provides a fellowship
stipend or pays the salary of the Fellows or Externs to allow them to work for a non-profit organization for about 10 weeks. In
Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago, they can choose among a variety of non-profit organizations, including those that
provide direct services to indigent people, as well as those that engage in impact litigation and policy work. In New York, associates
work for three to four months at Her Justice (formerly inMotion, Inc.), an organization that provides free legal services to indigent and
low-income women and children in domestic crisis. Fellowships and Externships with the non-profit organizations allow associates to
learn about the organizations, their staffs and their work. The Fellows develop relationships that they can continue and expand when
they come to Sidley. These relationships often are an important source of pro bono matters for the firm and the Fellows throughout
their careers. The firm benefits because the Fellows acquire experience in a short period of time and develop skills dealing with
clients, negotiating with other lawyers and advocating in court or in other settings in which they need to persuade a decision-maker.
Chicago Office Sponsored Fifteen PILI Fellows
Sidley’s Chicago office sponsors graduate fellows in partnership
with the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI). Since its inception,
PILI has created educational and meaningful public interest
law experiences for law students and lawyers at non-profit
organizations that provide legal services to low-income people.
The PILI Fellowship Program offers opportunities to those new
associates who have accepted employment with a Chicago
firm that participates in PILI’s Fellowship Program.
Tara Amin served as a Graduate PILI
Fellow with the MacArthur Justice Center
at Northwestern Law School's Bluhm
Legal Clinic. The MacArthur Justice
Center is dedicated to pursuing civil rights
cases involving police misconduct and
wrongful convictions, among other social
justice issues. During her fellowship, Tara conducted legal
research on a variety of constitutional and state law claims to
respond to a motion to dismiss, drafted discovery motions,
prepared deposition outlines and attended client interviews.
Raechel Bimmerle served as a PILI Fellow
with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services
(CVLS). CVLS relies upon more than 3,000
volunteer attorneys to provide free legal
services to thousands of low income
clients in Chicago. CVLS connects with
clients through its neighborhood clinics,
referral panels, its guardian ad litem program, and its Chancery
Court Access to Justice program. During her fellowship, Rae
conducted numerous intake interviews with potential clients
referred to CVLS through its Access to Justice program. She also
drafted a variety of affidavits, motions and orders in connection
with her representation of clients in divorce proceedings.
SPONSORSHIP OF PRO BONO GRADUATE FELLOWS, EXTERNS
AND LOANED ASSOCIATES
Abigail Bunce served as a PILI Fellow with
Lawyers for the Creative Arts (LCA), a nonprofit organization that serves financially
eligible clients in all areas of the arts from
Chicago and the surrounding region.
During her Fellowship, Abby conducted
client intake interviews to help place
clients with an attorney from LCA’s wide volunteer network and
prepared materials regarding current issues in music, copyright
and trademark law for LCA’s Music Law seminar.
Heba Elayan served as a PILI Fellow
with Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance
Foundation, a non-profit that provides
free civil legal services to low-income
persons and senior citizens. She worked
primarily on community development
issues, focusing on the promotion of
land use practices to encourage food justice and economic
development.
John Grothaus served as a PILI Fellow
with Catholic Charities Legal Assistance
(CCLA), a department of The Catholic
Charities of the Archdiocese of
Chicago. CCLA provides legal services
to low income individuals who are not
represented by a lawyer through phone
consultations and direct representation. John provided
consultations to Spanish-speaking clients in a variety of family,
immigration, probate, and criminal law matters, and assisted
staff attorneys in seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for
minors who were victims of abuse, abandonment, or neglect in
their countries of origin.
51
John Leahy served as a PILI Fellow with
the Law Office of the Cook County Public
Defender, an organization that provides
legal representation to indigent criminal
defendants in the Circuit Court of Cook
County. During his fellowship, John
represented clients at various stages of
the criminal process. He advocated for clients in bond court,
researched and drafted critical pre-trial and post-trial motions,
and served as a member of multiple trial teams.
Kunal Malhotra was a PILI Fellow with
The Law Project, a project of the Chicago
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law. While at The Law Project, Kunal
supported the organization’s mission
to provide high-quality legal services
to community-based non-profits, small
businesses and first-time homebuyers. Kunal helped numerous
small businesses navigate varied legal issues and advised nonprofits regarding best practices for corporate governance.
Kevin Meil was a fellow at the Chicago
Legal Clinic, working in the area of
expungement of criminal records and
family law. He represented clients seeking
to expunge and seal their criminal records
in weekly hearings at the Cook County
Criminal Courthouse. He also drafted
a variety of documents related to family law cases, including
parenting agreements, orders of protection and petitions for
dissolution of marriage.
Ashleigh Ricardo served as a PILI Fellow
at the Business Law Clinic at Loyola
University Chicago School of Law, a
transactional law clinic that represents
entrepreneurs and small business
owners, as well as individuals who are
seeking legal assistance with not-forprofit organizations. During her Fellowship, Ashleigh helped a
variety of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations with entity
selection and formation of their organizations and also drafted
organizational documents.
Stephanie Schiffman was a PILI Fellow
with the Law Offices at Chicago-Kent
College of Law. She worked with the
Criminal Defense Litigation Clinic,
providing legal representation for clients
charged with felonies and misdemeanors,
as well as the Health and Disability Law
Clinic, assisting clients with health and disability-related issues.
During her Fellowship, she prepared evidence to be used for
an upcoming mitigation hearing, drafted briefs to be filed in
Cook County, and provided legal assistance for diabetics facing
discrimination in Illinois.
52
Christina Sindoni served as a PILI Fellow
with the Notre Dame Clinical Law Center,
a non-profit organization that serves
low-income clients in a variety of legal
matters. During her Fellowship, Christina
worked with clients one-on-one as part of
the Community Development, Economic
Justice and Mediation Clinics. Her clients included small, nonprofit businesses, individuals in landlord/tenant disputes and
small claims matters, and families dealing with divorce and
child custody issues.
John E. Thornton completed a PILI
Fellowship with the Center for Conflict
Resolution (CCR), which provides free
mediation services at its center and in
the Daley Center. As a mediator, John
provided mediation services at the Daley
Center three to four times a week. The
substance of the conflicts he mediated included landlord/
tenant, small business and family matters. As a mediation
supervisor, John briefed, coordinated and debriefed mediators
in the Daley Center.
Brian Tobin served as a PILI Fellow with
the Law Office of the Cook County Public
Defender. Brian supported Assistant
Public Defenders in the felony trial unit,
where he assisted in the representation
of indigent criminal defendants. As part
of his work, Brian researched and drafted
motions on pre-trial matters such as admissibility of evidence
and second chaired a felony jury trial that resulted in a verdict
of not guilty.
Robert White served as a PILI Fellow
in the Low Income Tax Clinic of Prairie
State Legal Services, an organization
that provides free legal services to low
income persons and individuals over 60
years of age in northern Illinois. During his
Fellowship, Robert helped negotiate and
settle significant federal tax debts and IRS penalties. Robert
also researched a number of procedural tax issues for staff
attorneys and drafted educational materials for practitioners
regarding low-income tax disputes.
Marisa Young served as a PILI Fellow
with Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance
Foundation, a non-profit organization that
serves low-income clients in a variety of
civil legal matters. During her Fellowship,
Marisa assisted victims of domestic
violence on a variety of family law matters,
such as divorce proceedings, orders of protection and child
custody hearings.
Jay Dailey served as a Pro Bono Fellow
at Asian Americans Advancing Justice
– Los Angeles, the nation’s largest
Asian American legal and civil rights
organization. Jay worked with the impact
litigation team on a number of matters,
but his primary focus was on foreign
worker labor rights, specifically with regard to employer visa
violations and the mistreatment of Filipino workers.
Lauren De Lilly served as a Fellow at
Public Counsel in its Opportunity Under
Law group, which practices impact
litigation in the areas of economic and civil
liberties. During her fellowship, Lauren
provided research assistance on recurring
legal and policy issues encountered by
OUL. She researched and prepared a legal memorandum
on unfunded state mandates under California state and
federal law to help OUL attorneys obtain reimbursements for
local entities like school districts that provide expensive and
invaluable services to children in California public schools.
Lauren also prepared a comprehensive policy report on
California and federal think tanks to identify emerging policy
trends in the economic and civil liberties context.
Lauren Goldman was a Fellow at Bet
Tzedek Legal Services, a non-profit
organization that provides comprehensive
legal services to low-income individuals
and families in Los Angeles. During
her fellowship, Lauren worked with the
Impact Litigation Unit where she helped
Bet Tzedek attorneys prepare for trial in a case involving
uninhabitable living conditions. Trial preparation included
visiting the property, interviewing clients, drafting declarations,
and analyzing and summarizing the clients’ medical records to
corroborate facts and assess the extent of the clients’ damages.
Additionally, in connection with a disability discrimination case,
Lauren drafted a memorandum on the legal theory of disparate
impact, which ultimately provided key legal analysis used in a
mediation brief on the issue.
Geoffrey Kehlmann served as a Pro
Bono Fellow at Public Counsel, where
he assisted the Consumer Law Project
in its representation of indigent victims
of consumer fraud and abuse. Geoff
conducted client intake interviews and
prepared case memoranda. He also
researched and analyzed various consumer laws and drafted a
demand letter on behalf of a client.
Adam Micale served as a pro bono
fellow for the American Civil Liberties
Union of Southern California. While
there, he helped analyze the legal merits
of potential lawsuits arising from police
misconduct. He also worked on appeals
aimed at expanding the right to counsel
beyond the criminal arena.
Stan Molever also served as a Fellow
with Public Counsel, the nation’s largest
pro bono law firm. Stan supported the
Community Development Project, aiding
its efforts to build strong foundations
for healthy, vibrant, and economically
stable communities through legal and
capacity building services for non-profits, small businesses,
and low-income entrepreneurs. As part of his service, Stan
researched legal issues ranging from tax requirements for
501(c)(3)-designated organizations to zoning restrictions on
child care businesses.
Los Angeles Sponsored Eight Pro Bono Graduate Fellows
Rachael Rezabek served as a fellow
at the Los Angeles Center for Law and
Justice (LACLJ), a non-profit organization
that provides a full range of legal and
social services to victims of domestic
violence and their families (among other
programs). During her fellowship, Rachael
interviewed clients and assisted them in drafting declarations
and other necessary court filings. In January, Rachael will be
representing one of her LACLJ clients in court.
Andrew Talai served as a Pro Bono Fellow
at the ACLU of Southern California.
During his fellowship, he provided legal
assistance on a variety of litigation and
policy matters. Andrew worked with
ACLU attorneys on a Ninth Circuit brief
in Rodriguez v. Robbins (a case in which
Sidley attorneys co-counseled with the ACLU) and helped
develop a trial strategy for a potential 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim.
He also researched issues of constitutional standing and
administrative issue waiver for an ACLU motion in J.E.F.M. v.
Holder, a collateral class action seeking a Fifth Amendment
Due Process Right to Counsel for pro se children facing
removal proceedings. On the policy side, Andrew prepared
a report on current issues in domestic drone surveillance.
He also prepared a comprehensive report on potential Fifth
and Sixth Amendment violations stemming from prolonged
pre-indictment detention of U.S. citizens by domestic law
enforcement officials.
53
New York Office Sponsored Two Her Justice Externs in 2014
Sidley has a long-standing relationship with Her Justice (f/k/a/ inMotion, Inc.), a
leading provider of free legal services to indigent and low-income women and
children in domestic crisis who need assistance in obtaining divorces, orders of
protection, and/or assistance with other family law matters, including spousal/
child support, custody and visitation. Over the years, the firm has worked on hundreds of Her Justice matters as part of its pro bono
commitment and also has provided generous financial support through its role as one of Her Justice’s corporate partners. In 2003, the
firm established the Sidley Externship Program pursuant to which associates in the New York office work at Her Justice on three- or
four-month rotations, and many times handle the most difficult cases. Her Justice provides extensive training for its attorneys and
volunteers, as well as for its Externs. Externs can expect to have significant court appearances before New York’s Supreme and Family
Courts. Sidley had two externs in 2014.
Luke Frankson served as an extern with
Her Justice from February to July 2014,
where he engaged in one-on-one client
interactions and frequent negotiations
with opposing counsel, and appeared
in court on a regular basis. During his
time at Her Justice, he appeared on
behalf of clients in both family and supreme court on matters
ranging from child support to litigated divorce. Luke drafted
memoranda of law in opposition to two motions for pendente
lite relief and argued against the motions in court, obtaining
positive outcomes for the client in both instances. He also
concluded a litigated divorce matter, and negotiated and
drafted a settlement agreement in a child custody case, which
provided favorable terms to his client.
54
Pouneh Aravand served as an extern with
Her Justice from July 2014 to January
2015. Throughout her time at Her Justice,
Pouneh represented and worked closely
with women clients on their litigated
divorce, child support, custody and
paternity cases. She appeared in court
over twenty times, advocating on behalf of clients and arguing
various motions. While at Her Justice, Pouneh negotiated and
obtained five favorable settlement agreements for her clients
in litigated divorce, custody and child support matters. She
also prepped for and ran a successful trial to obtain an upward
modification of a child support order on behalf of a client. In
addition, she defeated an opposing party’s attempt to modify a
child support order, won a motion to preclude, preventing the
opposing party from introducing evidence in a child support
case, was allowed to appeal an order of support because of
various procedural and substantive errors at trial, successfully
opposed an opposing party’s appeal of an order dismissing
a motion to vacate his acknowledgement of paternity, and
successfully moved to vacate a default judgment in a child
support matter.
Sidley’s Washington office helped found the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Graduate Fellowship Program, which offers recent law school
graduates an opportunity to spend the summer immediately following law school graduation or the period immediately following
judicial clerkships doing legal work for local public interest agencies. Since 2002, 67 incoming Sidley associates have served as
Graduate Fellows at 36 different non-profit organizations in D.C.
Brian Corman was a Fellow at the
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law, a national non-profit headquartered
in D.C. dedicated to securing equal
justice through the rule of law, and
targeting in particular the inequities
confronting African Americans and other
racial and ethnic minorities. Brian assisted in cases at the trial
and appellate level in the areas of education, voting rights,
and fair housing. Brian continues to work with the Lawyers’
Committee on a pro bono basis.
Adam Farra served as a Fellow at the
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational
Fund, Inc., one of the premier civil rights
litigation organizations in the country.
Adam’s work at LDF primarily involved
litigating alongside LDF lawyers a
complex Title VII disparate impact claim
against a government employer. He also worked extensively
with a team of lawyers and community organizers dedicated
to improving police relations with communities of color,
and helped prepare policy proposals for increasing federal
accountability of state and local police forces. Adam also
assisted with filing an amicus brief in the same-sex marriage
litigation in the Fifth Circuit.
Washington, D.C. Office Sponsored Four D.C. Bar Pro Bono Graduate Fellows
Katie Rumbaugh and Matt Letten were D.C. Bar Pro Bono
Graduate Fellows between law school and their clerkships.
Matt served at the National Veterans Legal Services Program
and Katie was a fellow at the Public Defender Service in D.C.
Legal Aid Society Loaned Associate Program
In April 2012, the D.C. office inaugurated a loaned associate program with the District of Columbia Legal Aid Society. Under the
program, an associate spends approxima Appeals either while at the Legal Aid Society or after returning to the firm. Kyle Fiet was the
inaugural Loaned Associate and had his first argument in the D.C. Court of Appeals on November 21, 2012. Since the program started,
seven Sidley associates have completed a rotation with the Legal Aid Society. In addition to Kyle, these associates include Stephen
Blank, Elisa Jillson,* Christian Huebner,* William Doolittle,* Christopher Bates* and Karen Smith.
55
PRO BONO AND PUBLIC INTEREST LAW COMMITTEE MEMBERS
FIRMWIDE CHAIR
Jeff Green (Washington, D.C.)
HONG KONG
+1.202.736.8291
BRUSSELS
Ken Daly
+852.2509.7818
HOUSTON
+32.2.504.6439
CHICAGO
Mark Glasser, Houston Chair
+1.713.495.4502
LONDON
Richard O’Malley, Chicago Chair
+1.312.853.7112
Struan W. Oliver
+44.20.7360.2063
Susan Bart
+1.312.853.2075
John Woodhall
+44.20.7360.3722
Russell Cass
+1.312.853.2202
Linton Childs
+1.312.853.2211
LOS ANGELES
Michael Clark
+1.312.853.2173
Frank Broccolo, Los Angeles Chair
+1.213.896.6087
Maja Eaton
+1.312.853.7123
Bradley Ellis
+1.213.896.6632
Kevin Fee
+1.312.853.7919
John Gallo
+1.312.853.7494
David Gordon
+1.312.853.7159
Scott Lassar
+1.312.853.7668
Courtney Rosen
+1.312.853.7669
Melville Washburn
+1.312.853.2070
David Zampa
+1.312.853.4573
Kelly Huggins,
Capital Litigation Project and
Political Asylum and Immigrants’ Rights
Project Manager
+1.312.853.3206
Emily Wexler,
Veterans Benefits Project Manager
+1.312.853.7074
Angelyn Chester,
Pro Bono Coordinator
+1.312.853.7871
NEW YORK
James Arden, New York Chair
+1.212.839.5889
Maureen Crough
+1.212.839.7323
Martin Gold
+1.212.839.5481
John Lavelle
+1.212.839.5396
Henry Minnerop
+1.212.839.5555
Benjamin Nagin
+1.212.839.5911
James O’Connor
+1.212.839.8613
Stephen Rutenberg
+1.212.839.5608
Michael Sackheim
+1.212.839.5503
Edna Basquill, Pro Bono Coordinator
+1.212.839.5529
SAN FRANCISCO & PALO ALTO
Joshua Hill,
San Francisco and Palo Alto Chair
DALLAS
Kristoffer Leftwich, Dallas Co-Chair
+1.214.981.3429
Scott Parel, Dallas Co-Chair
+1.214.981.3431
GENEVA
56
Charles Allen, China Chair
Scott Andersen,
Africa & Asia Agricultural Enterprise
Program Managing Partner
+41.22.308.00.35
Ronalee Biasca,
Africa & Asia Agricultural Enterprise
Program Coordinator
+41.22.308.00.20
+1.415.772.1248
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Paul Zidlicky, D.C. Chair
+1.202.736.8013
Paul Hemmersbaugh
+1.202.736.8538
Dennis Hensley
+1.202.736.8163
Nathan Sheers
+1.202.736.8085
Becky Troth, Pro Bono Counsel
+1.202.736.8339
BEIJING
HONG KONG
SHANGHAI
Suite 608, Tower C2
Oriental Plaza
No. 1 East Chang An Avenue
Dong Cheng District
Beijing 100738
China
+86.10.5905.5588
39/F, Two Int’l Finance Centre
Central, Hong Kong
+852.2509.7888
Suite 2009
5 Corporate Avenue
150 Hubin Road
Shanghai 200021
China
+86.21.2322.9322
BOSTON
60 State Street
34th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02109
+1.617.223.0300
BRUSSELS
NEO Building
Rue Montoyer 51
Montoyerstraat
B-1000 Brussels
Belgium
+32.2.504.6400
CHICAGO
One South Dearborn
Chicago, Illinois 60603
+1.312.853.7000
DALLAS
2001 Ross Avenue
Suite 3600
Dallas, Texas 75201
+1.214.981.3300
GENEVA
Rue du Pré-de-la-Bichette 1
1202 Geneva
Switzerland
+41.22.308.00.00
HOUSTON
1000 Louisiana Street
Suite 6000
Houston, Texas 77002
+1.713.495.4500
LONDON
Woolgate Exchange
25 Basinghall Street
London, EC2V 5HA
United Kingdom
+44.20.7360.3600
LOS ANGELES
555 West Fifth Street
Los Angeles, California 90013
+1.213.896.6000
NEW YORK
787 Seventh Avenue
New York, New York 10019
+1.212.839.5300
PALO ALTO
1001 Page Mill Road
Building 1
Palo Alto, California 94304
+1.650.565.7000
SINGAPORE
Level 31
Six Battery Road
Singapore 049909
+65.6230.3900
OFFICES
SYDNEY
Level 10, 7 Macquarie Place
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia
+61.2.8214.2200
TOKYO
Sidley Austin Nishikawa
Foreign Law Joint Enterprise
Marunouchi Building 23F
4-1, Marunouchi 2-chome
Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 100-6323
Japan
+81.3.3218.5900
WASHINGTON, D.C.
1501 K Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005
+1.202.736.8000
SAN FRANCISCO
555 California Street
Suite 2000
San Francisco, California 94104
+1.415.772.1200
www.sidley.com
Attorney Advertising - For purposes of compliance with New York State Bar rules, our headquarters are Sidley Austin LLP, 787 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019, 212.839.5300; One South
Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60603, 312.853.7000; and 1501 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005, 202.736.8000. Sidley Austin refers to Sidley Austin LLP and affiliated partnerships as explained
at www.sidley.com/disclaimer. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
04/15
57

2014 Pro Bono Community Service Report

Transcription

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