Legal System Reform

Over the years, Schiff Hardin has handled many major law reform cases involving:

Discrimination in public housing
Governmental surveillance of citizens
Racial profiling
Rights of minors under State custody
Prisoners' rights
Rights of persons committed indefinitely for psychological reasons
Employment discrimination
Election law

Many of our lawyers serve as volunteer adjunct professors at Chicago-area law schools and as faculty for legal training organizations like the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA). Our lawyers teach ethics, civil procedure, antitrust, bankruptcy, commercial law and trial advocacy.

Just the Beginning Foundation

Schiff Hardin provides free facilities to the staff of the Just the Beginning Foundation, whose mission is to

Commemorate the contributions of African Americans to the federal judiciary;
Develop and nurture interest in the law among racially and ethnically under-represented young people and support their continued advancement, with the long-term goal of increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the federal judiciary and the legal profession;
Educate the public, particularly underprivileged communities, about their legal rights;
Collaborate with organizations committed to increasing diversity in the legal profession and the federal judiciary.

Schiff Hardin partner Patricia Brown Holmes serves on the organization's board of directors.

For more information on the Just the Beginning Foundation, visit their Web site: http://www.jtbf.org/.

Public Interest Law Initiative

Schiff Hardin encourages and provides support for its entry-level associates to work as a PILI (Public Interest Law Initiative) Fellows during the summer prior to joining our firm. We have a similar program for interns (law students) who work with a PILI agency during the school year. Schiff Hardin partner Roger Pascal currently serves on the Board of Directors and is a past president of the organization.

For more information on the Public Interest Law Initiative, visit their Web site: http://www.pili-law.org/.

Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago

Schiff Hardin and its individual lawyers are actively involved in the activities of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago (CRFC). The CRFC sponsors programs to assist elementary and secondary school students and educators in the area of law-related education, including classroom exercises in non-violent problem-solving, a Youth Summit devoted to brainstorming and debate regarding current civic issues, and courses and programs that explore the meaning of the Constitution. Schiff Hardin hosts annual teacher training, provides financial support for the organization, and encourages the individual lawyers who serve on the board and who work with students in their classrooms and competitions.

For more information on the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, visit their Web site: http://www.crfc.org/.

The Campaign in Support of C# Prisoners

Schiff Hardin attorneys have been involved with the activities of The Campaign in Support of C# Prisoners. C# prisoners are a group of approximately 300 prisoners in Illinois who were sentenced prior to 1978 under a now obsolete state law. Given indeterminate or open-ended sentences, these men and women have spent a minimum of 12 (and in some cases 20 to 30) more years behind bars than those prisoners convicted of identical crimes after 1978. The goals of the organization are to get people out of prison and to establish a parole standard for indeterminately sentenced prisoners in the state of Illinois.

For more information on The Campaign in Support of C# Prisoners, visit their Web site: http://www.cnumbercampaign.org/.