RSHC in the news

We are proud to announce that RSHC Partner Drahcir Marie Smith has been elected a 2018-2019 Board Member at Large for the Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Inc. (BWLA). The installation ceremony for the incoming Officers and Board of Directors will take place on June 4.

RSHC Of Counsel Cheryl D. S. Walker will be presenting at the 2018 Fifth Annual Ronda F. Wiliams Mound City Bar Association (MCBA) CLE Retreat. She will be a co-panelist for the May 20 ethics program, “You Can’t Make This Up.” The program will cover conduct most frequently giving rise to complaints, the value of providing a timely and thorough response, and the importance of retaining counsel for allegations of serious ethical violations. The Mound City Bar Association is the St. Louis affiliate to the National Bar Association, the oldest and largest association of African-American lawyers, judges, and educators.

RSHC Partner and Faculty Member, Kelly Warner, will moderate the afternoon session, “Perfect Timing: The Right Time to Release Legal Holds,” at the May 18 ABA Twelfth Annual National Institute on E-Discovery. This panel of experienced in-house counsel will provide practical advice for managing legal holds and finding the right opportunity and strategy for releasing them.

RSHC Partner and member of The Sedona Conference’s Working Group 1, Kelly Warner, will co-present the May 8 MER Conference session, “Possession, Custody or Control of Data in the Cloud, on Third Party Apps, and on Employee Mobile Devices.” Technological advances continue to stress and strain the abilities of companies to manage and control the data and electronic records pertaining to their business. Learn how the courts are applying the traditional standards of “possession, custody and control” to today’s world of distributed ESI.

The Legal Marketing Association (LMA) has selected Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP as the Second Place winner in the Communications: Holiday Mailings/Announcements category of the 2018 Your Honor Awards. The LMA Your Honor Awards recognizes excellence in legal marketing by promoting projects and programs that provide innovation and return on marketing dollar investment. Visit the full winners’ list to learn more about the latest honorees.

The Riley Safer team, in partnership with WilmerHale, helped the City of Chicago achieve another victory against the Trump administration on Thursday. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Leinenweber's grant to Chicago of a nationwide injunction stopping Attorney General Jeff Sessions from applying new conditions to grant money to force cities across the country to cooperate with immigration authorities.

The Partners of Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP are proud to announce that name partner Patricia Brown Holmes has been unanimously elected as the firm’s first managing partner. A former judge, top tier litigator, and nationally prominent advocate for law firm diversity, it is believed that Patricia is the first black woman to lead and have her name on the door of a major law firm that is not women- or minority-owned.

RSHC Partner, Patricia Brown Holmes, will be a panelist for the “Managing Partners” session at the April 12 “May it Please the Court: Symposium on Women Lawyers in the Courtroom.” The United States District Court and Chicago Bar Association in conjunction with the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois and the Black Women Lawyers’ Association are sponsoring this complimentary half-day program to discuss and promote strategies and best practices to empower women lawyers as lead counsel and trial counsel in litigation. Patricia will also be presenting the Closing along with the Honorable Amy J. St. Eve.

RSHC Partner, Drahcir Marie Smith, will be a panelist at the April 17th Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law panel event, “Navigating the Gray Area in the World of #MeToo,” to be held at Katten Muchin Rosenman, in Chicago. The event is designed to foster an open discussion about sexual harassment in the workplace. The in-person event is free and also available to be watched via livestream. RSHC Associate and moderator, Stephanie Jones, will guide the panel to focus on the “what now?” in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Panelists from diverse employment backgrounds will share their insights from the perspective of counsel, advisor, employee, employer, journalist, investigator, and even victim.