RSHC in the news

RSHC’s Yakov Wiegmann, Amory Minot, and Matthew Lee have secured the final dismissal of conversion, breach of contract, and fraud claims against cryptocurrency pioneer Jered Kenna. Mr. Kenna was the founder of Tradehill, one of the earliest bitcoin exchanges. Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. of the Northern District of California ruled that the four plaintiffs’ complaints were doomed for failure to pierce Tradehill’s corporate veil.

Vault’s “2020 Best Midsize Law Firms to Work For” names RSHC tops several different categories. RSHC was named #1 in Best Midsize Law Firms for Diversity, and #1 in Best Midsize Law Firms for Pro Bono. RSHC was also named #14 in Best Midsize Law Firms for Technology and Innovation, #18 for Firm Culture, and #23 Overall.

Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP (RSHC) announced the hiring of two new partners, Jeffrey W. Morof and Shalem A. Massey. Jeffrey W. Morof has spent his entire career defending aerospace clients and the aviation insurance market in product liability and commercial litigation matters, including serving as national counsel for two large aerospace manufacturers. Shalem A. Massey is a litigator with experience handling high-stakes and “bet the company” matters for businesses and insurers in the aerospace and technology industries.

RSHC is working to change the face of the legal profession, literally, and figuratively. We are pleased to announce that RSHC has been named a Top Five firm for minority lawyers AND a Top Ten firm for minority equity partners.

Ron Safer and Eli Litoff are proud to be part of the team that secured Bernard Williams’ release from Cook County Jail on Friday. In February, the Court of Appeals vacated Mr. Williams’ murder conviction and granted a new trial, but a Cook County Judge ordered that Mr. Williams be held without bail until his new trial was completed.

RSHC is delighted to announce that the Cook County Bar Association’s Board of Directors selected RSHC Associate Raymond Rushing to receive the 2019 CCBA Junior Counselor Award, which recognizes a member of the Cook County Bar Association who has been admitted to practice law in Illinois for five (5) years or less, for outstanding service rendered to the legal profession and to the Bar Association. Raymond will be presented with this award at the CCBA’s 105th Annual Awards and Installation Banquet to be held on Thursday, June 20, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

RSHC proudly announces that Partner Merili Seale has been recognized by the National Bar Association as one of the nation’s top 40 lawyers under the age of 40. The award commends those most deserving for their high achievement in the legal field based solely on merit, and their commitment to the practice of law, community service, and social change. Merili and fellow award recipients will be honored at the 10th Anniversary of the Awards ceremony on July 24 during the NBA’s 93rd Annual Convention in New York City.

Congratulations to Drahcir Smith and the entire 2019-2020 Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Inc. (BWLA) Board of Directors and Scholarship Fund Board, who were installed on June 3. The group pledged their renewed commitment to making an “impact” on the legal profession, as well as the general community-at-large, and changing so many lives.

RSHC is proud to sponsor and have RSHC Partners, Meghan McMeel and Kate Stimeling, presenting at The Women, Diversity & Change Summit programs in Chicago (June 6) and San Francisco (June 11). Meghan will be speaking at the June 6 program on strategies for strategically fostering effective sponsors for women in law to progress their careers. Kate will be presenting on the June 11 San Francisco panel, “Sponsors, Influencers & Career Engineering.” The conference will explore and inspire lasting change for women and minorities in the legal profession.

A Dream Became Reality—Project Chimps celebrates a 5-year milestone! Bruce Wagman, Co-Founder, President and RSHC animal protection lawyer, recalls the journey. Currently 59 chimpanzees with almost 150 more to join them are thriving at the 236-acre Project Chimps sanctuary in the Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia.

Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila is extremely proud of our three partners recognized as top Gen X practitioners in Chicago by Crain’s Chicago Business. Joseph McCoy, Kelly Warner, and Josh Lee serve in senior leadership roles at the firm as well as actively serve on boards of professional associations and organizations giving back to their profession and community.

RSHC is proud to announce that RSHC Employment Counsel Drahcir Marie Smith has been elected the 2019-2020 Corresponding Secretary for the Black Women Lawyers' Association of Greater Chicago, Inc. (BWLA). Drahcir served as a BWLA Board Member at Large for the 2018-2019 term. Congratulations to all of the new BWLA Officers and Board members!

Raymond D. Rushing, a product liability litigator and former diversity co-chair of a global law firm, joins Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila’s product liability group adding a wealth of experience in the medical device, consumer and industrial product defect, and mass tort claims area.

Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), the ranking member and chairman, respectively, of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, have released a proposed framework for an overhaul of the statutory definition of patent-eligible subject matter. A parallel version has also been released in the House of Representatives by Reps. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), and Steve Strivers (R-Ohio).

Do corporate gender diversity hiring quotas work? Are they legal? What will the long-term impact be for women and the companies that they work for? California enacted a groundbreaking—and controversial—law requiring that publicly held corporations headquartered there add female directors to their governing boards. This law will impact major corporations like Apple, Facebook, and Tesla, and likely far beyond.