RSHC news

RSHC’s Bruce Wagman has secured another victory on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States. This time, the win comes in the form of successfully defending the constitutionality of San Francisco’s ban on the sale of fur. Last week a federal judge dismissed the fur industry’s challenge to the ban finding that the fur industry had failed to present a valid legal theory for why San Francisco’s law was unconstitutional.

Crain’s Chicago Business has recognized RSHC among Chicago’s Notable Businesses Championing Diversity & Inclusion 2020 in the legal profession. Diversity and inclusion is a core principle of RSHC and a mission-critical assignment. RSHC strives to be an inclusive workplace for all of its people. #ProudtobeRSHC and to Support Our LGBTQIA+ Family.

At the July 6-10 International Association of Defense Counsel Annual Meeting, on July 8 RSHC Partner Joshua Lee will present on the topic, “The Use of Genetic Testing in the Courtroom.”

RSHC Partner Craig Jeffrey will lead the morning breakout session on Real Estate, Construction + Insurance at the July 8 Chicago State University Rebuilding Chicago Small Businesses Symposium.

RSHC is proud to announce that San Francisco Partners Steve Hankins and Jeff Williams and Of Counsel Bruce Wagman have been selected as 2020 Northern California Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers recognizes outstanding attorneys nominated by their peers who demonstrate excellence in the legal profession and represent no more than five percent of the state.

RSHC Managing Partner Patricia Brown Holmes has been chosen to serve on the Illinois Judicial Conference’s COVID-19 task force to guide the court system through its court-reopening processes. The 14-member team comprised of judges and lawyers from different practice areas and different communities will evaluate and make recommendations about technology options for jury selection and trials and remote proceedings while maintaining due process and safety during the pandemic.

Writing in the Illinois State Bar Association Bench & Bar Newsletter, Valerie Brummel offers a brief history of the doctrine that shields government officials, including police officers, from liability for civil damages. In the wake of the death of George Floyd in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department, many advocates are calling for changes to the laws that hinder the ability of victims of police misconduct to recover damages in civil lawsuits.

The federal government has been mandated by federal law to protect birds in commerce since 2002. However, it was not until this year that the American Anti-Vivisection Society and Avian Welfare Coalition finally won its fight to force the government to enact regulations that will cover birds sold commercially and used in exhibitions, public shows, and zoos.

RSHC Managing Partner Patricia Brown Holmes took part in a virtual roundtable discussion with six other women in law firm leadership positions to explore the opportunities and challenges facing women in legal careers today. They discussed why authenticity and creativity are important to creating a sustainable environment for future leaders and how they've used their positions to drive change.

RSHC Attorneys Edward Casmere, Jennifer Steeve, Jeff Morof, Shalem Massey, Meghan McMeel, and Jeff Williams will be hosting an online webinar on June 8, 2020 for the Lloyd's Market Association on “Social Inflation, Punitive Damages, and U.S. Litigation Trends: Where are claims and verdicts headed?”

Products Liability Partner Ed Casmere moderated the “COVID-19: Facts, Myths and Hypotheses” webinar hosted on May 20 by the ABA’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section’s Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Committee. Dr. Michele Carbone, a former National Institutes of Health Fellow in viral pathogenesis, provided an update on the latest medical and scientific evidence around COVID-19, followed by a Q&A session.

Legal industry consultants BTI Consulting Group have honored RSHC as one of just 37 midsize firms nationwide that business clients say give them “the same level of confidence and reliability as the big firms.” In the Midsize Heavyweight list released this week, BTI notes that these firms “are uber-responsive, dig deep, hard, and fast to find the answers” and that clients look to them “for a wide variety of risky, delicate, and thorny matters – including highly customized advice about reopening and related issues.”

On May 20 RSHC’s Bruce Wagman will present to judges nationwide through the National Judicial College, a webcast summarizing the exemplary state laws addressing the use and treatment of animals raised for food. This is the tenth in a series of animal law judicial educational sessions supported by RSHC’s work, providing legal education covering a variety of topics in the growing field of animal law.

RSHC Partner Kelly Warner will be a speaker at the May 5, 2020 MER Conference Virtual session, “Preparing for Your Rule 30(b)(6) Records Custodian Deposition.” The panel will discuss how records custodians should prepare to testify to avoid potential traps and pitfalls, in particular in the context of a challenge to the sufficiency of a party’s document production.

Independent and faith-based schools applying for and receiving Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) funds should be mindful that as recipients of federal funds, they need to comply with certain federal nondiscrimination laws, including Title IX and Title VI. COVID-19 has created new and complex legal issues for the education community with obtaining and utilizing government funding opportunities under the CARES Act.