RSHC news

Congrats to the RSHC team for a significant victory in the 7th Circuit.

Eight RSHC partners have been recognized by their peers for inclusion in the 2018 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America in six areas of selection. They are reviewed by their peers on the basis of professional expertise, and undergo an authentication process to make sure they are in current practice and in good standing.

RSHC is pleased to announce that Matt Fischer, a founding partner, has been awarded the highest overall rating by his peers and named Best Lawyers’ 2018 Chicago Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions–Defendants “Lawyer of the Year.” Matt was previously recognized in 2013 for this honor. Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the "Lawyer of the Year," making this accolade particularly significant. These lawyers are selected based on particularly impressive voting averages received during the peer review assessments.

The City of Chicago has filed a federal lawsuit to prevent President Donald Trump's Justice Department from making a federal crime prevention grant that is critical to public safety efforts conditional on unrelated and unlawful immigration enforcement actions. Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila and WilmerHale are providing their services to the City of Chicago pro bono to assist in this important effort.

RSHC has hired 11 new attorneys, including Joseph Q. McCoy, the former managing partner of the Chicago office of Bryan Cave LLP, and seven other Bryan Cave attorneys who bring significant business and transactional experience to the firm’s core strength in litigation. The firm has also hired new partner Gregory L. Curtner, formerly head of the antitrust and trade regulation and sports practices at Schiff Hardin LLP, together with a former Schiff Hardin associate, to join the rapidly growing firm. Greg is leading the antitrust and competition practice.

RSHC Partner, Patricia Brown Holmes, will be speaking at The Executive Leadership Council's Yield No More 2017 Women’s Leadership Forum on July 19, 2017 held at Venue SIX10 in Chicago.

RSHC Partner, Patricia Brown Holmes, will co-moderate the June 15 ABA Criminal Justice Section complimentary CLE program entitled “Corporate Monitorships, The Nuts and Bolts” sponsored by The Women in White Collar Subcommittee. The use of corporate monitorships by judicial and regulatory government agencies as a method to ensure an organization’s compliance with settlement agreements and orders resolving corporate criminal or regulatory accountability continues to rise.

RSHC Partner, Alison Maddeford, will be a panelist for The Knowledge Group’s live webcast entitled "Essential Developments in Patent Subject Matter Eligibility: What Lies Ahead in 2017?" on June 27, 2017, 12:00 to 2:00 pm (EST). The discussion will provide an in-depth analysis of the fundamentals as well as essential developments in patent subject matter eligibility.

Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila had the privilege of working with the City of Chicago in preparing an important amicus brief on behalf of the Cities of Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and other major U.S. cities and counties, who have been negatively affected by President Trump’s executive order restricting travel from six predominately Muslim countries. On June 12, 2017, the Ninth Circuit mostly affirmed the district court’s injunction against enforcement of the travel ban. Citing the RSHC brief, the Court concluded that enforcement of the travel ban could “undermine trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities and inflict financial and social costs, such as loss of tourism dollars.”

Jake Kahn, RSHC partner and committee co-chair, will moderate the “Enforcement Update” panel at the Futures & Derivatives Law Committee’s 2017 CLE seminar on Friday, June 9, at the Chicago Bar Association.

On May 30, 2017, the Supreme Court struck another in a series of blows to patent owners this term and significantly broadened the doctrine of patent “exhaustion,” which bars a patentee from asserting patent rights over an article after an authorized sale of the article. The decision reversed longstanding Federal Circuit precedent permitting patent infringement actions if (1) a sale was subject to clearly communicated, lawful restrictions on post-sale use or resale; or (2) a sale was made overseas. The Supreme Court voided these safe harbors, finding them to be sales that exhausted patent rights, reasoning “patent exhaustion is uniform and automatic.” Slip Op. at 13. The Supreme Court’s decision not only has immediate ramifications for patent licensing and enforcement actions, but also is likely to have a cascading effect on worldwide supply chains, pricing and product availability in some countries.

On May 22, 2017, the Supreme Court overturned decades of Federal Circuit precedent, holding that the patent venue statute was not broadened by the later-amended general venue statute. This holding will have significant dampening effect on cases brought in certain jurisdictions, such as E.D. Texas and other venues considered patent-friendly. Moreover, venues like the District of Delaware may experience a swell of patent cases as patentees seek to avoid jurisdictions where a defendant has a place of business.

The May 2017 Illinois State Bar Association Bench & Bar newsletter featured an article on Illinois Rule of Evidence 502 by RSHC attorneys Eli Litoff, Kelly Warner and Ed Casmere.

Patricia Brown Holmes, RSHC Partner, will be the guest speaker at the May 15 CCBA & BWLA Newly Admitted Attorney Reception at the M Lounge in Chicago. She will speak about the importance of civility, honor and mentoring in the profession. All newly licensed lawyers are invited to attend.

RSHC partner, Ron Safer, shared his thoughts with Chicago Lawyer about the vital importance of new billing models, technology efficiencies, and achieving goals that respect and respond to the client’s definition of success.