RSHC news

RSHC Partner Joe Cancila is delighted to serve as a new member of the Chicago State Foundation (CSF) Board of Directors. CSF Directors are trusted advisors helping to guide the Foundation’s work and advance the interests and welfare of Chicago State University.

RSHC proudly congratulates Joe Cancila on his two-time selection as a BTI Client Service All-Star 2022 (MVP), a high honor that can only be given by a client. In 2020 and 2022, Joe has been singled out and recognized for delivering exceptional client service.

We are proud to announce 11 RSHC attorneys have been selected to the 2022 Illinois Super Lawyers and 2022 Illinois Rising Stars lists. RSHC Managing Partner Patricia Brown Holmes has received the Top 10 Illinois Super Lawyers distinction. For more than decade, Patricia Brown Holmes has been ranked a Top 50 Women Super Lawyer. Both Ron Safer and Patricia Brown Holmes have been recognized as Top 100 Illinois Super Lawyers.

Nick Kahlon and Sarah Finch provide an in-depth analysis of a new amendment to the Illinois Freedom to Work Act and how it significantly alters the restrictive covenant landscape in Illinois. As they explain, the amendment prohibits employers from entering into non-competition or non-solicitation agreements with many Illinois employees after January 1, 2022, and also contains provisions regarding employer notice, fee recovery for prevailing employees, and oversight by the Illinois Attorney General.

RSHC partner Ronald S. Safer was interviewed for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin’s “How I Did It” feature, discussing the record-setting verdict in a recent civil suit related to his wrongful conviction work. A former federal prosecutor and experienced commercial litigator, Ron has successfully handled numerous wrongful conviction cases and has a long history of trying civil matters, but this case was the first he took on that would combine both areas of law.

RSHC Managing Partner and retired Cook County Associate Judge, Patricia Brown Holmes, has been appointed as a new member and Co-Chair to the Illinois Supreme Court Judicial Screening Committee. The screening committee assesses the qualifications of candidates applying for appointment to the Office of Judge of the Circuit Court for Cook County due to vacancies created by recent judicial retirements.

RSHC Managing Partner Patricia Brown Holmes and Labor & Employment Practice Chair Alan King are among the prominent business and community leaders honored by Crain’s Chicago Business this week as Notable Black Leaders and Executives. Crain’s editors selected 71 Chicagoans who have not only reached prominent places in their own professions but have, this year, “seized the moment” of reckoning over systemic racism following the murder of George Floyd and redoubled their efforts to contribute to the Black community through service and philanthropy.

Health care providers may face new challenges under the DOJ’s recently launched Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative, which will use the False Claims Act to target cybersecurity-related fraud by ensuring the technology-related representations by government contractors and grant recipients are accurate. RSHC is prepared to counsel industry executives on best practices for compliance.

Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP (RSHC) welcomes new partner Kalia Coleman to our Government Enforcement, Investigations & White Collar Criminal Defense practice. Coleman joins the firm following nearly six years with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, where she most recently served as Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Division.

Ransomware attacks continue to plague companies, universities, and government agencies. In their recent whitepaper for Best Lawyers, RSHC Partners Georgia Alexakis, Patricia Brown Holmes, Abigail Peluso, and Jack Theis provide a primer on the federal government’s response to the crisis, and the next steps organizations must take to protect consumers, ensure operational continuity, and avoid reputational damage.

Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila has been ranked in the 2022 U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” list nationally in three practice areas and regionally in nine practice areas for our professional excellence, quality of legal practice, and breadth of legal expertise.

Twenty-seven years to the day that he was convicted of and soon thereafter sentenced to life in prison for crimes he did not commit, RSHC won complete and total vindication for Eddie Bolden. On Friday, October 29, 2021, a Chicago jury resoundingly rejected the defendants attempts to, yet again, deprive Eddie of justice. Twenty-eight times, once for every count against every defendant, the jury proclaimed Eddie’s innocence and the complicity of those who framed him. The jury awarded $25 million in compensatory damages, as well as $100,000 in punitive damages against each of the living defendants.

RSHC was a named a 2022 Litigation Leader in three different practice areas: Class Actions, Complex Commercial Litigation, and Product Liability by the legal industry consultant BTI Consulting Group. The annual recognition evaluates law firms from across the country for their prowess in handling these key areas litigation and their excellence in client service.

Shalem Massey and Jennifer Steeve are speaking at the October 28-29 ABA Cleared for Takeoff: Aviation Litigation in a Post-Pandemic World conference in Washington, DC. Shalem is moderating the “Elimination of Bias/Diversity & Inclusion in the Legal Profession” panel.

We are pleased to announce that our partner, Kate Stimeling, was recently elected into the membership of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC). The FDCC is comprised of U.S. and international civil defense litigators, senior corporate counsel, and insurance claims executives.