RSHC news

RSHC Attorneys Edward Casmere, Jennifer Steeve, Jeff Williams, Meghan McMeel, Jeffrey Morof, and Shalem Massey will be hosting an online webinar on September 22, 2020 for the Lloyd's Market Association on “Social Inflation, Punitive Damages, and U.S. Litigation Trends: Where are claims and verdicts headed?” They will discuss current trends in U.S. litigation and social inflation.

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?”

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.

Patricia Brown Holmes will be part of an esteemed female managing partners panel at the March 6 CBA Women’s Summit, “Learning Your Leadership Language,” at the Chicago Athletic Club. Justice Joy V. Cunningham will moderate the conversation as co-panelists share their unique paths to achieving leadership positions in the law and provide advice on how to carve out an authentic leadership strategy.

On December 16, RSHC Partner Rod Perry and RSHC Of Counsel Cheryl Walker will be co-panelists at the Construction SuperConference 2019 program, “Participation Goals: Strategies to Achieve Them,” to be held at Terranea Resort, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. Contractors are often called upon to meet or exceed project goals established for (public and private) participation by disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs), minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs), and women-owned business enterprises (WBEs).

RSHC Partner Shalem Massey will be a panelist at the October 24-25, 2019 ABA/TIPs program, “The Aviation Lawyer’s Operating Handbook: Learning to Litigate, Navigate, and Communicate,” to be held in Washington, DC. Shalem and his co-presenters will discuss the tripartite relationship, the issues which arise, and best practices at their session, “Keeping Formation: Navigating the Relationship of Insured, Insurer, and Outside Counsel.”

RSHC Partner Jake Kahn will serve as Conference Co-Chair and a Speaker at the 11th Annual Conference on Futures and Derivatives on October 17, 2019, hosted at Chicago-Kent College of Law. Jake will present on the topic: “At the Intersection of Antitrust and Derivatives Law.”

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.

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!

RSHC Managing Partner Patricia Brown Holmes was the special guest on the March 15 Rare & Scratchy Rock ‘N Roll retrospective podcast hosted by Radio Dave Milberg featuring 30 Feminist Hit Singles Before Their Time between the 1950’s and 1990’s. The history and snippets of thirty (30) hit songs about female empowerment by Aretha Franklin (Respect), Helen Reddy (I am Woman), Gloria Gaynor (I Will Survive), and more were remembered for their strong and positive impact.

At the March 1st 10th Annual Animal Law Conference at the ISBA Chicago Regional Office or via live webcast, RSHC’s Bruce Wagman will share insights on three current hot topics in animal law: creating sanctuary for endangered chimps and varied species, the area of dangerous dog litigation in Chicago and beyond, and the use of experts in animal-related litigation. Don’t miss hearing about the animal law updates and advances made in this rapidly-evolving practice area.