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Goldberg Kohn’s Commitment to Pro Bono

Goldberg Kohn is committed to supporting and assisting individuals and organizations in the Chicagoland area and beyond through pro bono representation. Each year, the firm encourages attorneys to identify pro bono opportunities and allocates time to this work that is driven by the interests of the firm’s attorneys.

The firm contributes professional skills and substantial resources in cases and projects that assist those who could not otherwise obtain legal representation and supports diverse social causes that increase access to the arts and cultural expressions of Chicago.

In addition, the firm’s principals established the Goldberg Kohn Foundation, which annually provides financial support to scores of local, regional and national charities, as well as civic and cultural organizations.

Representative Pro Bono Work

Goldberg Kohn helps various groups obtain nonprofit and tax-exempt status in Illinois such as The Coalition for Education on Sexual Orientation, a group dedicated to promoting the safety and well-being of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, and ‘N The Spirit Transformational Living, which provides counseling and housing for women suffering from addiction and domestic abuse.

  • Serving as lead counsel for Cook County in connection with the county’s challenge to the Trump administration’s “public charge” immigration rule, which allows for the rejection of immigrants’ applications for permanent residence in the United States.  The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, and led to the permanent change to the "public charge" rule nationwide.
  • Serving as lead trial counsel in a class action lawsuit on behalf of 600,000 children eligible for Medicaid against the Illinois Departments of Public Aid and Human Services, resulting in a landmark decision vindicating the rights of children to health care.
  • Serving as co-counsel in a federal lawsuit that challenged the validity of a new federal law requiring 50 million Medicaid recipients and applicants to prove their U.S. citizenship with passports, birth certificates and other special documents or lose their public health care coverage. The resulting litigation leveraged a change to federal law.
  • Supporting the Chicago International Charter School, a network of 14 innovative and diverse charter schools serving approximately 8,000 Chicago students, by offering labor and employment guidance.
  • Representing 30 homeowners in East Chicago, Indiana to recover for damages done to their properties and emotional distress after the introduction of hazardous contaminants to their neighborhood by lead refineries and other manufacturing processes.
  • Representing the tenant association of Ellis Lakeview Apartments, an affordable housing building in Chicago in partnership with the Shriver Center on Poverty Law. The building had fallen into severe disrepair after being sold to a new owner, creating an unsafe living environment for residents.
  • Conducting one-day clinics in collaboration with the National Immigration Justice Center to provide individuals with assistance in filing renewal applications under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s DACA.
  • Representing immigrants seeking political asylum in collaboration with the National Immigration Justice Center and corporate partners.
  • Representing incarcerated individuals in the Illinois Appellate Courts and in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Representation of Asylum Work

Supporting Nonprofits

Goldberg Kohn helps various groups obtain nonprofit and tax-exempt status in Illinois such as The Coalition for Education on Sexual Orientation, a group dedicated to promoting the safety and well-being of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, and ‘N The Spirit Transformational Living, which provides counseling and housing for women suffering from addiction and domestic abuse.

Other nonprofits Goldberg Kohn has supported include:

  • Chicago International Charter Schools
  • Chicago Training Center
  • Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund
  • Friends of Battered Women and Their Children
  • Illinois Network of Charter Schools
  • Make-A-Wish Foundation
  • Project: Philanthropy (Donate for a Cause)
  • Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development
  • The Salvation Army
  • Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
  • Suburban Asthma Consortium
  • Unity Productions Foundation

Awards and Accomplishments

Goldberg Kohn regularly receives acknowledgments and various awards for its pro bono work with organizations:

  • Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service Award: David Morrison and Steven Levy were presented with this award from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association for their work on a case representing Cook County, Illinois and Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights to successfully challenge the Trump administration's "public charge" rule.
  • Pro Bono Institute CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award: GK was honored in 2021 by the Pro Bono Institute with the CPBO Pro Bono Partner Award for its ongoing commitment and partnership with McDonald’s and the National Immigrant Justice Center to help asylum applicants obtain legal status in the United States.
  • Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice Pro Bono Appreciation Award: Awarded to GK in 2017 primarily due to the work in helping achieve a change in Illinois Supreme Court Rules prohibiting shackling of juvenile defendants during court proceedings absent demonstrated cause and promoting the independence of administrative hearing officers.
  • Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law Corporate Partner Award: GK was honored in 2017 for assisting in the representation of public housing and low-income residents in East Chicago living on environmentally contaminated land.
  • Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service: Bill Meyers and David Chizewer were awarded these distinctions at separate Annual Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service Award ceremonies.
    • In 2018, Bill was honored for his outstanding work on behalf of Robert Goldsmith in Goldsmith v. Caceres et al., Case No. 14 C 3560.
    • In 2016, David Chizewer was recognized for his work on behalf of Robert E. Williams in Williams v. Wexford Health Sources, Inc., Case No. 14 C 1113.

Goldberg Kohn attorneys have volunteered thousands of hours to civic, charitable and nonprofit organizations, including high impact and high profile work unique to a midsized law firm. Our attorneys are involved in more than 60 organizations, including:

  • Antiracism and minority-focused legal alliances
  • Animal protection funds
  • Civil rights organizations
  • Community boards
  • Health research foundations
  • Immigration/asylum organizations
  • Scholarship funds School advisory boards
  • Sleepaway camps
  • Sports clubs
  • Various bar associations

Since 2007, the firm has made a financial commitment to the Chicago Bar Foundation’s inaugural Investing in Justice Campaign, a fundraising effort designed to address Chicago’s legal aid organizations through financial support for legal aid attorneys and was one of the first law firms to do so.

To learn more about Goldberg Kohn’s Pro Bono Policy see below.

Goldberg Kohn Pro_Bono_Policy
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