Schiff Hardin LLP was a national

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

with more than 300 attorneys practicing out of seven offices nationwide — Ann Arbor, Chicago, Lake Forest, New York, Newport Beach,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and Washington, DC. It was a general practice firm serving corporate clients. In 2022, Schiff Hardin merged with

Arent Fox Arent Fox Schiff LLP (formerly Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn) is a national white shoe law firm and lobbying firm. It represents global corporations, local and national politicians, and large non-profit organizations. The firm is ranked ...

to form the firm of ArentFox Schiff.

History

The firm was founded in 1864 as Hitchcock & Dupee and ranked as one of Chicago's oldest law firms. In its early years, it represented the Chicago City Railway Company and

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , o ...

. In 1889, Hitchcock & Dupee gained

Northern Trust Northern Trust Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Chicago that caters to corporations, institutional investors, and ultra high net worth individuals. Northern Trust is one of the largest banking institutions in the Un ...

as a client; the company continued to turn to Schiff Hardin for all legal advice until the Arent Fox merger. The firm acquired its current name in 2004. Schiff Hardin opened a Washington, D.C. office in 1977. An office in New York City (1991) followed. 2002 brought a suburban Chicago office in Lake Forest. In 2007, the firm merged with Morgenstein & Jubelirer to open a San Francisco office, followed by an Ann Arbor, Michigan office in 2012.

Notable deals and cases

*''Chicago Board Options Exchange'' — In the early 1970s, the firm created the legal structure of the CBOE. In June 2010, the firm represented the

Chicago Board Options Exchange The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), located at 433 West Van Buren Street in Chicago, is the largest U.S. options exchange with an annual trading volume of around 1.27 billion at the end of 2014. CBOE offers options on over 2,200 companies ...

, Incorporated in its approximately $3 billion demutualization transaction, in which the CBOE converted from a member-owned Delaware non-stock corporation to a Delaware stock corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of a new parent holding company, CBOE Holdings, Inc.http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/search/historicalcharge.cfm?ID=100011430&SessionID=&TYPE=news *''United States of America v. Conrad M. Black et al.'' — The firm represented Mark S. Kipnis, the former general counsel of Hollinger International, Inc., in this highly publicized trial. *''People v. Harper'' — Schiff Hardin represented Julie Rae Harper, a woman wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for the murder of her young son, at her retrial. This case generated considerable media attention after ABC-TV's 20/20 program ran a show about the case. *''Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Woodley'' — In a case that received nationwide attention, the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), represented by Schiff Hardin's Animal Law practice attorneys and North Carolina counsel, obtained a full and final judgment in Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Woodley in a case involving

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Notable clients

References

External links

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Worth Magazine's Top 100 Attorneys List Honors Schiff Hardin LLP Partners Thomas W. Abendroth and John D. Dadakis Schiff Hardin Attorneys Obtain Injunction Against the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Failure to Enforce Prohibitions on the Gassing of Dogs and CatsSchiff Hardin LLP Organizational Profile at the National Law ReviewGoldman & Associates Criminal LawyerChambers & Partners Firm ProfileC. Norris Law Group Website
{{Illinois Corporations Law firms based in Chicago Law firms established in 1864