At the July 28, 2016 meeting of PILI’s Board of Directors, the board thanked Dick O’Malley of Sidley Austin LLP for his service as Board President at the end of his two-year term.
Dick joined PILI’s board in 1999, and has served as President since September 2014 during a time of significant growth at PILI. Some highlights from Dick’s presidency include:
- A new 3-year Long Range Plan that calls for an increase in the Law Student Intern stipend for the first time in 10 years, a 15% increase in the number of Interns we fund, and a tripling in the number of Interns we fund outside of Chicago
- Increased numbers of both Interns and Fellows
- A new, ongoing Alumni Network service opportunity, the Legal Prep Community Law Clinic
- Robust and extremely active Judicial Circuit Pro Bono Committees
- The launch of PILI’s Illinois Pro Bono Pledge, which now has over 120 signatories from across the state
- New funding from two foundations, and increased funding commitments from two others
- Growth across all areas of giving to PILI, accompanying a budget increase from $617,000 in FY2014 to $722,000 in FY2016
Dick, who is Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin, focuses his practice on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation, and is the firm’s Chicago chair of its Pro Bono and Public Interest Law Committee. Dick has been actively involved in pro bono since the beginning of his career, and his pro bono work has included several notable cases over the years. In particular, he was recognized for his work on behalf of the residents of the Cabrini Green housing project, a case that was in litigation for six years. Dick and a team of attorneys from LAF were able to help avoid the threatened immediate eviction of residents by the Chicago Housing Authority, and finally reached a resolution that allowed the residents to leave Cabrini Green and start new lives on better terms. Dick received LAF’s Champion of Justice Award as well as the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Federal Bar Association’s Award for Excellence In Pro Bono Service for his work on this case. In addition to his board service with PILI, Dick served on the Board of Directors for CARPLS for many years.
We are so very grateful for Dick’s work and leadership over the last two years!
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