Schiff Hardin LLP is a national law firm with nearly 400 attorneys practicing out of seven offices nationwide — Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Lake Forest, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC. It is a general practice firm serving corporate clients in a number of practices.

History

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

Chicago Transit Authority

Chicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....

. In 1889, Hitchcock & Dupee gained Northern Trust

Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation is an international financial services company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It provides investment management, asset and fund administration, fiduciary and banking services through a network of 85 offices in 18 U.S. states and 12 international offices in North...

 as a client; today the company still turns to Schiff Hardin for all matters of legal advice. The firm acquired its current name in 2004.

Schiff Hardin opened a Washington, D.C. office in 1977. Offices in New York City (1991) and Atlanta (2003) followed. In 2007, the firm merged with Morgenstein & Jubelirer to open a San Francisco office; it also opened a Boston office that year.

Notable Deals and Cases

• Chicago Board Options Exchange — In the early 1970, the firm created the legal structure of the CBOE. In June 2010, the firm represented the Chicago Board Options Exchange
  Chicago Board Options Exchange
  The Chicago Board Options Exchange , located at 400 South LaSalle Street in Chicago, is the largest U.S. options exchange with annual trading volume that hovered around one billion contracts at the end of 2007...
  
  , 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.

• 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 has 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 animal hoarding
  Animal hoarding
  Animal hoarding involves keeping higher than usual numbers of animals as domestic pets without having the ability to properly house or care for them, while at the same time denying this inability. Compulsive hoarding can be characterized as a symptom of mental disorder rather than deliberate...
  
  .

Notable Clients

AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.	Michael Jordan
Bunn-O-Matic Corporation Bunn-o-Matic Corporation Bunn Corporation is a manufacturer of coffee- and tea-making equipment headquartered in Springfield, Illinois. Founded by George Bunn, who invented the fluted coffee filter, its customers are primarily institutional foodservice providers. The company also offers a product line for home use and...	Laidlaw International, Inc.
CenterPoint Properties Trust	Lek Pharmaceuticals
Chicago Board Options Exchange Chicago Board Options Exchange The Chicago Board Options Exchange , located at 400 South LaSalle Street in Chicago, is the largest U.S. options exchange with annual trading volume that hovered around one billion contracts at the end of 2007...	Newell Rubbermaid Inc.
Chicago Transit Authority Chicago Transit Authority Chicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of its surrounding suburbs....	NiSource Inc.
Dorel Industries Inc.	Northern Trust Northern Trust Northern Trust Corporation is an international financial services company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It provides investment management, asset and fund administration, fiduciary and banking services through a network of 85 offices in 18 U.S. states and 12 international offices in North...
Eastman Kodak Company	Owens-Illinois, Inc.
Emaar Properties Emaar Properties Emaar Properties , based in the United Arab Emirates, is a Public Joint Stock Company listed on the Dubai Financial Market. Established in 1997 with an initial paid-up capital of AED 1 bn, Emaar Properties is currently the Persian Gulf region's largest land and real estate developer...	Sanford Sanford - People :* Adam Sanford* Agnes Sanford* Arlene Sanford* Chance Sanford* Charles S. Sanford, Jr.* Curtis Sanford* Edmund Sanford* Edward Terry Sanford* Fred Sanford * Garwin Sanford...
Geneva Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Novartis Novartis Novartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry...	The Thermos Company
Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc.	Wittur Inc.

Practice Areas

Antitrust and Trade Regulation	Private Companies
Class Action Litigation	Private Equity and Venture Capital
Construction	Product Liability
Corporate and Securities	Public Companies
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation	Public Finance
Energy and Public Utilities	Public Law
Environmental	Real Estate
Finance	Reinsurance and Insurance
Financial Institutions	Restructuring, Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights
Intellectual Property	Securities and Futures Regulation
International	Sustainable Energy and Climate Change
Labor and Employment	Tax
Litigation	Telecommunications
Private Clients, Trusts and Estates	White Collar Crime and Corporate Compliance

External links

• Official Web site
• 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 Cats
• Chambers and Partners Firm Profile