Which Firm Just Celebrated its Centennial?
Last night in Chicago, we joined Jenner & Block and 650 guests in celebrating the firm's 100th anniversary. (It was coincidence that we were in the Second City... or perhaps fate.)
The blowout bash was on the 45th floor of its office in Chicago, where the firm was founded. We snapped Jenner & Block chair Tony Valukas, right (who you may also know from his roles overseeing the GM investigation or as bankruptcy examiner for Lehman Brothers) with Seyfarth senior counsel Paul Freehling.
Firm managing partner Terrence Truax, second from right, next to Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White and flanked by Jenner & Block real estate practice chair Donald Resnick and associate Penelope Campbell. The firm had more to celebrate than expected; yesterday the Supreme Court announced a win for its clients in the high-profile Aereo case. The firm represented Fox, PBS, Tribune Co, and Univison.
Donald Harris, left, has been around for more than half of Jenner & Block's existence: he joined an astounding 51 years ago. White collar defense co-chair Chuck Sklarsky, right, still has a couple decades before reaching that. At least one other partner has been with the firm for half a century: white collar defense partner Tom Sullivan (who took a few years out to be US Attorney, where he hired Chuck).
We spotted DC managing partner Dave DeBruin, right, with partner and former General Dynamics SVP and GC David Savner, insurance recovery chair John Mathias, and environmental partner and former managing partner Robert Graham. Dave is a big pro bono participant (last year he got the Frederick Douglass Equal Justice Award from the Southern Center for Human Rights), as seems to be everyone at the firm: its 450 lawyers did 79,000 hours of pro bono work last year. The firm set up exhibits around the floor on topics like its name partners, international work, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and public service.
This year, Judge William Bauer, center, celebrates an anniversary himself: 40 years on the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He's flanked by Jenner & Block professional responsibility practice co-chair Jeff Colman and Hughes Socol partner Larry Blust.
We also spotted Neil Barofsky, who joined Jenner & Block in September 2013 after his high-profile role as the special inspector general of the $700 billion TARP (alias SIGTARP), and fellow Jenner & Block partner and former AUSA Katya Jestin.
