Moments in History: Jenner & Block's 100-Year Story
Watch Partner Terri Mascherin Discuss the Release of Firm's Pro Bono Client After Serving 19 Years
A team working with attorneys from Northwestern University Law School’s Bluhm Legal Clinic Center on Wrongful Convictions and Stanford Law School Professor Lawrence Marshall represented Juan Rivera in appealing his third conviction of the 1992 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl, Holly Staker. Read more...
A History of Pro Bono and Public Service: 1970s
Kirby v. Illinois
Jerold S. Solovy successfully argued this case that went all the way to the US Supreme Court. It regarded whether an indigent person is entitled to appointed counsel during a pre-indictment lineup.
A History of Pro Bono and Public Service: 1960s
Witherspoon v. Illinois Impacts 350 People on Death Row
In this landmark death penalty case, the Jenner & Block team led by Albert E. Jenner, Jr. helped stop a planned state execution of Mr. Witherspoon on constitutional grounds just a few weeks before the sentence was scheduled to be carried out. Mr. Jenner argued that the jury selection process was unconstitutional and impermissible. The US Supreme Court agreed. After this ruling, an estimated 350 people on death row across the United States were re-sentenced.
A History of Pro Bono and Public Service: 1960s
Sullivan Recruits Pro Bono Lawyers
The US Supreme Court ruled that states must pay for trial transcripts so indigent defendants can appeal their convictions. In response to the ruling, Thomas P. Sullivan and other Jenner & Block lawyers spearheaded the recruitment of lawyers in Illinois to handle the hundreds of appeals of past cases.
A History of Pro Bono and Public Service: 1960s
Litigation with Committee on Un-American ActivitiesThomas P. Sullivan and Albert E. Jenner, Jr. represented clients in a historic confrontation and extended civil and criminal litigation with the US House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities. The committee was later abolished in large part due to these proceedings.
A History of Pro Bono and Public Service: 1960s
Senior Counsel to Warren Commission
Albert E. Jenner, Jr. held various prominent public service positions throughout his long career. Among other things, he served as senior counsel to the Warren Commission that was created to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
