| For four decades, the law firm
of Despres, Schwartz and Geoghegan Ltd. has been providing
superior legal counsel to unions, employees, and other plaintiffs
who have had their rights as workers violated. Known for their
skill in complex litigation, the lawyers of Despres, Schwartz
and Geoghegan, Ltd. are experienced advocates for a wide range
of plaintiffs, and have handled numerous civil rights lawsuits
as well as cases ranging from product liability litigation
to actions under the False Claims Act.
Located in the heart of the Chicago Loop, the firm is led
by Thomas Geoghegan, an experienced labor litigator who has
worked for the United Mine Workers and fought for union
democracy within the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters and the United Steelworkers. Jorge Sanchez has spent
time as a litigator and acting director for the Mexican American
Legal Defense and Education Fund in Chicago and worked for
the Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers. |
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The founder of the firm was the late Leon
Despres, a longtime civil rights and labor lawyer who spent
two decades as an alderman on the Chicago City Council,
where he served as the chief foil to the Democratic machine
and the administration of Mayor Richard J. Daley. Mr. Despres'
often solitary battles on behalf of civil rights and open
housing earned him the moniker “the liberal conscience
of Chicago” and made him a legend in progressive circles
in Chicago and in his life-long home of Hyde Park.
Despres, Schwartz and Geoghegan Ltd. currently
serves as primary counsel to both the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers and Trainmen and Teamsters Local 743, in addition
to trying numerous cases on behalf of workers and other
plaintiffs. Over the years, the firm has represented local
unions of nurses, auto workers, electricians, and city workers.
The firm is experienced in trying class actions, and its
lawyers are well known advocates in the federal district
court located in Chicago and the Seventh Circuit Court of
Appeals. They also appear frequently before labor mediation
and arbitration panels. The firm has handled an unusually
large number of suits under the WARN Act, which requires
sixty days notice before the shutdown of plants.
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The firm has also conducted a wide range of public interest
litigation, including suits to crack down on payday
lenders and enforcement of election rights,
including litigation currently to require popular elections
when there are vacancies in the United States Senate. The
firm also brought the first major class action against
the handgun industry for creating a public nuisance
through the spread of handguns in the Chicago public schools.
Recently the firm obtained a settlement with the Advocate
hospital system requiring it to provide charity care or reduced
price care to uninsured patients.
In addition to its legal practice, the firm's lawyers have
always maintained strong ties to the community and are active
in civic life throughout Chicago. The attorneys sit on the
boards of several progressive advocacy organizations, including
BPI and the ACLU of Illinois, and both Mr. Despres and Mr.
Geoghegan are accomplished authors, having written five books
between them about the labor movement, politics, and the legal
system.
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"If there is no struggle,
there is no
progress."
—Frederick Douglass
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