Patricia Brown Holmes
Partner, Diversity Committee Co-Chair
Patricia Brown Holmes is a partner in Schiff Hardin's Litigation Group and leader of the White Collar Crime and Corporate Compliance group. She also co-chairs the firm's Diversity Committee. Ms. Holmes' diverse practice includes substantial trial experience and representation of high profile individuals and corporations in connection with federal, state and local civil and criminal investigations and trials. She has extensive experience conducting internal investigations at public and private corporations, governmental entities and non-profit organizations. She has conducted numerous investigations at the management level, including investigations into financial fraud, excessive compensation, insider trading and unfair competition by corporate officers. Ms. Holmes' criminal and civil litigation experience includes handling matters involving financial and accounting fraud, mail and wire fraud, civil rights violations, contract disputes and other complex commercial litigation.
Ms. Holmes currently serves on Governor Pat Quinn's Cemetery Oversight Task Force investigating tragic incidents alleged to have occurred at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. As chair of the task force, she is charged with leading the team who will develop legislative recommendations for regulatory reform in the funeral and cemetery industry. She is also a member of Senator Dick Durbin's Judicial Commission to help select the next three federal judges and the U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Illinois.
She has been a guest on Paul Lisnek's CN100 television news show "Political Update" and on WVON radio discussing the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court.
Experience
Her significant and illustrative cases include:
- United States v. Conrad M. Black et al. Ms. Holmes co-led the Schiff Hardin trial team that defended former Hollinger International Inc. executive and corporate counsel Mark S. Kipnis, in which Mr. Kipnis was charged with multiple counts of federal mail, wire and tax fraud stemming from a series of transactions involving the corporation. Following a 16-week trial and two weeks of deliberation, he was convicted of only three counts, one of which the judge dismissed post-trial. His trial team was later successful in obtaining a sentence of five years probation, reduced from a possible sentence that ranged from 30-78 months imprisonment.
- United States v. Mohammad Mohammed, et al. This was the first "bankruptcy bust-out" case tried in the country. It involved the prosecution of a complex financial scheme to defraud creditors and violate income tax laws.
- United States v. Castellanos, et al. This was one of the largest multiple-defendant interstate narcotics conspiracy cases ever prosecuted in Rockford, Illinois. It involved a complex narcotics trafficking conspiracy, money laundering, and other federal violations.
- United States v. Charles Emenogha. This was an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case involving multiple defendants, complex conspiracy allegations, and the first-ever money-structuring charge brought by the Internal Revenue Service.
- United States v. Carey Robinson. This was the first trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois charging a violation of the Mann Act.
- People v. Vincent Williams, 124 Ill. 2d 300, 529 N.E. 2d 558, 124 Ill. Dec. 577 (1988). This case established the state's right to make a timely written motion for substitution of a judge on the ground of prejudice.
Publications
"Grease Payments are a Thing of the Past as the Reach of the FCPA Continues to Expand," (Co-Author) Bloomberg Law Reports – Risk and Compliance (March 2010)
Speeches and Presentations
"The Post Madoff Era: Lessons Learned," (Panelist) Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges Conference, Chicago Bar Association, Chicago, Ill. (October 9, 2009)
"Sleeping Through the Night: Practical Tips for Attorneys on Avoiding Personal Liability Related to Advising Healthcare Clients," Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys Quarterly Meeting (December 4, 2007)
"Parallel Investigation by the Securities Exchange Commission and Department of Justice: Counseling Corporate Clients Out of the Investigative Dragnet," ABA White Collar Crime Conference, Atlanta, Georgia (January 25, 2007)
"Direct & Cross Examinations," Chicago Bar Association Program: "Trial Superstars on Presenting Your Case: Winning Over the Court, The Jury and The Media," Chicago (November 16, 2006)
"Civility in the Profession," Chicago Bar Association Basic Skills Program: "Life After Law School," Chicago (October 27, 2006)
"Advice To In-House Counsel On Avoiding Criminal Liability," (Panelist) "Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges Program," Chicago Bar Association and American Bar Association, Chicago (May 12, 2006)
"Sleeping Through The Night — Tips to In-House Counsel to Avoid Personal Liability," ABA Spring Minority Counsel Program, Seattle, Wash. (April 6, 2006)
"Civil Litigation: Employee Criminal Acts," Minority Corporate Council Association's 5th Annual CLE Expo, Chicago (March 16, 2006)
"Into the Forefront: The Current Role of Minority Women in the Struggle for Civil Rights," (Moderator) "Our Mothers, Our Sisters, Our Daughters, Ourselves," ABA Multicultural Women Attorneys Network, Chicago (February 9, 2006)
Previous Experience
Ms. Holmes joined the firm after serving approximately nine years as an associate judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Prior to becoming a trial court judge, she served the City of Chicago as its Chief Assistant Corporation Counsel for Municipal Prosecutions, supervising a staff of attorneys practicing in chancery and municipal courts. Earlier, Ms. Holmes honed her skills in federal court having tried over 26 complex felony cases and argued numerous times before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. She also gained significant trial and appellate experience as an Assistant State's Attorney for Cook County, Illinois, arguing twice before the Illinois Supreme Court.
Awards and Honors
Illinois Super Lawyers, General Litigation
Benchmark Litigation — Star
Illinois Super Lawyers, Top 50 Women Lawyers
Leading Lawyer — Commercial Litigation; Criminal Defense: White Collar, Illinois Leading Lawyers Network
Illinois Judicial Council Distinguished Service Award
Black Women Lawyers Association Visionary Award
National Bar Association Judicial Council Special Chair Award
University of Illinois
Seaberry Award for Service to the Legal Community
Outstanding Alumni Award for Public Service
Who's Who in Black Chicago — Inaugural Edition
Education
University of Illinois College of Law
(J.D.,
1986)
University of Illinois
(B.S.,
1983)
Teaching Appointments
Adjunct Professor of Law, Northwestern University School of Law
Adjunct Professor of Law, Loyola Institute for Paralegal Studies
Instructor, Attorney General's Advocacy Institute
Criminal Trial Advocacy Section of the U.S. Department of Justice
Professional Memberships
Governor Patrick Quinn's Cemetery Oversight Task Force
Chair
Senator Richard Durbin's Judicial Commission for the Northern District of Illinois
Chief Judge James F. Holderman's Magistrate Judge Merit Review Panel
Illinois Judicial Council Foundation
Chair
Illinois Judges Association
Co-Chair Retired Judges Committee
The Chicago American Inn of Court
Economic Club of Chicago
Lawyers Club of Chicago
American Bar Association
Section of Litigation
Section of Business Law
Committee on White-Collar Crime
Section of State and Local Government Law
Illinois State Bar Association
Chicago Bar Association
Board of Managers
Blue Ribbon Committee on Juvenile Justice
Chair
Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago, Inc.
Past President and Founder
Just the Beginning Foundation, Inc.
Chair
Leadership Greater Chicago
Fellow
Seventh Circuit Bar Association
American Jury Project Commission
