Ronald S. Safer

Managing Partner, Executive Committee Member

Ronald S. Safer concentrates in white collar criminal defense and also participates in our firm's civil litigation practice.

White Collar Crime and Corporate Compliance

• Led the defense team for Mark S. Kipnis, a co-defendant in the highly-publicized United States v. Conrad Black, et al. ("Conrad Black") case tried in 2007, winning a not-guilty verdict on eight of the eleven counts and a judgment of acquittal on an additional count, drastically decreasing the exposure of Mr. Kipnis. Specifically, the indictment charged that Mr. Kipnis, then the General Counsel of Hollinger International Inc., was involved in a scheme to defraud that world-wide publishing conglomerate of more than $80 million. After a four month federal trial, the Kipnis defense team obtained a not-guilty verdict from the jury on eight of the eleven counts in which Mr. Kipnis was charged. The counts of conviction involved the three smallest transactions, less than 10% of the charged fraud's value. The judge acquitted Mr. Kipnis of yet another count, involving two of the transactions. The government asked for a twelve-year sentence for the remaining two counts. Our team was able to persuade the court to impose a sentence of probation. Mr. Kipnis will not spend a single day in prison. Mr. Safer and the Schiff Hardin team received significant and particularly favorable media coverage from newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and Internet news outlets throughout the U.S., as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.
• Successfully represented Fortune 500 companies, mid-sized and smaller companies as well as individuals in federal criminal investigations.
• Successfully represented companies and individuals in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement actions, focusing law enforcement's attention on the true wrongdoers or rogue employees and away from the clients.
• Led successful internal investigations for clients ranging from financial institutions to insurance companies of financial fraud and other malfeasance. His early intervention limited the companies' financial losses and helped to recoup assets that otherwise would have been lost.

Litigation

• Prevailed on behalf of his clients at trials in federal court involving charges of environmental contamination, fraud and employment discrimination.
• Obtained an eight-figure settlement for another client in a complex commercial dispute.

Experience

Mr. Safer, working with Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions, obtained a not guilty verdict for the firm's client, Julie Rea Harper. This trial involved the defense of a mother being retried for the murder of her son, even though a convicted felon in another state had confessed to the crime. Mr. Safer and his litigation team successfully discredited the prosecution's case, and her acquittal highlighted the need to reform the special prosecutor system in Illinois. ABC-TV's 20/20 broadcast a feature story on this case, spotlighting Mr. Safer, in March 2007.

Speeches and Presentations

Mr. Safer has lectured for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on various subjects including the use of RICO, complex financial frauds, and numerous areas of trial practice.

Mr. Safer continues to lecture for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) concerning complex investigations.

Previous Experience

Mr. Safer was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois from 1989 until he rejoined Schiff Hardin in 1999.

As Chief of the Criminal Division at the time he left the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Safer oversaw all financial fraud cases and supervised all 100 Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the division. Earlier, he served as Deputy Chief of the Special Prosecution Section (also overseeing all financial fraud cases) and Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Division.

Mr. Safer successfully prosecuted literally hundreds of defendants during his tenure in the U.S. Attorney's Office, including:

• Dina Abdel Haq, for crimes relating to the murder of her infant daughter. Specifically, Abdel Haq was convicted of mail fraud for attempting to collect the proceeds of a $200,000 insurance policy she had purchased on her daughter's life. This was the first case to charge an apparent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) death in a murder-related crime in federal court.
• United States v. Richard Bailey, et al., in which the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law was used to solve and prosecute the murder of candy heiress Helen Brach.
• Larry Hoover and the rest of the leadership of the most populous and ruthless gang in the country, the Gangster Disciples. This project incarcerated more than 50 of the top leaders of this gang, the membership of which numbered in excess of 30,000. The gang had drug sales in Chicago of more than $100 million. In the course of this project, Mr. Safer also obtained the first death penalty sentence in federal court in the Seventh Circuit.

Mr. Safer's role in the Gangster Disciples prosecution was described in a feature story in Newsweek, November 1, 1999. Mr. Safer also is spotlighted in the City Confidential and American Justice television programs produced for the A&E cable television network and on "The Prosecutors" television program produced for the Discovery Channel.

Awards and Honors

Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers

Illinois Super Lawyers, Criminal Defense: White Collar, "Top 100"

Leading Lawyer — Commercial Litigation; Criminal Defense Law: White Collar, Illinois Leading Lawyers Network

Top 100 Business Lawyers in Illinois, Illinois Leading Lawyers Network

Leading Lawyer, Litigation: General Commercial; White Collar Crime and Government Investigations, Chambers USA — America's Leading Lawyers for Business

"Who's Who in Chicago Business," Crain's Chicago Business

Who's Who Legal — Illinois, Business Crime

Frank J. McGarr Award, Federal Bar Association

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Award

Administrator's Award, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

Director's Award, U.S. Attorney General

Gregory C. Jones Award, U.S. Attorney's Office

Jane Beber Abramson Award — Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern University

AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell

Education

Clerkships

Honorable Thomas A. Flannery, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (1983-1984)

Professional Memberships

Federal Bar Association
Board of Directors, Chicago Chapter

Center on Wrongful Convictions
Executive Committee

Civic and Charitable Memberships

Grant-a-Wish Inc.
Board of Advisers
Legal Counsel