Schiff Hardin attorneys have been active for years in representing indigent persons in criminal matters at both the trial and appellate level.

In 2008, we conducted an evidentiary hearing on behalf of our client, a Georgia death row inmate, and asserted, among other issues, claims that he received constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel from his prior lawyers, and that he is mentally retarded and therefore ineligible for the death penalty.

In 2006, a Schiff Hardin team, in conjunction with attorneys from the Center for Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University Law School, won a jury verdict acquitting a mother being retried for the murder of her son, even through a convicted felon in another state had confessed to the crime. This case attracted national media attention and is a vivid example of Schiff Hardin's pro bono commitment and impact.

In addition, several of our attorneys have been actively involved in post-conviction challenges by death row inmates. In one of these cases, the Governor of Illinois pardoned one of our death row clients because our lawyers convinced him that the client was actually innocent of the crime for which he had been convicted and sentenced to die. Other current representations include death penalty cases in Alabama and Georgia.

We represented an inmate of Statesville prison in his civil rights suit against various officials for due process violations arising from various practices and conduct associated with disciplinary hearings.