News Releases

Schiff Hardin LLP Partner Patricia Brown Holmes Chairs Illinois Governor's Oversight Task Force in Response to Cemetery Scandal

July 17, 2009

Patricia Brown Holmes

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has named Schiff Hardin partner and former Cook County Associate Judge Patricia Brown Holmes to chair an oversight task force in light of a developing scandal at an Alsip, Illinois cemetery, where reportedly at least 300 bodies were dug up so graves could be resold as part of an alleged illegal scheme.  Retired Judge Holmes is one of nine civic leaders on the task force that will look at the management of for-profit cemeteries and propose new regulations and consumer protection laws.

Ms. Holmes brings particularly distinguished credentials to her role on the task force. She is a partner in Schiff Hardin's Litigation Group and leads the firm's White Collar Crime and Corporate Compliance Client Service Team.  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 experience handling matters involving financial and accounting fraud, mail and wire fraud, civil rights violations, class action litigation and other complex commercial disputes.

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, Patricia 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.

Judge Holmes is a member of and has held various leadership positions in numerous professional and service organizations.  Currently she serves on 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 chairs the Illinois Judicial Council and co-chairs the Retired Judges Committee of the Illinois Judges Association.  She holds memberships in the National Bar Association, American Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association, Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms, Black Women Lawyers' Association of Greater Chicago, Inc, and is President of the Board of The Just the Beginning Foundation, Inc., a premiere legal pipeline organization.