Paul Freehling Named Pro Bono Attorney of the Month for January 2008 by Illinois Legal Aid Online

Chicago, IL (January 24, 2008)—Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading full service law firms, today announced that Chicago-based Partner Paul Freehling has been named Pro Bono Attorney of the month for January 2008 by Illinois Legal Aid Online. The organization recognized Freehling’s work on petitions for clemency to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board on behalf of several pro bono clients.

“Paul is a well known litigator and brings that to bear in his clemency cases,” said Allegra R. Rich, Pro Bono Partner and Director of Philanthropy at Seyfarth Shaw. “Paul’s clemency clients are served amazingly well by his experience, and he’s a wonderful mentor and example to all the associates who work with him.”

For the past three years, Freehling has supervised Seyfarth Shaw lawyers who have prepared approximately 20 clemency petitions on behalf of clients who were referred to the firm through the Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic. Freehling’s own clemency petition work includes a successful grant of clemency by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in favor of a custodian at the Chicago Public Schools, who won back his job as a result of the favorable outcome. In 2007, Freehling’s work was also recognized by the Chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, who thanked the Seyfarth Shaw attorneys appearing before the Board and noted that the firm and its clients were well-represented by the attorneys who assisted petitioners at the hearings. A video featuring Freehling can be viewed at: www.illinoisprobono.org.

“These individuals for whom we’re providing clemency services had something happen to them in the past; they made a bad decision and want to live a better life,” Freehling said. “What happened to them, but for the grace of God, could have happened to any of us. We’re fortunate to be able to use our legal training to help them move on with their lives and to help them make good choices for their future.”

Illinois Legal Aid Online provides the statewide technology infrastructure that helps streamline the delivery of free and pro bono legal services to the poor, and provides easy to understand legal information and pro se assistance to the public. Anyone can nominate an attorney for the attorney of the month award online at www.illinoisprobono.org.

Seyfarth Shaw has over 750 attorneys located in nine offices throughout the United States including Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento, as well as Brussels, Belgium. The firm provides a broad range of legal services in the areas of labor and employment, employee benefits, litigation and business services. Seyfarth Shaw’s practice reflects virtually every industry and segment of the country’s business and social fabric. Clients include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, newspapers and other media, hotels, health care organizations, airlines and railroads. The firm also represents a number of federal, state, and local governmental and educational entities. For more information, please visit www.seyfarth.com.