Illinois Legal Aid Online

Illinois Legal Aid Online has named Thomas K. Prindable, Managing Partner of Clifford Law Offices, as its Pro Bono Attorney for February, 2008.
Prindable, who has worked to organize the lawyers at the firm in a pro bono effort with the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, was recognized this month for his outstanding contribution to help the disabled and elderly in need.

Attorneys at the firm have been volunteering their time to help CVLS with its guardian ad litem program, increasing access to justice in the Probate Division of the courts in Cook County.

“I am humbled by this recognition,” Prindable said.  “The lawyers at Clifford Law Offices do this work because of the belief that it is important to help others in need.  We hope that we have accomplished that for the lives that we have touched.”

Click here to view an interview with Prindable on his thoughts on pro bono.

Task Force on Terrorism and the Law

Just days after the September 11 tragedy, the then ABA President Robert Hirshon appointed Robert Clifford as Chair of the newly-formed Task Force on Terrorism and the Law.  From that moment forward, he was on the phone nearly every day and on an airplane nearly every week to discuss how to help the victims of this bloody disaster.  He has been advising members of Congress, the Department of Justice and the Executive Branch of the legal ramifications of the regulations that will impact thousands.  He has advocated for litigation restraint among his colleagues while a mourning country tries to sort through the legal morass.  He has talked to many families who lost loved ones and been a source of comfort, support and guidance at a time when they knew not where to turn.   He has done all of this on his own time, time taken away from his own successful law practice.

Section of Litigation

Bob Clifford accomplished this formidable task as Chair of Task Force on Terrorism and the Law while Chair of the Section of Litigation, the largest section of the ABA numbering some 65,000 attorneys from across the country.  Bob Clifford led a year of critical meetings where these issues were discussed and debated, including a Town Hall Meeting at Faneuil Hall in Boston where the best and the brightest from around the country gathered with moderator Bill Kurtis.  The debate was lively; the interaction informative and provocative.  The focus of his year was on the sagging public perception of lawyers, a cause that was then taken on by the  then President of the ABA, A.P. Carlton.  Mr. Clifford is most disturbed by the American public’s lack of understanding in all the good that lawyers do for society.  The second part of the Town Hall Meeting was a give-and-take on this issue which focused on the year-long study Mr. Clifford personally commissioned on the public perception of lawyers.  Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a national research group based in Chicago, conducted the study.

Continuing Legal Education

Bob Clifford also finds time to give back to the profession through continuing legal education efforts.  He endowed his alma mater, DePaul University College of Law, with the first Tort Law and Social Policy Chair in the largest single gift to the school.  Annually, the law school conducts a two-day seminar where experts from around the country debate issues important to the civil justice system.  Mr. Clifford has always insisted that the two-day symposium be free to the public.  He then sees to it that the DePaul Law Review staff publishes the written materials in a special edition of the Law Review so that more people can share the efforts of this monumental task and highly educational program.

Clifford Law Offices has been approved by the State of Illinois as an accredited provider of mandatory continuing legal education (CLE) programs in the state.  The first program offered, in February 2008, is a two-hour ethics/professionalism seminar with Northwestern University Professor Robert Burns.

DePaul Alumni Association

Bob Clifford has been active with DePaul as the President of its Alumni Association where he served as the youngest member of its Board of Trustees.  Mr. Clifford also was selected as Chairman of DePaul's College of Law Capital Development Fund which is raising thousands of dollars to improve the law school's Chicago campus.

Illinois Victims’ Group

Mr. Clifford has made a real mark in the city and on the profession through his tireless efforts in organizations dedicated to helping those less fortunate.  In an effort to help empower those victimized by faulty products, negligent doctors and avoidable accidents, Mr. Clifford spearheaded the organization of a victims’ group in Illinois.  This group, now comprised of hundreds of people from across the state, is an organization based in Springfield dedicated to helping the injured fight anti-consumer legislation.  Many of them, some wheelchair-bound, have made the trek to the state's capital in a plea to legislators to vote against tort reform bills.  They, together with lawyers like Mr. Clifford, were at the forefront of getting the so-called "tort reform" legislation overturned in Illinois in December, 1997.

Chicago Public Television

Through the generous support of Robert Clifford and Clifford Law Offices, WTTW, Chicago's public television station, was able to purchase equipment for the hearing impaired. For the first time in the station's history, local programming is now closed captioned.  Mr. Clifford also sits on WTTW's Board of Trustees.

Volunteer Activities

Mr. Clifford is very active in volunteer activities to promote the bench and bar as well.  He was President of the Chicago Inn of Court, a group dedicated to encouraging professional ethics.  This group includes among its ranks Mayor Richard M. Daley, Former Illinois Governor James Thompson, Dan Webb, Anton Valukas and the Honorable U.S. District Judge Joel Flaum.  He has been inducted into the exclusive American College of Trial Lawyers, the prestigious International Academy of Trial Lawyers as well as the National Judicial College dedicated to furthering the education of our country's judges.

Guardian Ad Litem Volunteer Program

 
Clifford Law Offices, in 2007, received a special Law Firm Award from the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation (CVLS) for its outstanding contribution to pro bono legal services. Attorneys at the firm have been working on CVLS’s adult guardian ad litem program that helps the disabled and elderly.

Heading the effort for the firm is its Managing Partner, Tom Prindable (center), who accepted the award from Meg Benson, CVLS Executive Director, and Peter Ashmore, CVLS Managing Attorney.

Letters to Santa Program

The staff at Clifford Law Offices have been adopting a classroom at Christmas for many years through the Letters to Santa Program.  They answer letters written by the boys and girls to Santa in hopes of making their holidays a bit brighter.  The gifts are delivered to the classroom before Christmas so the children can put them under their trees at home.

The Center for Disability and Elder Law

The Center for Disability and Elder Law recently recognized Bob Clifford for his untiring efforts in helping the disabled and elderly.  He was awarded the Leonard A. Ring Award, one of its top honors, for his being a spokesperson for many who are unable to help themselves.  More importantly, however, Mr. Clifford feels that it is through the Center that they can become more independent and, therefore, more empowered and a vital part of our society.