Page 4 - Katten 2024 Pro Bono Annual Review

LITIGATION VICTORIES

KATTEN ACHIEVES VICTORY FOR INTERRACIAL
FAMILY FACING HARASSMENT FRO M NE IGHB ORS

In May 2022, Chicago Litigation Partner for intentional infliction of severe emo- The case presented several legal chal-
Brian Poronsky and Associate Loren Lee, tional distress, assault and battery. lenges, including the judge’s initial reserva-
along with former Katten attorney Partnering with the Chicago Lawyers' tions about resolving the matter in federal
Shannon Gross, filed a civil rights com- Committee for Civil Rights, Katten’s team court and the defendants’ ongoing harass-
plaint in the Northern District of Illinois secured a settlement that included a per- ment even after the complaint was filed.
on behalf of an interracial family from manent injunction preventing the defen- A preliminary injunction provided tem-
Northwest Chicago who had faced dants from any form of communication or porary relief, and after a protracted
persistent, years-long racial harassment contact with the plaintiffs, as well as a settlement process involving the defen-
from their neighbors. The defendants’ monetary settlement covering the family’s dants’ homeowners insurance, a final
egregious conduct included threats, racial protective measures, including the instal- settlement was reached. The permanent
slurs, and photographing and video lation of a privacy fence and security injunction order was entered on October
recording the children. The legal claims cameras as well as medical treatment. 24 of this year.
included violations of the Civil Rights
Act of 1866, the Fair Housing Act, the
Illinois Hate Crime Act and the Illinois “ Words cannot fully express the gratitude my family and I feel toward Katten and the
Human Rights Act, along with tort claims Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. The incredible attorneys we worked
with showed our children what justice looks like and, without even knowing it,
inspired my daughter to become a lawyer.”

WASHINGTON, DC, TEAM WINS APPEAL AFTER VETERAN
DENIED AGENT ORANGE-RELATED DISABILITY BENEFITS

A team from Katten’s Washington, DC, office, including former Aviation Associate Brett Seifarth and Litigation
Associates Corey Peterson, Abigail Johansen and Nicholas McGuire, successfully appealed a denial of service-
connected disability benefits for a veteran with pancreatic cancer caused by Agent Orange exposure. As a
result of their efforts, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals remanded the case based on its finding that the examiner
had not relied on facts specific to the client’s condition but had relied improperly on general medical literature,
ordering a new examination and medical opinion specific to the client’s condition.

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