Holland & Knight’s Trisha Rich Honored as One of Chicago’s Top 40 Young Leaders
CHICAGO (November 29, 2018) – Holland & Knight Partner Trisha Rich has been named to the Crain’s Chicago Business 2018 “40 Under 40” list. Now in its 29th year, Crain’s “40 Under 40” list highlights the Chicago area’s best and brightest young business, government and community leaders. Ms. Rich will join an esteemed and eclectic group of “40 Under 40” alumni, including Oprah Winfrey (1989), Rahm Emanuel (1990), Valerie Jarrett (1994), Illinois’ governor-elect J.B. Pritzker (2000), Stephanie Izard (2010), Chance the Rapper (2016) and then community organizer Barack Obama (1993). Ms. Rich is the only practicing lawyer to be included on this year’s list.
Ms. Rich has built a national reputation in the area of professional responsibility law, representing lawyers, law firms and in-house counsel, and is a frequent speaker and author on a variety of issues related to legal ethics and risk management. She also founded the Attorney Defense Initiative, the country’s first privately supported pro bono program that focuses on assisting impaired lawyers facing disciplinary charges. In addition, she is a highly respected commercial litigator, representing a wide variety of clients in dispute resolution, including white collar criminal defense and internal investigations.
Outside of the office, Ms. Rich is involved in a number of professional, charitable and political groups. She sits by appointment from the Illinois Supreme Court on the Commission on Professionalism and is a member of the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee. She also is an active member of the Chicago Bar Association and serves as an advisor and outside ethics counsel to the Justice Entrepreneurs Project, a lawyer incubator based in Chicago that focuses on representing clients who cannot afford traditional legal service providers. Ms. Rich is a longtime volunteer and associate board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois and a volunteer mentor at Christopher House Elementary on Chicago’s West Side, a school that focuses on helping low-income, at-risk families.
“Trish is an excellent lawyer, an outstanding citizen and a born leader,” said Steven M. Elrod, executive partner of Holland & Knight’s Chicago office and president of the Chicago Bar Association. “Her contributions to the firm, to the legal profession and the bar association, and to the community are immeasurable and make her very deserving of this honor.”
Ms. Rich has been previously selected as one of Law Bulletin Media’s “Forty Under 40 Illinois Lawyers to Watch” and Crain’s “Chicago’s Notable Women Lawyers.” She also received the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Maurice Weigle Exceptional Young Lawyer Award in 2017 in recognition of her initiative and exceptional contributions to the profession.
“I am honored and humbled to be included on this list of influential and accomplished leaders,” said Ms. Rich. “I could not have been in this position without the unwavering support of my family, my friends and my incredible colleagues at Holland & Knight, who share my vision of impacting our profession and our communities in positive ways. I am fortunate to go to work every day and be in an atmosphere that fosters our core values of excellent client service, teamwork, diversity, service to the profession and giving back to our communities.”
The entire “40 Under 40” list can be viewed here or in the December 3 issue of Crain’s Chicago Business.