Interview with Patricia Brown Holmes, Managing Partner at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP

UNBOSSED

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Interview with Patricia Brown Holmes, Managing Partner at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP

Brought to you by The Chicago Woman's Club

Marina

Sep 07, 2021

Wepa! I'm Marina. I am a technologist, mom, podcast host, leadership coach, cruciverbalist and aquarian. ;)

UNBOSSED is “Stories of Amazing Women in Chicago”.

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In this episode:

Patricia Brown Holmes is the first African-American woman to lead and have her name on the door of a major law firm that is not women- or minority-owned.

A woman of exceptional talent, intelligence and vitality, Patricia Holmes has chalked up enough accomplishments to fill three lifetimes. Over the course of her distinguished legal career, she has practiced law on both sides of the bench in courtrooms at every level, serving as Associate Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, assistant U.S. attorney, assistant state's attorney for Cook County, and Chief Assistant Corporation Counsel for Municipal Prosecutions for the city of Chicago.

By the time she ventured into private practice in 2005, Patricia’s skill and experience were firmly established and widely acknowledged. She is one of a handful of Illinois lawyers who have tried cases in state, city and federal court as well as state appellate, federal appellate, and Illinois Supreme Court. She is also co-writer of a brief that was presented before the US Supreme Court.

Over the past decade, in her role as a successful and sought-after defense attorney, she has represented a wide range of public and private corporate clients in complex commercial, regulatory and class action litigation as well as in internal investigations involving financial and accounting fraud, corporate whistleblower allegations, contract disputes, and mail and wire fraud.

Patricia practices the art of communicating with government officials by employing equal measures of conviction, clarity and tact. Her nine years on the bench and her experience teaching judicial seminars have given her valuable insight into how judges think about and analyze cases. This rare combination of judicial knowledge and trial experience make her a powerful asset, valuable partner and trusted counselor to a wide range of corporate clients in several industries, including education, transportation, manufacturing, entertainment, industrial, health care, and food and beverage industries.

Key Highlights/Tools:

Patricia Brown Holmes is THE FIRST African-American woman in the Nation to lead and have her name on the door of a major law firm that is not women- or minority-owned.
You are your own doctor
Enjoy the moments more
Different is not better or worse, it’s just different
As a leader we must let people in

Timestamp:

0:00 Introductions

1:00 Who is Patricia

5:00 Growing-up in Chicago, during different times

9:00 How do we go from Chicago being safe for minorities to what Chicago is today?

12:00 Could cannabis legalization change the mindset of how black and brown are conceived?

14:00 Becoming a Lawyer and having amazing friends

21:00 You are your own doctor

26:00 Explaining a career as a public attorney

30:00 Having fun as a key to success

37:00 Running for office

45:00 Patricia Brown Holmes is THE FIRST African-American woman in the Nation to lead and have her name on the door of a major law firm that is not women- or minority-owned

50:00 Creating Allies at work

56:00 Closing

Memorable Quotes:

“Never waste an opportunity to be happy” - Patricia Brown Holmes

Useful Links and Resources:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-brown-holmes-4423071/

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