Kimball Anderson Featured in Chicago Lawyer Magazine

Winston & Strawn partner Kimball Anderson was featured in the May 2012 issue of Chicago Lawyer Magazine.

The article, titled “Duos exercise their public service passion,” highlights how Mr. Anderson, along with his wife Karen Gatsis Anderson, helps fellow lawyers who also have a passion for public service law pursue their dreams.

Together, Mr. Anderson and his wife have initiated a series of financial support programs for Chicago's public interest attorneys. In 2003 they established the Anderson Fellowship, aimed at providing financial support to outstanding lawyers that are pursuing a career in public interest law by personally providing a $50,000 scholarship to one recipient each year. In September 2011, the University of Illinois College of Law announced the creation of the Kimball R. and Karen Gatsis Anderson Public Interest Grant Program, made possible with the help of a $250,000 donation from the Anderson’s themselves.

On the donation, Dean Bruce Smith said this generous gift "advances two key aspects of our institutional mission: Broadening professional opportunities for our graduates and serving the public interest." The Anderson’s partner on all major charitable gifts, thoroughly discussing all options, and then leading into a mutual decision. 

Though Mr. Anderson is considered one of the top commercial litigators in the U.S., he is also the chairman of Winston & Strawn’s pro-bono committee. His passion for public service keeps him deeply engaged in pro-bono clients, such as Wilder “Ken” Berry, a man convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault in 1992. Maintaining his innocence throughout incarceration, Mr. Anderson retried Berry’s case, resulting in an acquittal in 1999. Berry, who is now a paralegal at Winston & Strawn, said "he gave me the same attention as if I was one of the Fortune 500 corporations. I never felt like I was getting watered-down legal advice. I never felt like I was a pro bono client. I was just a client."

"My view is that after you ride the elevator up, you have an obligation to send the elevator back down for others to climb on board," said Mr. Anderson. "The emotional satisfaction of winning a big commercial case, for example, pales in comparison to the emotional satisfaction of, for example, helping a homeless client find permanent shelter and/or needed medical care or, for example, freeing a wrongfully convicted person. The personal satisfaction that comes from these 'pro bono' wins is enormous and sustaining."

Kimball Anderson is a veteran trial lawyer with 34 years of experience at Winston & Strawn. He is a nationally respected trial lawyer concentrating in the areas of professional liability, product liability, patent and trademark infringement, class actions and insurance coverage.