Sonnenschein Pro Bono Case Produces Options for Developmentally Disabled
A consent decree obtained with the help of pro bono counsel Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal will give Illinois residents with developmental disabilities the option of moving from large facilities to community-based settings.
The suit had contended unnecessary institutionalization violates the Americans With Disabilities Act. The consent decree gave the class action plaintiffs nearly everything they had sought, Sonnenschein partner John Grossbart told the the Am Law Daily.
Grossbart was lead trial counsel, according to a press release (PDF). His law firm took on the case, one of the largest pro bono matters it has ever handled, after being approached for help by Equip for Equality, the Am Law Daily story says. Lawyers from several other public interest organizations also assisted in the suit.
The consent decree calls for payment of $2.5 million in attorney fees and expenses. Sonnenschein plans to donate its share to Equip for Equality.
Grossbart told the Am Law Daily that he had lined up several experts to testify at trial while the state had none, and that he also had damning e-mails from state agencies serving the disabled.
“I don’t want to speak for every single one of [the plaintiffs], but they are able,” Grossbart told the Am Law Daily. “They deserve to live in community settings, take a bus, or hold a job. The things we take for granted were all stripped away from them in these forced institutional settings.”
