As Republicans search for a replacement for former U.S. Senate candidate Jack Ryan, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP Managing Partner J. William Roberts has been selected with former Illinois Attorney General Tyrone Fahner to examine credit histories and perform criminal background checks on those vying to be the party's choice for U.S. Senate in November 2004.
"We just want to make sure the person who is selected is ready to go. The discussion over the remaining four months of the campaign will be about the issues facing Illinois," state party spokesman Jason Gerwig said in a Chicago Sun Times article published June 28, 2004 ("Republicans tap lawyers to vet candidates"). "Both men are well respected and do a great job so it was a natural choice to have them help out in the process.
Mr. Roberts’ career has been dedicated to public service through several prominent positions in various levels of government. He served as Chief Legal Counsel to Illinois Governor Jim Edgar from 1995 to 1997. As the primary legal adviser for the governor, he managed a large portfolio of litigation, and acted as liaison with the general counsel of executive branch departments, boards and commissions. He also had responsibility for numerous Illinois regulatory agencies, including the Illinois Gaming Board, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Departments of Public Health and Professional Regulation.
Mr. Roberts served as United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois from 1986 to 1993. During that time, he was director of the Banca Nazionale del lavoro (BNL) Task Force, a complex inter-agency investigation of criminal conduct related to $5.5 billion in loans made by the Atlanta branch of an Italian bank to Iraq before the 1991 Persian Gulf War. In 1992 Mr. Roberts also served as Chairman of the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys and as a Senior Advisor to the Attorney General in Washington D.C. Prior to becoming United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, he was State’s Attorney of Sangamon County.
Mr. Roberts’ professional activities are significant. He served for six years on the Board of Governors of the Illinois State Bar Association and as Chairman of the Criminal Justice Section Council of the Illinois Bar Association. Mr. Roberts served as President of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association and was a member of the Board of Directors of the National District Attorneys Association. He held the position of President of the Sangamon County Bar Association.
Mr. Roberts serves as Chairman of the Task Force on Professional Practice in the Illinois Justice Systems. He is Chancellor and Founding Regent of the Illinois Academy of Lawyers. In addition, he is past President of the Lincoln Douglas Inn of Court.
Mr. Roberts is the Managing Partner of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP and maintains an active legal practice in the firm's Chicago and Springfield offices, concentrated in complex civil and criminal litigation, government relations and employment law. He is chair of the firm's national Business Litigation Practice Group.
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is a national law firm with 475 lawyers in 25 offices coast-to-coast. The firm offers a full-service practice, with an emphasis in commercial and defense litigation, corporate, environmental, employment and construction law, as well as the representation of professionals in their liability matters. The firm provides services to a range of clients in financial services, construction, health care, not-for-profit, insurance, legal, manufacturing, real estate, transportation and other industries. Firm clients also include government agencies, municipalities and schools.
Hinshaw was founded in 1934. The firm is headquartered in Chicago, and maintains offices in 12 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.