Corboy & Demetrio is Dedicated to Pro Bono Work

Throughout our firm’s 68-year history, our attorneys have donated thousands of hours of their time to indigent plaintiffs, providing them with the same access to justice that everyone in our society deserves.

Partners Philip Harnett Corboy, Jr. and Thomas A. Demetrio are Past Presidents of The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA), a statewide organization of over 2,000 attorneys that seeks to secure and ensure the rights of injured consumers.

Currently, Philip is serving on ITLA’s Executive Committee,  which sets ITLA policy to protect consumers’ rights, to promote fair, prompt and efficient administration of justice, and to defend everyone’s right to a trial by jury. 

Also, all of our firm’s lawyers avidly volunteer or have volunteered for a wide array of ITLA committee activities, ranging from membership initiatives to writing amicus briefs, and serve or have serves on ITLA's Board of Managers.

Philip Corboy, Jr. is a Past President of the Board of Directors of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, now known as Chicago Legal Aid, which is Illinois’ largest legal aid program for low income people. In addition, he has been a longtime LAF Board Member.  Philip has also served on the Equal Justice Illinois Campaign Blue-Ribbon Committee to increase state funding of civil legal aid so that all Illinois residents, regardless of income, have access to the justice system.

We are extremely proud of the other pro bono work performed by our attorneys, who volunteer their time to help the indigent on a case-by-case basis.

In one of those cases, Thomas Demetrio represented a Navy veteran who was rendered a quadriplegic after she was blown off a porch during a hurricane.  After her quadriplegia, she dated and became pregnant.  Determined to raise her child independently, she went to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago to learn how to perform motherly duties in her disabled state. The father filed a lawsuit against her seeking sole custody of their child on the grounds she could not – as a quadriplegic – be a fit mother.  As a result of our firm’s representation by Thomas Demetrio, it was she who was awarded custody, and she has proven to be the mother of the century to her son.

Currently, two of our partners, William T. Gibbs and Edward Willer, participate in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar Pro Bono Program where members of the trial bar are assigned to serve as counsel to pro se litigants who cannot otherwise afford to retain counsel. Members of the panel are assigned to pending civil cases to represent pro se litigants on a pro bono basis.  Both Bill and Ed are currently working on cases as a part of this important program.

In addition, Partner Francis Patrick Murphy, who is currently serving as President of the Board of Lawyers’ Assistance Program of Illinois and is a longtime LAP board member, is currently working on a pro bono case on behalf of a low-income senior citizen.

Attorney Michael D. Ditore performs pro bono work for the Center for Disability & Elder Law, which provides free legal services to low-income and disabled persons.  He is currently representing a senior citizen who was bilked out of her savings in a financial exploitation case.

Attorney Andrew Stevens also has devoted considerable time to two pro bono cases in the last year.

In addition, Partner Susan Schwartz is a consistent and generous supporter of pro bono services through her work at CARPLS, a legal aid hotline, which provides access to justice for those most in need by allowing direct access to an attorney for brief legal services or referral to an appropriate legal aid group. 

In addition to providing support to indigent plaintiffs, all our attorneys devote a substantial amount of time and resources in various capacities for numerous professional legal organizations, non-profits and educational institutions.  Throughout their legal careers, many of our attorneys serve on boards of charitable and civic organizations, foundations, bar associations and other professional organizations.