A Chicago-based plaintiffs boutique has donated more than $119,000 to local businesses that are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when most law firms are taking steps to bolster their own liquidity.

The firm's founder and CEO, prominent class action and privacy law litigator Jay Edelson, said he and his partners are able to give in part because firms such as his are conditioned to operating through times of financial uncertainty.

"In some ways, this is the difference between plaintiffs firms and a large defense firm. We are always thinking, 'Do we have enough money for the next six months or 12 months,'" Edelson said. "Because we're a contingency fee firm, we can have big settlements, but it'll take awhile for them to come in."

Among the donations Edelson PC has made recently is a $15,000 donation to KOVAL Distillery, a Chicago-based distillery that is making hand sanitizer for local organizations, and $50,000 to Petra & Holum, a Chicago packaging manufacturer that is making personal protective equipment for first responders.

The only major step the firm, which has 43 lawyers and staffers, has taken to manage its cash position during the pandemic has been halting the extra draws partners receive every quarter, said Edelson. However, he added that everyone at the firm receives a salary, and that they're hiring.

Jay Edelson Jay Edelson (courtesy photo)

Outside of those two donations, the Edelson firm has also donated an additional $5,600 to KOVAL, which has made hundreds of gallons of hand sanitizer for local hospitals.; $32,000 worth of computers, which is given to families in northern Illinois who need computers and wireless internet for distance learning; and over $15,000 to local restaurants and organizations that provide meals.

In total, the Edelson firm has pledged to donate $250,000.

The firm is fairly active on Twitter, where it has challenged other plaintiffs firms to support local restaurants by buying gift cards for them. The social media platform was how the firm got in touch with Petra & Holum. The packaging manufacturer saw a tweet KOVAL posted about the donation, and asked if Edelson could donate money to help buy machines that make PPE items.

The Edelson firm got in touch with the manufacturer later that day, and the firm sent the check the next day, said Michael Quintos, vice president of sales and marketing at Petra & Holum.

Half of the money the Edelson firm donated was used to buy equipment to make PPE such as masks and plastic face shields, Quintos said. The other half prepaid for thousands of masks that were then distributed to hospitals and law enforcement agencies in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

The company is making 2,500 masks a day, and is beginning to make plastic face shields this week, Quintos said. The law firm's donation to the company was instrumental, he said.

"We wouldn't have been able to retool without it," Quintos said.

The Edelson firm specializes in class-action lawsuits that are centered around technology, earning it a reputation as a Silicon Valley scourge. In January, the firm secured a $550 million settlement with Facebook over the social media giant's alleged violation of Illinois' biometric law, although Edelson said the settlement hasn't been approved by a judge yet. Edelson said the firm has secured other settlements, and he has been in three virtual mediations since the pandemic began.

Edelson voiced criticism of larger law firms, suggesting that they weren't doing enough to help local businesses weather the economic effects wrought by the novel coronavirus.

"I'm not attacking them because I don't know the—running a multibillion-dollar-a-year firm is much different than what we're doing. On the other hand, you do think there are ways they could step up and they're not. We've been looking to a lot of the smaller firms who have been doing things," Edelson said.

As ALM has reported, however, a slew of Am Law 100 firms have been working to help individuals and businesses effected by the pandemic in their own ways. A coalition of 34 law firms, including Kirkland & Ellis, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Goodwin Procter and Covington & Burling, joined together to help small businesses secure government assistance. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison organized an army of lawyers for pro bono efforts in March. Lawyers at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe are representing scientists designing ventilators while their counterparts at Dechert are arguing for the release of immigrants detained by the authorities.

In addition to its pro bono work, Paul Hastings has also started a fund to help out its own employees who have been affected by the pandemic.

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