NEWS & INSIGHTS

Chicago – John G. Levi, a partner in the Chicago office of Sidley Austin LLP, was honored as the first recipient of the Abner and Zoe Mikva Corporate Citizenship award at the Mikva Challenge Spring Benefit on April 21, 2011. Mikva Challenge, an organization that promotes the development of civic leadership in underserved Chicago high school youth, is inaugurating the Civic Leadership awards to honor civic and political leaders who exemplify the kind of commitment to public service to which Abner and Zoe Mikva dedicated their lives.

Mikva Challenge’s work is focused on helping youth develop as the next generation of civic leaders. The organization was founded as a tribute to former White House Counsel, Judge and U.S. Congressman Abner Mikva and his wife Zoe, a lifelong education activist. In addition to Mr. Levi’s Corporate Citizenship Award, Mayor Cory Booker of Newark and former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar were honored as the first co-recipients of the Public Service Award, and Curie Metropolitan High School received the Action Civics Award.

“We are delighted to bestow John with the inaugural Abner and Zoe Mikva Corporate Citizenship award as he sets the bar for what this award is meant to demonstrate,” said Brian Brady, Executive Director of the Mikva Challenge. “John has a remarkable dedication and commitment to the justice system, education and public service.”

“I have deep admiration for Abner and Zoe and their devotion to public service,” said Mr. Levi. “To receive an award in their names is truly an honor.”

In April 2010, Mr. Levi was elected Board chairman of the Legal Services Corporation, which makes annual grants of approximately $400 million and is the single largest funder of civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. He has been instrumental in many of Sidley’s pro bono programs, including its corporate partnership with Gerald Delgado Kanoon Magnet Elementary School, the longest corporate partnership for any Chicago public school. Mr. Levi leads the firm’s committee that oversees the partnership, which is one of many programs in which Sidley lawyers throughout the country give back to the broader community.

Mr. Levi practices in Sidley’s labor, employment and immigration practice and represents major professional and financial services firms, national and multi-national corporations, as well as a host of medium-sized and smaller corporations in employment and labor matters before numerous federal and state courts, government agencies and arbitration forums.

Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world’s premier full-service law firms, with more than 1600 lawyers practicing in 17 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Sidley is recognized for service and responsiveness. Sidley received the most first-tier national rankings of any U.S. law firm in the inaugural U.S.News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings for 2010. BTI, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, has named Sidley as one of only three firms to have been in the top ten of the BTI Client Service rankings every year since the inception of those rankings in 2001, and as number one in three of those years.

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