Overview
Elizabeth P. Lewis serves as the Firm’s Pro Bono and Community Service Partner. In this role, Elizabeth leads the Firm’s pro bono, community service and charitable giving initiatives. She works closely with the Firm’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee and senior management to define the Firm’s programmatic mission, identify strategies for growth and launch pro bono and community service initiatives. Elizabeth also regularly collaborates with nonprofit organizations on legal clinics, community service events and other opportunities for social impact.
In addition, Elizabeth regularly represents individual and nonprofit clients on a wide variety of issues ranging from special education, school discipline, family law, tax exemption and a variety of other tax and business law issues, and participates in numerous volunteer and community service activities through the Firm’s Kids First Initiative.
Prior to assuming the role of Pro Bono and Community Service Partner, Elizabeth was a partner in the US and International Tax Group. In that role, she devoted considerable attention to international tax planning for US and non-US-based multinational companies, advising on multi-jurisdictional business structures for US multinationals, focusing on issues that included subpart F and other anti-deferral rules, transfer pricing, sourcing issues, US trade, business or permanent establishment issues, and Section 367.
Results
- Obtained placement at a private therapeutic day school for a student with severe learning and anxiety disorders
- Secured 501(c)(3) status for numerous nonprofit organizations, including specialized school for students with autism, an organization devoted to educating high school students on their constitutional rights and civic duties and an organization devoted to educating young people about human rights
- Represented and negotiated a settlement on behalf of a grandmother living in Guatemala seeking the return of her granddaughters under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
- Served as the co-team leader on an innovative pro bono collaboration with Lawyers Without Borders, coordinating the efforts of more than thirty attorneys in seven countries to prepare a comprehensive report on the rights of women and children in Kenya
- Co-lead a team of summer associates in the preparation of a guide on behalf of TrustLaw for international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) seeking to solicit charitable contributions from US donors
Recognitions
- Crain’s Chicago Business, Notable Leaders in Community Development, 2022
- Illinois Super Lawyers, Illinois Rising Star, 2013 to 2015
- US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Award for Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service, 2013
- The Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Foundation, Maurice Weigle Exceptional Young Attorney Award, 2012
- McDermott Will & Emery, Firm-Wide Outstanding Achievement and Commitment to Pro Bono and Service to the Community, 2008 and 2012
- Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI), Distinguished Alumni Award, 2009
Community
Credentials
Education
Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, JD, magna cum laude, 2006
Northwestern University, BA, 2002
Admissions
Illinois
Courts/Agencies
US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
