Former federal prosecutors who went on to represent Dennis Hastert, Edward Burke team up on new Chicago law firm
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John Gallo and Chris Gair were both young federal prosecutors in the early 1990s when they found themselves working different aspects of one of the biggest cases in town: the sprawling investigation and takedown of crime and corruption in south suburban Chicago Heights, including cases against gangsters, mobbed-up politicians, drug dealers, and police officers on the take.
Their paths diverged wildly from there. Gallo worked for years for white-shoe firm Sidley Austin, where he established a project ensuring death row inmates got access to high-quality legal representation and also represented high-profile clients like former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
For the past six years, Gallo served as executive director of the nonprofit Legal Aid Chicago, managing a team of more than 200 lawyers and assistants who provide free civil legal services to people living in poverty in the Chicago area.
Gair, meanwhile, rose to partner with powerhouse Chicago-based firm Jenner & Block before starting his own firm a decade ago, representing clients such as former Chicago Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, who was convicted at trial last year, and now ex-Ald. Edward Burke, whose racketeering trial starts Monday.
Now, three decades after their turn in the U.S. attorney’s office, Gallo and Gair are teaming up again. On Wednesday, the two veteran attorneys unveiled a new law firm, Gair Gallo Eberhard LLP, that they hope will fill a niche for clients who want top-notch representation without big law firm fees, while also offering a “flexible” work environment for staff in the post-pandemic landscape.
“There is a giant space between the big firms and what they do and the market for regular folks and regular businesses,” Gallo, 62, told the Tribune on Wednesday. “There is also a big market for attorneys who want to also have a life outside of practicing law.”
Gallo and Gair said they’re intent on making hourly rates more reasonable than the $2,000-an-hour rates of some of the bigger firms in town. “If a client wants to propose something to us, we’ll listen,” Gallo said. “If it’s going to be success based we’ll listen.”
And they hope that their different, yet complementary personalities will work in their favor. In the courtroom, Gallo is known as a strategist and soft-spoken advocate for clients, while Gair has a reputation as a bulldog.
“Chris is one of the most ferocious, intense, smart and dedicated trial lawyers I have ever met,” Gallo said. “His ability to cross-examine is as good as anybody. He has an edge to him. I think I help with taking a little bit off the edge.”
Those traits go back to their days in the U.S. attorney’s office where, in addition to the Chicago Heights case, they both played roles in some of Chicago’s more celebrated investigations. Gallo was one of the lead prosecutors in the Operation Silver Shovel probe of corruption at City Hall, while Gair prosecuted mobsters Lenny Patrick and Gus Alex.
Gair, 64, said he hopes the new venture will prove the adage that to be a good trial lawyer, “You have to be yourself.”
“John is very measured, and his judgment is impeccable,” Gair said. “He’s passionate, but his passion is not on the surface. Not so much for me. I wear it on my sleeve.”
They both say the idea for partnership was born of serendipity, when Gair asked Gallo’s wife, an event planner, to organize a 10-year anniversary bash for his firm in July. Gallo said he’d intended to stay at Legal Aid, but at the event Gair proposed point-blank, “Let’s start a law firm together,” and the idea stuck in his head.
“It never crossed my mind to leave what I was doing,” Gallo said. “But it wormed its way into my subconscious and I couldn’t get it out.”
Their new firm has a total of six lawyers, including Gair’s longtime partner Jeff Eberhard, and is headquartered at 1 E. Wacker Drive. The team also includes Vilia Dedinas, 61, who was also a founding partner in Gair’s prior firm.
Gallo says they hope to expand from there, using some of the lessons he learned building a team at Legal Aid “where everyone feels valued.”
“You learn a lot working with talented advocates representing people who are indigent,” Gallo said. “At Legal Aid, those advocates make an eighth of what they could make in private practice, yet the quality of their advocacy is as good as any in this city’s big firms.”
