Gail H.Morse

On June 11, Jenner & Block advised its client The Campbell Center in completing its merger with New Horizons. This merger marks a pivotal moment, uniting two San Fernando Valley, California based non-profits that have each served the neurodiverse community for 70 years. The Campbell Center supports adult individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities through supported employment, community integration services, and residential services.

In a recent analysis provided to Law360, Co-Managing Partner-Elect Ishan Bhabha, Partners Lauren Hartz, Emily Loeb, and Gail Morse, and Associates Hilary Ledwell, Michelle Li, and Erica Turret discuss the potential impact of the 2024 US election results on higher education, particularly with the incoming Trump-Vance Administration. Several areas of higher education policy are expected to be affected, including: DEI, campus protests, Title IX, federal funding and taxes, and foreign relationships.

The 2024 election capped a year of intense political scrutiny for colleges and universities, and the election results could have far-reaching ramifications for higher education. When President-Elect Trump takes office in January and the 119thCongress is sworn in, colleges and universities may quickly become the target of executive and congressional action on several fronts.

In honor of American Bar Association's US Pro Bono Week, Jenner & Block is celebrating and shining a spotlight on the impactful work our lawyers do to help preserve and strengthen the communities we serve. Earlier this year, the firm, an international leader in pro bono service, surpassed its five-year commitment of providing $250 million in free legal services to those in need of access to justice—a year and a half ahead of schedule.

A Jenner & Block team provided Bright Star Community Outreach (Bright Star) with real estate counsel to purchase Tabernacle Church, with input from the firm’s tax, environmental, and bankruptcy lawyers. 

Days before Iowa’s ban on books and “Don’t Say LGBTQ” provisions were set to be enforced on January 1, 2024, a federal district court temporarily blocked those two parts of SF 496, a wide-ranging law that targets LGBTQ+ students and content for erasure in schools.

Seven years after helping WINGS Program, Inc., purchase land and develop a facility for a shelter for domestic violence survivors in the South Side of Chicago – the first to open in the city in more than a decade at the time – and after the failure of others to secure exemption from property tax, Jenner & Block secured a charitable property tax exemption for the Shelter’s real property with retroactive application.  

Faith in Place honored a multi-disciplinary, cross-office team with its 2022 “Volunteer of the Year” award. Faith in Place empowers people of diverse faiths and spiritualities to advance environmental and racial justice. Jenner & Block has supported this client, pro bono, on solar Initiatives, human resource issues, copyright issues, government procurement issues, tax issues, and corporate transactions. The team includes Partners Michelle McAtee, Gail Morse, Julie Shepard, Steve Siros, and Emm

Jenner & Block Partner Gail H. Morse will speak on a panel hosted by the Chicago Bar Association on June 3. Ms. Morse, with panelists August Hieber of Chicago Bar Foundation, Travis Hooker of CDO Executives, Hon. Mary Marubio of Circuit Court of Cook County, Hon. Jill Rose Quinn of Circuit Court of Cook County, and Hon. Kristin Rosi of California Department of Insurance will discuss their own personal experiences and the type of training and materials they use to educate and create a courtroom t

The Washington, DC, region’s largest urban solar array is coming to The Catholic University of America, after years of collaboration between the University and a cross-practice Jenner & Block team committed to combating climate change.

For three weeks in December, a team of 26 Jenner & Block lawyers researched the availability of and access to mental health services for children in grades K-12 in 45 different states. Client Inseparable and 16 other organizations joined to form the Hopeful Futures Campaign, which used the data to assess the accessibility of mental health services in all 50 states.

Jenner & Block Partner Gail H. Morse was recently appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve on its Committee on Professional Responsibility. The Committee is charged with advising and making recommendations on matters relating to legal ethics and professional responsibility. Ms. Morse’s term runs from January 2022 to December 2024. Ms. Morse was also reappointed to the Court’s Committee on Equality.

On September 30, Partner Gail H. Morse will participate in a discussion during the American Bar Association’s 2021 Forum on Air & Space Law. Panelists will discuss recent federal, judicial, and executive developments impacting LGBTQ communities, starting with the US Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. The panel will explore judicial application of Bostock in workplace situations and pending federal legislation in the Equality Act that would codify the decision. The discus

The 2021 edition of The Legal 500 United States recognizes Jenner & Block in 24 national practice categories. Of those, the firm received a Tier-1 ranking in the Copyright, Native American Law, and Telecoms and Broadcast (Regulatory) categories.

On June 11, Jenner & Block Partner Gail H. Morse will speak on a panel about how employees are increasingly looking to company leadership to implement the use of pronouns within the workplace. This simple change in policy can increase employee morale and create a safe space for those who identify as non-binary or trans. Ms. Morse will be joined by Jane Barry-Moran, Manager of Partnerships + Programs at Out Leadership, which is hosting the panel during its Proudly Resilient conference. “How Imple

On April 7, Jenner & Block Department Counsel Allison N. Glover and Staff Attorney Anthony L. Nguyen successfully represented a transgender client for her name change hearing. The team was introduced to the client through the firm’s partnership with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) and its Name Change Project, which provides pro bono legal name change services to low-income transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people.

On December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a massive legislative package that provided $1.4 trillion to fund the federal government and $900 billion in long-delayed stimulus to respond to the continuing effects of the coronavirus pandemic (the Supplemental Stimulus Act).[1] After initially signaling that he might veto the law, President Trump eventually signed the bill into law on December 27, 2020. After last March’s stimulus legislation (the Coronavirus Ai

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the CAA), signed into law on December 27, 2020, includes a number of important provisions relevant to institutions of higher learning and elementary and secondary schools. This alert summarizes the key education-related terms of the new legislation, focusing on the coronavirus relief funds, appropriations for the Department of Education for fiscal-year 2021, and the simplification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Partners Gayle E. Littleton, Gail H. Morse, Julie J. Olenn, and Erin R. Schrantz have been recognized in Crain’s “2020 Notable Women in Law” for their efforts in “expanding the role of the women's resource group to make sure that young associates get the skills and confidence they need to succeed.” Honorees are also recognized for providing advice to clients, or the general public, on the many legal questions that have arisen as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Employers, payroll processors, and their advisors are essentially ignoring the President’s payroll tax deferral memo, and Treasury’s limited guidance, as unworkable. One employer, however, seems undeterred by the concerns plaguing private employers—the federal government. Senior federal officials announced that the federal government, as an employer, will implement the President’s payroll tax deferral. See https://federalnewsnetwork.com/pay/2020/08/trump-aiming-for-late-september-launch-of-payro