Law firm's civic work spans 150 years
John Willard
Lane & Waterman, one of the oldest law firms in the Midwest, is celebrating its 150th anniversary in a manner befitting its commitment to community service and its deep roots in the Quad-Cities.
The law firm is announcing a gift of $150,000 to support the efforts of HELP Legal Assistance in Davenport and the Prairie States Legal Services office in Rock Island. The gift, whose monetary value corresponds to the firm's 150 years, is the largest that the firm has ever granted to an organization, C. Dana Waterman III, the firm's managing partner, said.
The donation is in keeping with Lane & Waterman's longstanding support of legal aid in the Quad-Cities. The firm's lawyers provide a minimum of 250 hours of free legal assistance annually to the agencies.
The $150,000 will be distributed to the agencies in proportion to the number of cases the firm handles for each, with $100,000 going to HELP and $50,000 going to Prairie States, Waterman said.
Such support helps deliver legal services to all people, he said.
"We believe that it is part of our professional responsibility to assure that we can assist in providing legal services to those who do not have the means of access," he said
The gift is being warmly received by HELP Legal Assistance and Prairie State Legal Services, both of which have experienced severe funding cutbacks in recent years.
"It is a wonderfully humbling privilege to have Lane & Waterman establish as the centerpiece of its 150th anniversary celebration a gift enabling low-income people to have access to our system of justice," Howard Thomas, director of HELP Legal Assistance, said.
The gift, he said, speaks to the firm's commitment to the nation's ideals of equal justice under law. "I can't emphasize how grateful we are," he said.
Janelle Swanberg, deputy director and incoming director of HELP, said the gift is emblematic of the leadership that the firm has shown in its support of the agency. "They are true partners with us in meeting the needs of people in Scott and Clinton counties who cannot afford legal services," she said.
Gary Lane, a Davenport lawyer and president of the HELP board of directors, said the gift could not come at a better time. The agency has been plagued in recent years by a shortage of resources and government support available through the federal Legal Services Corp. and other funding sources.
Because of the funding cutbacks, he said, the agency has had to reduce its staff of six lawyers to four.
"This is a wonderful gift that comes during some challenging times," said Lane, who is no relation to the Lanes who have been associated with Lane & Waterman.
Joseph Dailing, executive director of Rockford, Ill.-based Prairie States Legal Services, said funding cutbacks have made it challenging for his agency to provide free legal services to low-income people in Rock Island, Henry, Mercer and Whiteside counties.
"This gift is a real tribute to the professionalism and commitment of Lane &Waterman to ensure that low-income people have access to the courthouse," he said.
With 37 lawyers, three semi-retired, or "of counsel" lawyers, and a support staff of 60 working out of offices in Davenport and Rock Island, Lane & Waterman is the largest law firm in the Quad-Cities. Founded in 1854 by partners A. Abner Davison and David C. True, the firm is believed to be the oldest law practice west of the Mississippi. It became known as Lane & Waterman in 1902, when Judge Charles M. Waterman left the Iowa Supreme Court to join firm partner Joe R. Lane.
Lane & Waterman has helped shape the growth of the Quad-Cities, representing clients in a broad range of economic development milestones. While the firm's lawyers practice no criminal law, its litigators have represented clients in multimillion-dollar civil lawsuits ranging from toxic waste cases to insurance coverage disputes.
Clients range from multinational, Fortune 500 corporations to local businesses and individuals who need a lawyer for such services as preparing a will or representing them at the closing of a home purchase. In the Quad-Cities, Lane & Waterman counts among its clients Lee Enterprises Inc., parent corporation of the QUAD-CITY TIMES; Genesis Health System; Davenport Schools; Deere & Co.; Alcoa and the Catholic Diocese of Davenport.
The firm represented the diocese in its recent $9 million settlement of 37 claims by people who said priests sexually abused them as children.
The courtroom is not the only place where members of the firm are active. The firm's brochure lists more than 50 civic community organizations in which they are involved.
"We believe that as part of our values, part of our history, we have both a privilege and an obligation of community service," said Waterman, great-grandson of Charles M. Waterman.
John Willard can be contacted at (563) 383-2314 or jwillard@qctimes.com.