Brian Nisbet Discusses Pro Bono Representation with the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

Chicago-based associate Brian Nisbet was quoted in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin article “One Clinic, Seven Years, One Man’s Freedom” published June 5, 2015. In the article, Mr. Nisbet recounts his experience as part of a team at Northwestern University School of Law’s Bluhm Legal Clinic representing convicted murderer Jason Strong.

In the spring of 2009, Mr. Nisbet and his team were speaking with Jeremy Tweedy, whose testimony formed the foundation of the state’s case against Mr. Strong, when according to Mr. Nisbet, Mr. Tweedy admitted, “You know what? Everything I testified to was false.”

On May 28, 2015, after nearly 15 years in state prison, Mr. Strong was freed from Menard Correctional Center prison in Illinois. The Bluhm Legal Clinic had represented him for seven years. Mr. Nisbet estimated that the total bill for Mr. Strong’s representation during that time would reach hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees.

The day of his release, Mr. Nisbet and several of his team members from the Bluhm Legal Clinic met Mr. Strong’s mother and greeted Mer. Strong as he exited prison. Before leaving the prison, the warden asked Mr. Strong to recite his number one last time.

“She shook his hand and said, ‘That’s it. You’re a free man,” he said. “It was pretty cool.”