Donor Spotlight: Pat Salvi

Last month, PSLS interviewed founding donor and advocate Pat Salvi, Founder of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard to check in about the state of legal aid, philanthropy and community.

PSLS: We recognize the positive impact of your generational investment in civil legal aid in the collar counties and specifically the Lake County, Waukegan community. Can you walk us through your vision of investing in nonprofits and how that aligns with Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard values?

Pat: Sure, I opened my practice by myself in 1982 in Waukegan initially. Of course, PSLS had and still has a strong presence in Waukegan. Early on, the fine works of PSLS were brought to my attention and supported as an important part of giving back to both the community and the legal profession. Over the years through our practice, limiting it to serious personal injury and wrongful death, we’ve enjoyed success and grown. Our strong presence continued, and late in the 90s we expanded our headquarters to Chicago in order to represent a broader range of clients and compete in the space that we are in.

While growing, we continued to support fine organizations like Prairie State. We value supporting legal work for those who can't afford it; we know it is so important in so many aspects of their lives. Eventually we increased to 23 lawyers, primarily based in Chicago, but we still have a strong presence in Waukegan. We built the building a long time ago, and we remain very proud of it. A lot of our lawyers that live in Lake County and Wisconsin work there. I like to think that we have become one of the preeminent trial firms in the city. Most of our folks are in Chicago, and I’m proud to include my two sons and daughter-in-law with us. We have been blessed with wonderful clients and worked hard to get those results.

It’s important to us to support organizations like Prairie State, because they are so integral to those who can’t afford legal services which can be daunting in terms of expense and complexity of the various systems that they might be confronted with.

PSLS: Our approach to serving families and clients is more of a holistic approach as well. I noticed how many attorneys at SSP are philanthropic and support nonprofits through board leadership and service. How intentional is this approach aligned with how you conduct your business?

Pat: That is a very important component. We are very active in the foundations and the bar associations. Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth is an example. Philanthropic efforts that help families and allow legal services to be available for those who can’t afford it is another example. In addition, we support other important charitable causes that represent our values of giving back, because we have been so blessed.

PSLS: Can you share the story of when a group of PSLS staff came together with trusted supporters around a table and discussed the need for a campaign of support shouldered by attorneys for legal services? This shared vision was pivotal in growing awareness of PSLS’ work in the community and a milestone in our story. You helped us launch the campaign with your leadership and a gift to catalyze us in this direction.

Pat: Back in the day, PSLS was getting their footing and so forth. There were a couple of pivotal moments that they needed a little extra boost in terms of just organizational abilities and obviously financial contributions to keep them mission-focused and progressing.

I have to say, it’s not really so much me, but the work of so many others. I am so impressed with how well the organization is run and supports so many communities throughout Illinois: Peoria, Bloomington, Waukegan, Woodstock, etc. Your leadership team is terrific and it’s that talent, like yourself and others, that will cause an organization not only to survive but thrive!

PSLS’ Campaign for Legal Services was launched through visionary philanthropists like Pat Salvi. Over the years this group of volunteer attorneys has raised funds and created countless community events to spread the word and work of PSLS. Today, the committee includes professionals outside the legal sector and has rebranded as the Together for Justice Team to represent the next generation of community supporters and angel investors for PSLS.

PSLS: Gaining invested support to both reach our neighbors and collaborate with the communities we serve was a positive shift. This resulted in a productive growth of individual support that we leveraged to reach more Illinois families. You also expanded your community footprint with launching Salvi Sports Enterprises. Were you instrumental in structuring that same culture with the Schaumburg Boomers?

Pat: Yes, I’ve owned the Boomers since 2011, and it’s important to run an organization that is efficient from a business standpoint, to bring positive, good family entertainment to our wonderful fans. It’s been an extremely popular franchise and very successful. And again, part of the joy is to have and to share with various organizations that are near and dear to our hearts like Prairie State – and we just had the Lake County Bar Association out there. We had fun! Of course I’m admittedly biased, I have great staff from the President of Salvi Sports to the staff serving us hot dogs and beer. Thank you for saying that, it is a joy to bring people together to join in the fun nights out at Wintrust Field.

Talking baseball, fellowship and philanthropy with Pat Salvi was another gift of this interview. We closed our conversation sharing our favorite baseball film quotes. Pat’s favorite quote from Field of Dreams [1989] reflects his love of community: Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa!