Chicago Law Firm Offers To Help Chicago 2016 Summer Games Bid

 Beijing London Chicago Association  (Chicago, IL): Illinois' longest serving Governor, James "Big Jim" Thompson, has, reportedly, placed Winston & Strawn, one of Chicago's largest legal firms, at the disposal of Chicago 2016 Committee officials. Mr. Thompson, who served as governor for the state of Illinois from 1977 - 1991, indicated that Winston & Strawn's Thomas P. Fitzgerald requested the legal firm be presented as an available resource to committee officials.

Mr. Thompson, who, in 1993, saw the James R. Thompson Center named in; his honor, has expressed great enthusiasm for Chicago's 2016 Olympic Summer Games bid. In a March 2007 statement Mr. Thompson exclaimed, "They've[Los Angeles] had the Olympics, what, two times? We're in the middle of the nation. We can do the job. It's Chicago's turn."

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Mr. Thompson, Illinois governor for four consecutive terms, also said that "There are lots of wealthy people in Chicago.They're rich, and they can use corporate money. It's not all their personal money." It would seem that Thompson is eager to remove any doubt the United States Olympic Committee(USOC) may have about Chicago's ability to pay for the cost of an Olympic Games in 2016. That ability to "handle" the price tag may well be an important deciding factor as the price tag is likely to be far in excess of $1 billion dollars.

Incidentally, after four consecutive terms in office, an Illinois record, Chicago 2016 Committee might do well to take Winston & Strawn up on the offer just to gain access to Mr. Thompson's substantial knowledge, experience, and his Rolodex. Add to that the resumes of Mayor Daley and Patrick Ryan and Chicago 2016 just may have a combination that can not be beat.

The United States Olympic Committee will decide, on April 14 of this year(2007), which U.S. city, if any, it will submit to the International Olympic Committee(IOC) as the 2016 Summer Olympic Games candidate city for the United states of America. The IOC will not reveal the actual Olympic Summer Games host until two years from now, in 2009. The worldwide competition that any U.S. candidate city will face may include Tokyo, Japan - Madrid, Spain - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - and Prague in the Czech Republic.

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