Christopher Helt

Early life, education and career

Christopher Helt was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Helt had an entirely Jesuit education, completing his secondary education at Loyola Academy, graduating cum laude from Loyola University Chicago, and earning his law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Helt then worked for a Chicago law firm from 1988 until forming The Helt Law Group in 1994.

Early litigation

Helt represented retired Army colonel Richard J. Thomas in a 1997 lawsuit against his wife that claimed her smoking was a violation of the Clean Air Act, urging the judge to "find that secondhand smoke shouldn't be permitted in the home because it's a toxic pollutant". The suit was dropped when the colonel's wife agreed to quit smoking. Helt also represented former Cook County sheriff’s deputy Edward Suchetka in a 1996 lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department for wrongful arrest, which was dropped when the police agreed to issue a formal apology.

In 1999, Helt represented an ousted public school principal in a lawsuit against the Chicago school board. He stated of the case, "They move principals around like it's a Barnum & Bailey circus … When there's a problem, they blame it on the principals. The principals have become the Oliver Norths for everything that's wrong with Chicago public schools." The Chicago Tribune wrote that, in response to the suit, CPS CEO Paul Vallas said he would "declare an educational crisis at [the school] and seek the permanent removal of the principal and the local school council".

Immigration law

Helt later turned his focus to immigration law, representing clients in immigration, deportation, asylum, and refugee cases. One precedent set via Helt's in court arguments, according to the Chicago Tribune, was that "the lack of medical attention available to an autistic child from Pakistan rose to the level of persecution of a protected class". Nadya Labi wrote in Time Magazine that the case "challenged the precepts of Immigration law". Helt has argued for children with cerebral palsy to remain in the US due to the differences in the availability of medical help between the US and Pakistan. Other cases have included clients facing death if returned to their home countries, such as Montenegro during the Yugoslav Wars. In 2003, Helt was featured on the cover of Chicago Lawyer Magazine in an issue entitled "New Era of Immigration Law".

Helt was featured in Sree Nallamothu's documentary Patriot Acts, which chronicled the stories of people kept in immigration limbo due to post-9/11 immigration policies. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune about his thoughts on the film's subject-matter, Helt stated that

"Immigration is controlled, in my opinion, by politics and economics ... If you have a slow economy, then you don't have amnesty laws. And if the politics are bad, you have an anti-immigration sentiment out there. The war effort may collaterally have some anti-immigration repercussions. [It's] ironic, we're a nation of immigrants."

In 2007, the Chicago Reporter wrote, "Helt is among an increasing number of attorneys who are bringing cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit to challenge the decisions made by Chicago immigration judges." In 2013, Helt traveled to Pakistan to assist in a client’s immigration case and appeared before the National Press Club of Pakistan. While there he appeared as a guest on A Morning with Farah, discussing the case in addition to US immigration policy.

Academia

Helt is an adjunct faculty member at his alma mater Loyola University of Chicago. He has also held symposias at the school in order to lecture on current events surrounding terrorism and immigration law.