Editorial: Commercial Litigation in Illinois
01 October 2006
Chicago enjoys a reputation for the robustness and professional excellence of its commercial litigation fraternity. Typically, the city’s mid- to large-sized firms have used commercial litigation practices as the bedrock of their operations, with healthy competition from numerous specialist boutiques.
Four firms vie for supremacy in Chicago, winning multiple nominations to the following pages on a tide of approval from competitors and clients alike. Jenner & Block LLP is represented by firm chairman and “pillar of the legal professional establishment”, Jerold Solovy, whose 50th year of service in 2004 was honoured by the American Bar Association’s ‘John Minor Wisdom Public Service and Professionalism Award’. As co-lead counsel in a fraud action brought before the Florida State Court on behalf of Coleman Parent Holdings in 2005, Solovy sought and won an adverse inference instruction against Morgan Stanley totalling US$1.6 billion in damages.
For 10 years, David Bradford served as special counsel in litigation matters concerning the divestiture of assets of the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, and as the founding counsel at the MacArthur Justice Centre at the University of Chicago. In 1994, he returned to the firm as a partner to focus on breach of contract, workout, bankruptcy, insurance and professional liability, as part of a widely respected complex commercial and business litigation practice. “No list of leading litigators in the state would be complete without this first-tier attorney,” according to one person we spoke with.
Bradford is accompanied in this section by two of his colleagues: Robert Byman, who won the largest jury verdict in the Connecticut federal court’s history as lead counsel for General Electric Capital Corporation; and former US attorney and chair of the firm’s white-collar criminal defence practice Anton Valukas, “a man of considerable legal talent and integrity”. Lawyers from competing firms selected these four specialists, but commended the firm’s litigation department as one of the most respected in the city.
Sidley Austin LLP is the only other firm to boast four representatives in this section. The chair of the firm’s management committee, Charles Douglas, focuses on patent, securities and antitrust litigation; his practice has seen an increase in securities litigation since the economic downturn in 2001, and the volume of intellectual property litigation has also increased in line with clients’ improved understanding of their rights. Recently, he obtained victories and positive settlements for clients such as Deloitte & Touche and AT&T.
Walter Carlson is best known for trying federal securities fraud lawsuits, although he also counsels clients on corporate governance and fiduciary duty matters. William Conlon’s practice includes antitrust, banking regulatory and insurance regulatory, securities and individual and class action cases. Before joining Sidley, Carlson served as assistant US attorney in Chicago, where he first began to build “a reputation for true professionalism”.
Sidley’s final representative in this section is Scott Lassar, who brings a distinguished background serving as US attorney for the northern district of Illinois and Chicago before entering private practice with the firm. Lassar handles matters ranging from white-collar criminal defence to class action securities litigation. From Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s team of trial-oriented attorneys, David Bernick was recommended to researchers as “a superb intellect”. Representative matters include mass tort litigation (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act, RICO), trade secret misappropriation and tobacco cost recovery. He appears alongside Richard Godfrey and senior partner Steve Patton, who recently acted as lead counsel for RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company in a US$600 million fee-adjustment claim under the terms of the master settlement agreement.
Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw LLP finds a trio of litigators nominated for these pages, led by the “outstanding” Stephen Shapiro, who is presently engaged as lead counsel of record for the defendants in Credit Suisse v Billing, before the US Supreme Court. Shapiro is founder and senior member of the firm’s Supreme Court and appellate litigation practice group, the largest of its kind in the US. Partner Alan Salpeter has extensive experience arguing before appellate, federal and state courts, and is presently engaged in securities litigations on behalf of Deloitte & Touche LLP and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. According to one respondent, he has “formidable courtroom presence and case-building skills”. Thomas Durkin completes the line-up for Mayer Brown with experience in over 50 federal trials to date; his areas of expertise include securities and patent litigation, commodities fraud, RICO and complex tax cases.
Winston & Strawn LLP is another international firm to emerge from the research with more than one representative. Kimball Anderson has represented Lear, American Express and Merix Pharmaceuticals in federal court trials, and successfully brought an appeal before the Federal Circuit of Appeals in a patent infringement lawsuit on behalf of VendingData. In addition, Anderson holds the following professional distinctions: president of the Chicago Bar Foundation, president of the Public Interest Law Initiative, laureate of the Illinois Academy of Lawyers, and chair of the DePaul University College of Law Center for Justice in Capital Cases. Partner Dan Webb is “a consummate trial lawyer – unquestionably one of the best in the country”. While serving as US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Webb led the ‘Greylord’ investigations of judicial corruption in Cook County; he has also represented clients in high-profile whitecollar criminal and antitrust litigation (most notably, General Electric, Microsoft, Philip Morris and the New York Stock Exchange). One respondent commented that with such “incredible resources [as these]” Winston & Strawn can “rightfully press its claim as one of the city’s leading litigation practices”.
Chicago’s litigation boutiques make a considerable contribution to the market. Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP has two named partners in this section – the best showing of any boutique. Fred Bartlit and Phil Beck were described as “exemplary”. Recent triumphs include: the successful defence of Merck in the federal ‘Vioxx’ trial in 2006, and the defence of Hamilton Sustrand in a patent infringement trial in 2005. According to one respondent, “the results speak for themselves”.
Lee Freeman of Freeman Freeman & Salzman PC “sets the benchmark” for antitrust litigation, an area in which he and the firm were said to lead the field. Freeman’s advocacy in the Supreme Courts and in appellate trials was also warmly praised by competitors and clients. Ted Tetzlaff is the sole representative in this section from Ungaretti & Harris. In a career spanning 30 years, he has acted as general counsel for Tenneco and has also practised at McGuireWoods and Jenner & Block LLP. His practice concentrates on corporate governance matters. At Williams Montgomery & John, founding partner Barry Montgomery was commended as “one of the finest defence lawyers”; he also appears in the Product Liability Defence chapter of this edition. The firm concentrates on intellectual property, product liability, mass tort and business litigation.
President of the Seventh Circuit of Appeals Bar Association James Figliulo, of Figliulo & Silverman PC, brings 30 years of experience in federal and state courts, handling professional malpractice, partnership disputes, securities fraud and business tort, among other matters.
This publication also recognises the contribution of litigation boutique Richard Prendergast Ltd, and presents named partner Richard Prendergast as “a well respected litigator who deserves his place among the elite practitioners”.
Finally, returning to full-service firms, we recognise three trial lawyers whose individual talents were brought to the attention of researchers. At McGuireWoods, Thomas Mulroy is noted for his broad, national practice encompassing patent infringement, securities, breach of contract and white-collar defence. He is also known as an active figure in the teaching and lecturing circuit, having taught litigation practice at the Northwestern and Loyola Universities.
Before joining Jones Day, Dan Reidy served as assistant US attorney during the ‘Greylord’ investigations, acting as lead prosecutor for cases of complex financial crime and political and judicial corruption. He divides his private practice between civil and criminal matters, and has considerable trial experience in state, federal and appellate courts. Researchers were overwhelmed with positive feedback about his “tremendous breadth of experience and natural ability”. One respondent commented that “in all matters, he conducts himself with absolute distinction.”
From Baker & McKenzie LLP, the “outstanding” William Linklater was recommended for his activities at the Chicago bar. Recent cases have included the defence of international cartel prosecutions and export and import law violations.
Competitors were also vocal in their support of Jeffrey Stone, who oversees the litigation practice at McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Like many of his fellow nominees, Stone ‘earned his stripes’ serving as assistant US attorney, and now focuses his practice on white-collar criminal investigations, fraud, corruption and tax prosecutions.