Greater Chicago Area
Articulate, driven, court-room vetted civil, commercial, employment law attorney with twenty (20) experience litigating complex insurance defense personal injury, business, employment/labor and bankruptcy cases, including class-action defense, before state, federal and appellate courts. Extensive direct client counseling on insurance and claim regulations, fraud prevention and detection issues, compliance and regulatory matters in their daily business operations. Strong experience advising clients on commercial contracts, employee classification, retention and wages issues, NDAs and severance agreements, and pre-lawsuit investigations into alleged discrimination claims.
• First chair trial attorney managing 80-100 insurance defense cases from initial case evaluation to trial or arbitration. • Represent both individual and business insureds in general to complex bodily injury, wrongful death, fraudulent claim actions, property damage and declaratory judgment actions. • Extensive meditation and arbitration experience - both in courts and before ADR, AAA and Resolute Systems. • Draft and argue contested and dispositive motions across Northern Illinois from Lake County to Rock Island County • Broad deposition experience for fact witnesses, medical and reconstruction experts, and fraudulent examinations under oath • Consistent, timely and thorough case reporting to senior business partners and prompt escalations on high dollar/serious injury cases to better streamline risk and allocate resources. • Extensive investigative experience to develop mitigation evidence to bolster causation defenses and pre-empt risk prior to and at time of trial..
Litigate commercial, employment/labor, bankruptcy and probate law cases in state courts in Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry and Kane counties also district and bankruptcy courts. Represent and defend employers and management in class action suits Represent individual and management-side corporate clients in complex commercial and contract litigation, including sales/UCC disputes, secured lending and fraudulent transfer claims, FLSA, ADA, Title VII and other employment law claims before EEOC and the IDHR, fiduciary litigation against directors, officers and trustees, corporate shareholder oppression suits, non-compete covenant disputes, and high-dollar contested estate disputes involving beneficiaries, executors and trustees. Draft and argue motions to dismiss, summary judgment, motions in limine and pre-trial discovery motions. Represent clients in dozens of pre-trial and settlement conferences in state and federal courts. Advise clients on compliance matters relating to employee rights and duties regarding job classifications, time-clock audits, employee hiring and dismissal and severance payment issues. Counsel clients in commercial lease drafting, invoice and contract review, non-compete covenants, severance agreements, FLSA classification and exemption audits, equipment financing and bankruptcy/restructuring matters.
• Litigate complex commercial, civil, bankruptcy, probate, real estate cases in state and federal courts. • Represent clients in cases involving Articles II, III and IX of the Uniform Commercial Code, shareholder/director liability, Sections 506, 523 and 727 of the Bankruptcy Code, Fair Labor Standard Act, employment disputes, restrictive covenants, consumer fraud, residential and commercial foreclosures, regulatory violations involving the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission and Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, contested probate litigation and forcible entry and detainer lawsuits. • Draft pre-trial memonradums of law and motions in limine. • Draft motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment and declaratory judgment complaints. • Draft all phases of written discovery and also conduct depositions. • Counsel clients in contractual negotiations along with equipment and real estate purchase agreements.
Represented individuals and corporate clients commercial, corporate and bankruptcy litigation. Litigated complex commercial and contract disputes, corporate officer liability disputes, UCC Articles II and IX, fraudulent/preferential transfers, insurance coverage disputes, common and consumer law fraud actions, administrative and regulatory violations and conduct post-judgment enforcement actions. Represented clients in multiple jurisdictions- including Florida, Michigan, California, Texas, New York and Arizona. Drafted motions for temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and motions for summary judgment. Litigated appeals from bankruptcy and district courts and drafted appellate briefs. Represented clients in administrative law cases before the United States Department of Agriculture.
Participate in legal research and analysis of ERISA, labor, FTCA and land-use litigation. Substantial review and editing of procurement contracts for compliance with federal regulations.