Bartlit Beck is celebrated among peers for forging a template of what many aspire to; the firm’s name is one of the most frequently referenced by maverick litigators who calve off of larger “Big Law” institutions and forge their own shops. One peer declares, “They set the standard for litigation boutiques in the US. Most people setting up litigation shops owe at least some debt to Bartlit Beck, whether they know it or not.” Ironically, the runaway success that the firm has experienced with its business model has caused it to outgrow its “boutique” status; the firm now has more than 40 partners practicing in its offices in Chicago and Denver. “Yes, they’re like a boutique on steroids now,” sums up one peer. “The big difference between them and a boutique is that it’s not ‘eat-what-you-kill’ and it’s not just a ‘one-star’ system. They have the bench depth! They don’t need to take on all the cases to make a lot of money, they can just take the lead on two or three and just do a great job on them. That puts the client more at ease because they feel like they will get more attention.” Clients corroborate this observation. One commends the firm’s “exceptional strategic vision, incredible case management focused on the end goal, and creative and thoughtful legal analysis.” Another states, “Their team of professionals – both lawyers and other team members – is consistently extraordinary at doing hard work exceptionally well in a way that brings out the best of everyone with a highly functional team approach.”
Few would argue that the firm’s most venerated figure remains Chicago trial icon
Phil Beck, who boasts a decades-long series of appearances as lead counsel on precedent-setting cases in a wide variety of forums to his credit. Beck continues to deliver arguments in big cases and, indeed, was recently set to try a case for Gilead before the case settled. “Phil is still ‘the man,’” confirms one peer, elaborating, “but the firm has done great in alleviating the ‘what’s after Phil Beck?’ question. They have groomed powerhouse people from top to bottom.” Rebecca Bacon, another frequent mention in the Chicago office, who enjoys a whopping seventh consecutive appearance as one of Benchmark’s Top 250 Women in Litigation, was retained by FedEx Ground to serve as lead trial counsel in several actions in several states. Sean Gallagher has seen a pronounced spike in activity as of late. He is lead trial counsel for Pratt & Whitney in environmental tort cases involving more than $1 billion in alleged property damage and personal injury claims arising out of the declaration of a “cancer cluster” by the Florida Department of Health in a neighborhood near Pratt & Whitney’s West Palm Beach facility. More than 20 individuals who claim to have cancer as a result of environmental exposures brought personal injury claims, alleging water and soil contamination with radionuclides and other contaminants. Several hundred property owners sued individually and on behalf of a putative class of many thousands of plaintiffs. The first of these cases was otherwise set for trial in January 2022. Gallagher, along with Adam Hoeflich, is also lead counsel for several major institutional investors who collectively lost billions of dollars when the Structured Alpha hedge funds managed by Allianz Global Investors US collapsed in March 2020. The cases filed by the firm clients were settled on confidential terms. Hoeflich serves as national counsel for three DuPont entities in more than 2,000 cases pending across the country related to per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances. In these cases, plaintiffs allege that DuPont engaged in a series of corporate transactions to try to fraudulently transfer assets to avoid paying potential judgments. “I’m seeing more of Bartlit Beck these days and in particular Adam Hoeflich,” testifies a peer. “He’s a very talented guy, worth knowing. I’ve just become really aware of him but he’s been around for years. He does a lot of work for Citadel, who is one of the parties in the Robinhood cases.”
Kaspar Stoffelmayr serves as lead and coordinating counsel and as lead trial counsel for Walgreens in all nationwide litigation relating to the distribution and sale of prescription opioids. He acted as lead trial counsel for Walgreens in a seven-week federal jury trial in one of only two such cases to go to a jury verdict. Stoffelmayr is also currently representing Walgreens at trial in Florida state court in a case brought by the Attorney General of Florida, and in federal court in the Northern District of California in a case brought by the City and County of San Francisco. Three other cases were set for trial later in 2022. Stoffelmayr also represents Bayer and Monsanto, which was acquired by Bayer in 2018, in thousands of cases pending in courts across the country alleging that Roundup herbicide causes cancer. The firm’s intellectual property prowess has been increasingly on display, and peers are taking notice. “Bartlit Beck is doing more patent litigation! We have a great deal of respect for their IP people.” Scott McBride is lead trial counsel defending Gilead Sciences against patent infringement allegations brought by the Regents of the University of Minnesota relating to Gilead’s sofosbuvir-containing treatments for hepatitis C.
Based in the firm’s Denver office, newly listed star Sundeep “Rob” Addy (along with former partner Sean Grimsley, who left the firm for an in-house role) were appointed in September 2020 by the Colorado Attorney General as special assistant attorneys general to serve on the team conducting a “patterns and practices” investigation into the Aurora Police and Fire Departments. The Colorado Legislature authorized this investigation in 2020 after a series of high-profile reports of law enforcement misconduct – specifically, a pattern of racially biased policing. Addy is championed by a client who extols, “Rob is an exceptional writer, [a] versatile and creative lawyer, [and is] really great at making sure the whole team brings their strengths. He is also fun to work with and has a great sense of humor.”
