Illinois

Firm overview

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a global law firm with more than 3,000 attorneys representing clients in private equity, M&A and other complex corporate transactions, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, restructuring, and intellectual property matters. The Firm has offices in 19 cities around the world: Austin, Bay Area, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Munich, New York, Paris, Salt Lake City, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.

Litigation: Kirkland & Ellis is renowned for its experience in complex litigation and arbitration. The Firm believes that the best litigation results occur when the lawyers are fully prepared to try the case through verdict. Because of Kirkland’s trial-ready philosophy and training, the Firm is able to offer clients a deep bench of lawyers who have been taking cases to verdict since the early stages of their careers. Whether in the courtroom, at the bargaining table or helping clients avoid risks without litigation, Kirkland has a long and proven track record of generating successful results for clients in their most high-stakes cases matters.

The Litigation Practice Group comprises approximately 600 attorneys throughout the firm’s worldwide offices. Kirkland represents clients in trial and appellate courts at the federal and state level, before administrative tribunals, and in arbitrations and other dispute resolution proceedings. The Firm also represents clients in connection with proceedings involving government agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, US Attorneys General Offices, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the New York Stock Exchange, the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the US Patent and Trademark Office, the US Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service.

Kirkland litigators have successfully litigated cases in virtually every substantive area and business segment including accountant liability, antitrust and competition, appellate, class action, mass tort and toxic tort, insurance, data privacy, labor and employment, breach of contract and securities litigation.

Kirkland has been recognized by clients and the media for its achievements in litigation:

• For the 12th time, Kirkland was selected as one of the “Fearsome Foursome” in BTI
  Consulting’s 2023 Litigation Outlook report.
• Chambers & Partners named Kirkland & Ellis “Commercial Litigation Law Firm of
  the Year” at the 2023 Chambers USA Awards.
• In 2022, Kirkland ranked #1 in The Lawyer’s “Global Litigation Top 50,” the fifth
  consecutive year the Firm earned that distinction.
• Kirkland was named “Law Firm of the Year” for Commercial Litigation by U.S. News
  and World Report and Best Lawyers in their 2022 “Best Law Firms” rankings.

Intellectual Property Litigation: Kirkland & Ellis’ Intellectual Property Practice Group is one of the oldest such practices in a full-service firm in the country, having been an integral part of Kirkland since 1925. Kirkland has approximately 200 intellectual property lawyers who are experienced in a variety of technical disciplines and registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office. More than 70 percent of the lawyers are engineers and scientists trained with degrees and professional backgrounds in technical areas.

Kirkland has one of the most respected intellectual property litigation practices in the country, with particular experience in large-scale patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret misappropriation and advertising matters. The work of the group frequently extends to antitrust, securities/compliance, products liability and appellate matters.

Kirkland’s experience in venues where IP cases are most often litigated is extensive. The Firm tries cases before juries, judges and arbitrators in venues across the country including state courts, district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Kirkland has one of the most active trial practices in the country. Our success rate at trial is among the best, with only a few of losses over the last 10 years despite handling some of the most challenging litigation cases in history.

The Intellectual Property Practice Group has been recognized by numerous publications for its achievements:

• In Managing Intellectual Property’s 2023 IP Stars, Kirkland was named as a Tier 1 firm for Copyright, ITC, Life Sciences, Patent Contentious and Trademark Contentious and was recognized in the U.S. for IP transactions and PTAB litigation.
• Kirkland was named to World Trademark Review magazine’s 2023 WTR 1000
  list of the world’s top trademark law firms and was recognized as a Tier 1 firm for
  enforcement and litigation nationally and in New York.
• In 2023, Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine recognized Kirkland in Tier 1
  for Litigation, International Trade Commission and Trade Secrets for United States -
  National in its IAM Patent 1000 guide. The firm was also Tier 1 for Litigation in
  Illinois, New York and Washington, D.C., as well as Transactions in Illinois.
• World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) recognized Kirkland & Ellis as a Tier 1 firm
  in its 2022 “Global Trade Secrets Rankings.”

Please visit our website at www.kirkland.com for additional information about Kirkland and office contact information.

Updated Aug 2023

Firm overview

What a Law Firm Should Be: Polsinelli is an Am Law 100 firm with more than 1,000 attorneys in 22 offices nationwide. The firm’s litigation practice encompasses business disputes, white collar investigations and enforcement, health care, intellectual property, bankruptcy, data privacy, real estate, financial services, products liability and toxic tort and labor and employment matters. Our reputation for dedicated client service and innovative business solutions is a benchmark for excellence in the legal profession.

Polsinelli approaches litigation The Polsinelli Way – with our clients and their business goals as our primary focus. The Polsinelli Way sees each dispute as unique and our lawyers work hand in hand with our clients to devise a litigation strategy from the outset of the matter that is laser focused on achieving the most efficient and effective resolution. The Polsinelli Way isn’t just a slogan. It’s the way we work on each and every matter entrusted to us by our clients.

Commercial Litigation: Polsinelli’s Commercial Litigation practice is composed of attorneys committed to providing practical, industry-specific business litigation strategies informed by substantive and procedural knowledge, real courtroom experience, and a keen awareness of how legal outcomes impact our clients’ bottom lines.

We focus on real estate litigation, disputes arising out of business relationships and contracts, mergers and acquisitions litigation, and class actions. However, we have a deep bench of litigation expertise with experience handling a broad spectrum of disputes including aviation and transportation, insurance matters, professional liability, retail and hospitality litigation, telecommunications, and manufacturing and distribution. We also have several lawyers who regularly handle statutory claims including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the Fair Credit and Reporting Act.

Government Investigations: Polsinelli’s Government Investigations team is highly qualified to quickly and effectively help companies and individuals respond to and defend against civil, criminal and regulatory government actions. Many of our attorneys are former federal prosecutors with specific experience.

Our team takes the guesswork out of navigating investigations involving the government. Clients seek out our team’s counsel at all stages of their interactions with government agencies, whether a client needs help responding to a subpoena or civil investigative demand, a comprehensive internal investigation, preemptive counsel on a compliance program, or a trial lawyer to defend against allegations of white-collar crimes. Our team has experience with governmental entities, including the Department of Justice, SEC, Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, EPA and States’ Attorney General Offices.

Health Care Litigation: Polsinelli Health Care Litigation attorneys combine their in-depth knowledge of the evolving health care industry with clients’ business needs to devise practical litigation strategies. We advise clients in managing risk and resolving complex disputes. When litigation is necessary, we collaborate with clients to effectively and efficiently protect their interests. Our attorneys are experienced in litigating government investigations and health care disputes in different forums, including lawsuits, arbitrations, administrative hearings, audits and investigations.

Our team is well known and respected by judges, regulators, arbitrators, health care industry leaders and the legal community. Members include former Department of Justice attorneys, including Assistant United States Attorneys, former experienced state Medicaid fraud unit attorneys, a former realtor attorney and former in-house counsel to private and publicly traded health care companies.

Intellectual Property Litigation: Polsinelli’s Intellectual Property Litigation practice take creative and strategic approaches to resolving intellectual property disputes for local, regional, national and global companies and individuals. With more than 1,300 intellectual property litigation filings over the past six years, we frequently try high-technology intellectual property cases tied to diverse subject matter including patent litigation, trademark, copyright & branding, anti-counterfeiting and grey markets, restrictive covenants and trade secrets litigation, ITC Section 337, IP litigation funding and design patent litigation.

Labor & Employment Litigation: Our attorneys defend clients before administrative agencies and in trials, mediations, arbitrations, and appeals of lawsuits arising over virtually every conceivable employment-related action including age, religion, gender, pregnancy, race, national origin, disability, harassment, wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, FMLA and OSHA violations.

Our Employment Litigation practice group has substantial experience representing management in the administrative charge and litigation phase of cases involving issues such as but not limited to The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), The Equal Pay Act (EPA), Whistleblower claims, work-related torts and wrongful termination.

Products Liability and Toxic and Mass Tort: Polsinelli’s litigators have deep experience defending and protecting our clients against defective design, defective manufacturing, premises liability, catastrophic injury, and toxic exposure claims that oftentimes go to the heart of our clients’ businesses. Our litigators approach each case the Polsinelli Way -- with a laser focus on our clients’ business goals and an eye towards case resolution that prioritizes those business goals.

Our experienced Products Liability and Toxic Tort team assesses cases early, identifying potential risks and working with our client’s legal, business, technical and regulatory teams to craft effective litigation strategies. Our electronic discovery (e-discovery) lawyers and other professionals are adept at coordinating and managing the often-burdensome discovery process that comes with defending these high-stakes cases. Our trial lawyers have the skills and experience to take cases to trial in any courtroom in the country. These trial teams work hand in hand with our certified appellate specialists, who identify appellate issues and represent clients at the appellate level in state and federal courts throughout the United States.

Updated Aug 2023

Firm overview

Clients from global brands and household names to cutting-edge startups and individuals trust Loeb litigators to resolve their thorniest legal disputes, whether that’s litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country; investigations and enforcement actions before government agencies; or mediation, arbitration and regulatory agency proceedings.

Loeb litigators deliver practical and strategic counsel with a consistent focus on our clients’ business objectives and a steady determination not only to achieve the best possible outcome — in or out of the courtroom — but also to minimize risk, protect their brands and secure their competitive advantages in their markets and industries. Our lawyers have deep fluency in the law, courtroom-proven skills and well-earned reputations for effective advocacy based on decades of experience working with — and across the table from — clients, opposing counsel, judges and government regulators.

We approach every case as if trial is inevitable, and we are ready to go when the courtroom is the right answer, as we have in hundreds of cases and arbitrations. We know that this trial-focused approach is the best way to present a formidable case to a judge or jury — and to avoid a costly trial through a favorable settlement or quick disposition.

Our decades of litigation experience also enable us to provide valuable counsel to clients on risk avoidance, and our litigators often work closely with colleagues from practices across the firm to help identify and avoid potential disputes and areas of exposure that could turn contentious down the road.

Loeb litigators handle disputes across a wide range of services, including:

Practices:

• Antitrust
• Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditors’ Rights
• Consumer Class Action & Regulatory Defense
• Employment & Labor
• IP & Patents
• Insurance Coverage & Defense
• Privacy
• Securities
• Tax
• Trust & Estates
• White Collar

Industries:

• Advertising & Media
• Energy
• Entertainment, Music & Sports
• Family Office
• Financial Services
• Life Sciences
• Nonprofit
• Professional Services
• Public Sector
• Real Estate
• Retail & Consumer Brands
• Technology

Updated Aug 2023

Firm overview

DiCello Levitt was founded in 2017 as a new kind of law firm—one that is organized around the basic premise that everyone at the firm is a vital team member with a voice and talents that add value in any situation. Boasting best-in-class teams across a wide array of practice areas, DiCello Levitt cultivates a diverse roster of skilled litigators to advance the cause of justice for individuals, businesses, and public clients through class action, business-to-business, public client, whistleblower, personal injury, civil rights, and mass tort litigation.

The firm’s attorneys are highly respected for their ability to litigate and win cases, resulting in billions of dollars in recoveries for their clients and other class members. They are regularly appointed to leadership positions in headline-grabbing, high-stakes cases—composing some of the most diverse leadership teams in multidistrict litigation history—and continually achieve landmark victories across practice areas, earning accolades and recognition for their innovative approaches to complex matters and tireless advocacy on behalf of their clients. Built on a strong foundation of integrity and experience and driven by results, DiCello Levitt has helped raise the bar for corporate conduct, governmental responsibility, and civil and human rights, paving the way for a more just and equitable world.

Venture Partners With Clients: DiCello Levitt has forged a reputation for success in complex litigation and arbitration, and the firm delivers results in innovative ways by venturing cases with its clients as partners, aligning our collective interests and enhancing our clients’ management of litigation risk. Because of these close venture partnerships, our clients are confident that we will pursue their matters with unmatched tenacity and assess their mission-critical needs as we would for our own business. In our case analysis and preparation, we focus on the end result—a successful settlement or trial verdict. Our singular focus delivers cohesive and compelling thematic and evidentiary foundations. We don’t use a set playbook; rather, we adapt our broad toolkit to each client’s unique goals and needs. Correspondingly, our flexible billing arrangements demonstrate our commitment to every client’s particular circumstances, creating opportunities to litigate the most challenging of cases to a successful resolution.

Innovation in Trial Science: Through its trial-first approach, DiCello Levitt crafts practical and effective legal and business solutions for its clients. At the heart of that approach is the DiCello Levitt Trial Center. Trial Center Team Leader Bobby DiCello and Trial Center Coordinator Ken Abbarno collaborate with other talented advocates at DiCello Levitt, such as Chris Stombaugh. The Trial Center’s lawyers are among the nation’s most sought-after trial lawyers because of their knowledge and experience with the decision-making behavior of contemporary jurors and the art of trial messaging. The center is founded on a proprietary, scientific system that reveals the nuances of a jury’s mindset and enables the pursuit of truth with clear insights into what persuades, connects, and wins. The center’s seasoned team leads high-stakes trials for clients, wielding our advanced strategies to gain an edge over adversaries who cling to traditional trial methods. Our team also trains lawyers to achieve a higher-level performance in their trial strategies, case preparation, and courtroom presentations. 

Our firm has led more than 500 focus groups in the last ten years, including comprehensive studies about a myriad of issues. Bobby DiCello is among the most sought-after trial attorneys in the United States for his unique experiences and expertise in the art and science of modern courtroom advocacy. He is frequently called on to teach his “The Art of Messaging” workshop, which draws on the neuroscience of communication to help other attorneys develop and shape how they convey critical concepts to judges and juries. 

The insights and strategies that DiCello Levitt has developed through its trial center have materially enhanced the firm’s productivity and effectiveness. By researching and testing the biases, schemas, and prejudices of thousands of mock jurors, DiCello Levitt attorneys sculpted their arguments to achieve successful outcomes in litigations concerning AndroGel, General Motors engine defects, and a host of other matters, including an opiate overprescription case, police misconduct litigation, and the largest individual civil rights verdict in U.S. history. This hard work resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements—and that doesn’t even account for the trial center’s contributions to victories by other firms across the United States. 

Taken as a whole, the trial center’s success, support, and research efforts continue to set DiCello Levitt apart as a truly unique and cutting-edge firm. 

Steadfast Consumer Advocates: DiCello Levitt has a strong reputation as one of the foremost consumer advocacy firms in the country, having secured more than $20 billion in recoveries since our founding. Our attorneys have successfully led—and are presently leading—many large class and multidistrict actions, including against industry titans such as Boeing, Syngenta, Chevron, Coca-Cola, Facebook, Apple, Intel, Abbott Laboratories, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Marriott, and Equifax, and they represent businesses and investors in litigation and arbitration in multiple courts across the United States and internationally. 

Areas of Practice: 

• Agriculture and Biotechnology 
• Antitrust and Competition Litigation 
• Civil and Human Rights Litigation 
• Class Action Litigation 
• Commercial Litigation 
• Environmental Litigation 
• Labor and Employment Litigation 
• Mass Torts 
• Personal Injury 
• Privacy, Technology, and Cybersecurity 
• Product Liability 
• Public Client 
• Securities and Financial Services Litigation 
• Whistleblower, Qui Tam, and False Claims Act 
  

Updated Sep 2023