Illinois

Firm overview

Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP is a full-service law firm with more than 400 attorneys in 16 offices across the country. Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Litigation team, including approximately 200 litigators, is routinely in court handling complex, high profile matters and bet-the-company lawsuits. The team is known for its success, having yielded a highly effective and accomplished track record of results including favorable jury verdicts, dismissals and summary judgments, creative settlements, and innovative solutions to disputes of all sizes and sophistication. Our litigators have experience in a vast amount of federal and state courts and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) forums throughout the country. They have substantive experience in a full range of litigation matters ranging from commercial real estate disputes, high profile higher education investigations, construction dispute resolutions, and complex commercial contract litigation. Our litigators provide early case assessments and consider creative solutions to directly address the attendant risks and costs of litigation. Whatever the circumstance, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr litigators are ready to offer immediate, trusted, and experienced counsel. A few highlights of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s litigation experience include:

Real Estate Litigation
When disputes arise concerning real estate transactions, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr's Real Estate Litigation Practice combines real estate knowledge and litigation skills to provide advice and representation to both regional and national clients. Our experienced attorneys handle all types of commercial real estate disputes, including: land use appeals, acquisitions that fail to close, litigation over real estate arising out of bankruptcy proceedings, "takings" cases, landlord-tenant issues, disputes between brokers and buyers, real estate tax assessment appeals, and title disputes.

Higher Education Litigation
The legal issues facing colleges and universities are more challenging than ever, reaching every corner of campus life with increasing complexity. From discipline to drones, Title IX to taxes, FERPA to financing, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr has a deep bench of lawyers who wrestle with these issues every day, including acting as general counsel to small colleges and universities without in-house lawyers. In the past few years, our Higher Education Practice has rendered service in some of the nation’s highest profile matters, including multi-campus university systems in large-scale government investigations and in proactive compliance reviews and audits (Clery Act, Title IX, Title IV, Title II, minors on campus) and defending institutions in front-page news lawsuits, including allegations of hazing, child abuse, sexual violence, student death, suicide, faculty dismissal, racial discrimination, ADA discrimination, and more.

Insurance Litigation
The Insurance Practice represents insurance industry clients in litigation in the United States and abroad. We litigate in many forums – including private arbitration and in federal and state courts – and in various substantive areas, including coverage for environmental, asbestos and other mass tort liabilities, coverage under professional liability, E&O, D&O, fiduciary claims and other insuring provisions, and claims and matters relating to life insurance and long term care insurance. Our insurance litigators have also represented a number of large, national insurers in putative class action suits challenging a variety of different business practices in the sale of insurance policies, billing and collection practices, claims administration and payment practices and policy administration practices. 

Construction Litigation
Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr’s Construction Practice provides experienced counsel throughout the life cycle of projects – from planning and contracting through project performance and dispute resolution – to clients across the country and around the globe. Due to our extensive knowledge on construction – ranging from project-specific matters to ongoing developments – our team is well equipped to handle disputes of any variety. We regularly practice before the Agency Boards of Contract Appeals, and in various forms of alternative dispute resolution. We have prosecuted and defended GAO, GSBCA, EPA and DOT protests, as well as Small Business Administration Size Appeals, and a variety of labor matters. Our conflict resolution experience includes representations in allegations of defective pricing, defective design, delay and inefficiency claims and time extensions, payment and performance bond sureties claims, among others.


White Collar and Government Litigation
Whether it is a search warrant, interrogation, subpoena, grand jury appearance, whistleblower claim or civil investigative demand, our White Collar and Government Litigation attorneys are prepared to respond quickly, conduct internal investigations, master the facts, and provide trustworthy and reliable counsel. As former federal prosecutors and regulators our attorneys have direct, practical experience to help our clients enhance their compliance procedures and to rigorously defend them against government investigations. We regularly handle ethics and compliance-related investigations involving a variety of regulations including: the False Claims Act (FCA), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), cybersecurity, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), U.S. government contracts, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, securities, and government lobbying activities, among others.

Last updated December 2019

Firm overview

McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. With more than 20 locations on three continents, the team works seamlessly across practices, industries and geographies to deliver highly effective – and often unexpected – solutions that propel success. 

Key capabilities:

Litigation and Dispute Resolution: Our litigation and dispute resolution lawyers are dedicated to providing passionate client advocacy through superior trial skills and incisive industry knowledge. Our litigation lawyers collaborate with colleagues across the Firm, to bring our clients fully developed solutions that make meaningful progress toward their business goals, in and out of the courtroom.

White Collar: Our white-collar team has tried hundreds of cases in courts throughout the United States and internationally, and draws on the unmatched insights of our lawyers who previously served as senior federal prosecutors. We are able to assemble strong, lean teams of seasoned legal counsel, to spot—and mitigate—potential compliance risks, respond quickly to government investigations and provide world-class defense in qui tam actions, criminal charges and parallel proceedings.

Antitrust Litigation: We provide effective, coordinated counsel on US antitrust law, EC competition law, China’s Anti-Monopoly Law and other competition regimes worldwide to help our clients eliminate roadblocks and achieve business goals. Our top-ranked lawyers are deeply familiar with all major US and international regulatory frameworks and dispute-resolution forums. We assist clients with challenges resulting from increasing antitrust activity, cross-jurisdictional government investigations and private litigation.

Intellectual Property Litigation: For business leaders leveraging intellectual property to drive growth or defend market position, we are your secret weapon in the boardroom and the courtroom. We help you respond quickly to changing market dynamics with actionable recommendations designed to capitalize on opportunity and mitigate risk. We work to uncover value at every stage of the IP lifecycle and we marry our business savvy, technical acumen and personal passion to help you benefit from it.

Employment: Pairing deep resources with broad geographic coverage, we meet the rapidly evolving needs of employers in virtually every sector, delivering a complete legal offering covering the full spectrum of employment and labor issues. We help develop and implement effective employment policies, defend clients in government investigations and compliance audits, and bring first-chair trial skills when defending employers in courts around the world.

Our team engages in every aspect of civil, regulatory and commercial defence litigation, including:

• Accountant Defense
• Appellate Law
• Antitrust Litigation
• Class Action
• Commercial Litigation
• Employment Litigation
• ERISA Litigation
• Insurance Litigation & Counseling
• Intellectual Property Litigation
• International Arbitration
• Privacy Litigation & Governmental Investigations
• Product Defense
• Securities Litigation
• Trade Secrets Litigation
• Trust & Estates Controversy

Updated Sep 2021

Firm overview

Wexler Wallace LLP is nationally recognized as a leading law firm in complex class action and multidistrict litigation, from investigation to trial and appeals. The firm is frequently retained by clients to pursue significant high-stakes litigation—often against some of the largest corporations represented by the largest law firms in the country. Through this work, we have helped shape the law and continue to pave the way for future successes for those aggrieved by fraud, antitrust violations, unfair competition and other types of unlawful conduct. We frequently serve as Co-Lead Counsel and other leadership roles in some of the most complex, high-stakes litigation in the country.

Our attorneys and the firm have been recognized by our peers as well as legal organizations for our outstanding level of service and commitment. Partners Kenneth A. Wexler and Edward A. Wallace have an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell—the highest awarded by their peers—and have been selected 15 times as Illinois Super Lawyers and Rising Stars. Wexler Wallace was also named a highly recommended Illinois litigation firm in the 2012 inaugural edition of Benchmark Plaintiff, with Kenneth A. Wexler and Edward A. Wallace having been named local litigation stars. The firm and both partners have received these same honors every year since.

Last updated Sep 2020

Firm overview

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a global law firm with approximately 2,900 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 17 offices around the world: Austin, Bay Area, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Munich, New York, Paris, 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 10th time, Kirkland was selected as one of the “Fearsome Foursome” in BTI Consulting’s 2021 Litigation Outlook report.
• In 2020, Kirkland ranked #1 in The Lawyer’s “Global Litigation Top 50,” the third consecutive year the Firm earned that distinction.
• Kirkland was awarded “Illinois Firm of the Year” at the 2020 Benchmark Litigation US Awards, the seventh straight year the Firm has earned that distinction.
• National Law Journal named Kirkland as a “2020 General Litigation Department of the Year” in Washington, D.C.
• Law360 named Kirkland among the 2020 “Practice Groups of the Year” for Appellate, Class Action and Trials.
• Kirkland was named “Law Firm of the Year” for Litigation – Securities by U.S. News and World Report and Best Lawyers in their 2021 “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:

• Law360 named Kirkland among the 2020 “Practice Groups of the Year” for Intellectual Property.  
• In Managing Intellectual Property’s 2020 IP Stars, Kirkland was named as a leading firm for Copyright, ITC, Life Sciences, Patent Contentious and Trademark Contentious.
• Managing Intellectual Property named Kirkland “U.S. National Patent Contentious Firm of the Year” and “U.S. Northeast – Trademark Contentious Firm of the Year” at its 2021 Americas Awards.
• Kirkland was named to World Trademark Review magazine’s 2021 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 2020, Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine recognized Kirkland in Tier 1 for Litigation: 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.
• The New York Law Journal named Kirkland as its 2019 “Intellectual Property Litigation Department of the Year.”

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

Updated July 2021