Peter S. Lubin

AV rating in Martindale-Hubbell; Super Lawyers; Leading Lawyers Network; American Inns of Court, Markey-Wigmore Chapter (selected by then Chief Judge of Seventh Circuit to be a charter member); Chicago Council of Lawyers (past member, Committee on Professional Responsibility); DuPage County and Chicago Bar Associations; Illinois State Bar Association.

Commendation from DuPage Legal Assistance Foundation due to First Cy Pres Award provided to the Foundation of over $260,000 from certain class-actions.

Trial practice skills teacher to students at the University of Chicago Law School Mandel Legal Aid Clinic.

Member of the Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago Law School. 2006-2010.

In 2008, our predecessor firm received the first “Law Firm of the Year” awarded by the DuPage County Bar Legal Assistance Foundation for the Firm’s “commitment to the ideals of the legal profession.”

• Dealer Termination, Franchise, Securities, Trademark, Copyright or Trade Secret Litigation
  • Flynn Beverage Inc. v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., United States District Court Central District of Illinois, Rock Island Division, Judge McDade. 1992-1994. Wrongful termination of 27-year liquor distributorship involving statutory and common law franchise claims. Represented Flynn Beverage. Sought over $2 million in damages and recovery of attorney fees. Seagram’s fifty-page motion to dismiss denied. See 815 FSupp 1174. Case settled: terms confidential. Opposing counsel: David W. Ichel (Simpson Thacher & Bartlett) and T. Mark McLaughlin (Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw).
  • Flynn Beverage Inc. v. Jim Beam Brands Inc., Circuit Court of Rock Island County, Judge Conway. 1993-1995. Similar claims to those discussed above except claimed over $2.5 million in damages. Beam’s motion to dismiss denied in a 5-page memorandum opinion. Case settled: terms confidential. Opposing counsel: Kimball R. Anderson and Scott Szala (Winston & Strawn).
  • Dedicated v. Volkswagen, United States District Court Northern District of Illinois, Judge Kennelly. 2001. Termination of Volkswagen parts carrier. Represented Dedicated. Volkswagen’s motion to dismiss, asserting lack of written evidence of a contract, denied. See 201 FRD 337. Case settled: terms confidential. Opposing Counsel: Randall Oyler (Barrack Ferrazzano).
  • McVicker v. John Doe Corp., Texas Arbitration through American Arbitration Association. 1990-1992. Wrongful termination of and fraudulent inducement to purchase franchises for entire New York City area. Represented former franchisee. At outset of case defendant, a multi-billion-dollar international conglomerate, offered $10,000 to settle. After extensive discovery and shortly before the start of the hearing, defendants agreed to a settlement whereby they returned the entire purchase price of the franchises of $300,000 along with an additional $50,000. Opposing counsel: David Butler (Piper Rudnick).
  • Meade v. VirtualSellers.com, Circuit Court of Cook County Chancery Division, Judge Nowicki. 1999-2000. Represented co-founder of start-up internet company who was allegedly defrauded out of his interest in the company just before it was sold to a publicly traded company. Seeking 1,000,000 shares in publicly traded company worth between 2 and 7.5 million dollars based on then market prices. Settled after an injunction hearing and denials of defendants’ motions to dismiss. Terms confidential. Opposing Counsel: Ceasar Tabet (Tabet, DeVito & Rothstein) and Stephen Voris (Burke Warren Mackay & Serritella)
  • Asch and Associates v. Churilla, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, Judge Foreman. 1993-1994. Former employee charged with stealing a customer list to start a rival insurance agency. Represented former employee defendant. Court denied plaintiff’s motion for a temporary restraining order. Court later granted summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s claims with prejudice and awarded defendant sanctions (half the attorneys’ fees billed to defendant and all of his costs). Defendant later filed claims for malicious prosecution against Asch and his counsel in federal court. That case was settled for $45,000. Opposing counsel: James D. Montgomery (former Corporation Counsel of the City of Chicago).
  • McCool v. Strata Oil Company, United States District Court Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Judge Bua. 1989. Securities fraud and RICO: purchasers of oil and gas partnerships claim to have been defrauded into purchasing oil and gas partnerships. Represented ten plaintiffs. Case dismissed by trial court without any discovery being permitted. Overturned on appeal; see 972 F2d 1452. Co-lead counsel: David Roston (Altheimer & Gray). Opposing counsel: Cary Fleischer (Chuhak & Tecson).
  • Berthold v. FKPT, United States District Court Northern District of Illinois, Judge Andersen. 1999. Represented plaintiff who terminated its German licensee of trademarked typeface fonts for use in computer software. The fonts were part of a large German font library that was over 140 years old. Claims and counter-claims included claims under German and American law, and international discovery issues. Settlement permitted plaintiff to terminate German licensee and licensee waived all claims to rights in fonts. Opposing Counsel: Caroline Clark (Pennie & Edmonds); Chuck McGirdy (DLA Piper).
  • Virtual Realty Group v. Virtual Realty Network, United States District Court Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Judge Nordberg, 1995. Represented owner of “Virtual Realty” mark in trademark infringement action. Defendant and its partner Intel had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising and promoting the “Virtual Realty” mark that did not belong to them. They claimed there was no possibility of consumer confusion between their computerized home loan mortgage brokerage services, and plaintiff’s Internet based real-estate brokerage services. Case settled before injunction hearing. Defendant agreed to immediately discontinue using the mark, and to pay money damages and plaintiff’s attorneys fees. Opposing Counsel: Russell Pelton (Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly).
  • ROI v. Translogic, United States District Court Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Judge Norgle. 1988. Attempted Monopolization Claims. Represented defendant Translogic. Motion to dismiss half of plaintiff's antitrust claims granted. Case settled. See 702 FSupp 677. Co-counsel: Arnold & Porter. Opposing counsel: Paul Slater (Sperling Slater & Spitz).
  • DevTech v. Rolfes, Circuit Court of DuPage County, Judge Wheaton. 1992. Claim that computer software designer/former employee stole trade secrets and acted in a manner that damaged plaintiff and defendant's joint copyright in certain software. Represented defendant (software designer/former employee). Plaintiff dismissed all claims on the verge of a preliminary injunction trial when judge indicated that she intended to rule in defendant’s favor on a motion to exclude key witnesses for plaintiff. Plaintiff agreed to divide equally with defendant all profits from jointly owned software. Opposing counsel: Edward Ruberry (Bolinger Ruberry & Garvey).
  • Berthold v. Linotype, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. 2002. Represented plaintiff. Claim that font software company violated copyright 4 laws in illegally copying software code for its own font software. Case settled. Opposing Counsel: Jim McGurk, Paul Stack and Robert Filpi (Stack & Filpi).
  • Berthhold v. FKPT, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Judges Lindberg and Gettleman. 2001. Represented Plaintiff. Obtained default judgment and injunctive relief against German Company for trademark infringement and breach of settlement agreement and then enforced such judgment against third-party German corporations and nationals living and doing business here. Case settled with third parties agreeing to injunctive relief protecting plaintiff’s trademarks and discontinuing sale of infringing products here and in Germany. Opposing Counsel: Robert Filpi and Paul Stack (Stack & Filpi) and Robert Joseph (Dentons).
  • Berg v. CI Investment Co., United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Judge Kocoras. 2016. Represented Defendant the largest mutual fund company in Canada. Claims that Defendant engaged in trade secret and copyright infringement of complex trading software seeking over $2,000,000 in damages. After expedited discovery, partial summary judgment entered in our client’s favor as to all infringement claims based on implied license and case dismissed. Opposing Counsel: Michael Childress (Childress, Loucks & Plunkett)
  • John Doe v John Doe Auto Repair Franchise, AAA Arbitration. 2017. Former Franchisee sued for alleged violation of non-compete with fee shifting provision in franchise agreement awarding fees to prevailing party. Former Franchisee had merely leased former franchise premises to a new tenant that competed. Franchisor settled on the eve of the arbitration hearing by dropping claims and paying a port of our client’s fees.
• Breach of Contract, Partnership, Corporate Control Disputes, Probate and Employment Litigation
  • Glaser and Sapyta v. Collins, Hamilton and the College of DuPage, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Judge Alonso. 2015-2017. Claims for wrongful termination, violation first amendment rights and 1983 as to former Treasurer and Controller of the College of DuPage. Case settled; financial terms confidential. Also, after contested hearings defeated College’s attempt to deny Saypta unemployment and prevailed on the appeal of that ruling. Co-Counsel: Shelly Kulwin (Kulwin Masciopinto & Kulwin, LLP). Opposing Counsel: Sidley & Austin; Schiff Hardin & Waite; and Schuyler, Roche & Crisham.
  • IPC v. Edward Gray Corporation, Circuit Court of Peoria County, Judge McDade. 1988-1989. Construction Contract: local Peoria sub-contractor claimed that Chicago based general contractor entered into a $3 million sub-contract from a car telephone. Represented general contractor defendant. Court entered summary judgment in defendant's favor on all of plaintiff's claims based on "smoking gun" documents uncovered by defendant in discovery. Opposing counsel: Stephen Gay (Husch & Eppenberger).
  • DiMucci v. DiMucci, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, Judges Forman, Flynn and Billik. Arbitration before Judge Casciato. Judge Casciato ordered refund of tens of millions of dollars to jointly owed entities. This was a family partnership and corporate control dispute involving hundreds of millions of dollars in real-estate development assets. Represented 50% owner allegedly frozen out of companies. Involved questions of alleged breach of fiduciary duty and issues involving Florida and Illinois corporate law and issues. Conducted accounting trial before Judge Billik and then arbitration before Judge Casciato. Filed a supervisory order before the Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division regarding the alleged improper additional appearance of Mr. Cherry as co-counsel for defendants. The Court entered a lengthy opinion requiring Mr. Cherry to withdraw his appearance and get permission to refile his appearance. Co-Counsel: Brian Garelli (Garelli & Associates). Opposing Counsel: George Collins and Adrian Vuckovich (Collins & Bargione), Myron Cherry (Myron Cherry & Associates).
  • Leslie Hindman and Salvage I v. Beale, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, Judge Siebel. 2003. Represented plaintiffs Hindman and Salvage I in alleged breach of fiduciary duty case involving multi-million-dollar damages claims. Case Settled. Terms Confidential. Co-Counsel: Michael Froy (SNR Denton). Opposing Counsel: Larry Karlin and Ben Randall (Katz, Radall, Weinberg & Richmond).
  • Estate of Hudson, Circuit Court of DuPage County, Probate Division. Judge Popejoy. Complex estate case. Representing guardian of minor child. Dispute over personal and business assets against estate administrator and surviving spouse. Case involved local and overseas proceedings with claims seeking to recover millions of dollars in funds and business assets allegedly owned by the Estate. Case settled with business returned to the Estate and defendant agreeing pay a substantial portion of our client’s fees. Opposing Counsel: Douglas Tibble (Brooks Adams & Tarilis) and Richard Cowen (Stahl Cowen)
  • Heatherly and Newton v. Rodman & Renshaw, NASD Arbitration. 1993-1996. Represented former Sales Managers of Rodman’s Mortgage Backed Securities Department on claims for breach of substantial bonus contracts, and failure to pay finders fees. 2-day hearing. Arbitration award for claimants; claimants awarded all actual damages sought. Heatherly’s appeal on statutory attorneys’ fees denied with dissent supporting our position. 678 NE2d 591. Opposing Counsel: John Murphy (Baker & McKenzie).
  • Bark v. Emsco, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Judge Kokoras. 1994. Represented plaintiff, doctor who had headed emergency room of large Chicago Hospital in sex discrimination, libel and retaliatory discharge claim seeking over $1 million in damages and attorneys’ fees. Defendants’ motion to dismiss denied. Case settled for a confidential sum following several written opinions by the Court adopting plaintiff’s positions. See 1994 WL 502786; 1994 WL 280077. Defendants also provided a full written retraction and apology regarding all libelous statements. Opposing Counsel: Donald C. Shine (Nisen & Elliott).
  • Jane Doe v. John Doe Corp., United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. 1997. Represented plaintiff, assistant to CEO of a subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company. Sexual battery and hostile environment sex discrimination claims against the President of a subsidiary of the Fortune 500 Company that worked at the headquarters. $100,000 settlement for emotional distress without filing suit after executive admitted the crux of the charges in pre-filing mediation.
  • Jane Doe v. John Doe Car Dealer, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. 1998. Represented plaintiff, who was top performing salesperson at car dealership in sex discrimination case. Case settled for $45,000.
  • Cusack v. Paul Revere Insurance, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Magistrate Judge Guzman. 1995. Represented plaintiff. Paul Revere refused to pay employment disability benefits of over $200,000. Brought declaratory judgment and bad faith failure to pay insurance claims. Case settled immediately after the complaint was filed: terms confidential. Opposing Counsel: Joseph Hasman (Peterson & Ross).
  • Shelton v. Will County, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. 1999. Race Discrimination. Client reinstated to his job with full credit towards his pension benefits and received settlement of $50,000 in back pay for the period he was off the job. Opposing Counsel: Michael Condon (Hervas, Sotos, Condon & Bersani)
  • Hirst v. Rockwell International, EEOC Charge. 1995-1996. Represented senior executive in breach of contract and sex and age discrimination claims. Rockwell demoted executive based on trumped up conflict of interest charges because her husband worked for a competitor, even though executive/wife had fully disclosed the nature of her husband’s relationship each year during the over 10 years that she worked for Rockwell, and Rockwell had always agreed that there was no conflict. Case settled: terms confidential. Co-Counsel: Holly Hirst (Piper DLA).
  • North American Philips v. Filson et al., United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Judge Grady. 1996. Represented defendants, former No. 2 and 3 executives at Philips’s most profitable American subsidiary in a case charging those executives, the former president of the subsidiary, and their three wives with forming a travel agency to wrongfully take $900,000 from Philips. Executives filed counterclaims for libel for Philips falsely accusing them of selling millions of dollars in defective product, and retaliatory discharge for reporting alleged antitrust violations and price-fixing. Case settled immediately after counter-claims filed: terms confidential. Co-lead Counsel: Matthew Kennelly (Cotsirilos Stephenson Tighe & Streiker). Opposing Counsel: Robin Cohen (Anderson Kill Olick & Oshinsky).
  • Duncan v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., Circuit Court of Lake County, Judge Hoogasian. 1990. Wrongful termination: plaintiff claimed that she was fired because she filed a workers' compensation claim and sought over $100,000 in lost wage damages and punitive damages and attorney fees. Represented defendant Baxter. After discovery, plaintiff agreed to dismiss all her claims with prejudice in return for Baxter agreeing not to file a sanctions motion seeking recovery of attorneys’ fees from plaintiff and her counsel due to plaintiff's fraudulent damages claims. Opposing counsel: Alan Blum.
  • Appleby v. Mrs. Illinois Pageant, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division. Judge Hett. 1999. Represented Mrs. Illinois Pageant in suit filed by runner-up to reverse pageant results, and crown her the winner. Plaintiff’s lawsuit thrown out on summary judgment. Plaintiff paid a large portion of defendant’s attorneys’ fees to settle sanctions claim.
  • Obos v. Cubs, Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division. 2003. Represented plaintiff in battery and reckless retention of security guard claims. Case settled. Terms confidential. Motion to add punitive damages detailed 9-year history of abuse by Chicago Cubs security guard who attacked numerous other patrons and used excessive force resulting in repeated lawsuits. This case was featured in an investigative report on Fox News regarding the Cubs’ failure to fire this rogue security guard. Opposing counsel: Scott Bentivenga (Bollinger Ruberry & Garvey).
  • Karth v. McConnell, Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division. Judge Goldberg. 2006-2007. Represented defendant in breach of contract, equitable and wage claim dispute involving alleged damages of $700,000. Breach of contract claim dismissed as violating statute of frauds. Case dismissed with prejudice based on motions to dismiss and for summary judgment. Opposing Counsel: Michael D. Gerhardt (Gerhardt, Gomez, and Haskins).
  • Biancos v. Eggert, Freeland and CMR Interiors, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Magistrate-Judge Valdez. Representing a real estate owner in his breach of contract case against lessees who performed renovations to the leased premises. Plaintiffs allege that defendants failed to obtain proper building permits and that the renovation does not comply with Chicago building codes. Settlement with certain defendants agreeing to increase rental payments and paying a large share of clients’ fees and costs, and other defendants agreeing to pay money damages. Opposing Counsel: Terrance Buehler (Buehler & Williams), Peter Berk (McDonald Hopkins, LLC) and Robert Rosenfeld.
  • Costello v. Orozen, Circuit Court of DuPage County, Judge Abraham. 2007. Represented construction company defendant in a breach of contract case involving the installation of a practice putting green on the grounds of plaintiff’s mansion. Case settled for a small fraction of money sought after we obtained evidence rebutting plaintiff’s claims from one of his own experts. Opposing Counsel: Greg Adamo and Ken Vanko (Clingen, Callow & McLean, LLC).
  • Motorola v. Aderhold, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, Judge Arnold. 2009-2010. Represented defendant former Motorola vice-president in covenant not to compete and trade secret case. Case settled on confidential terms, before any discovery, after court granted motion to dismiss and ordered re-pleading of trade secret claims. Opposing Counsel Arthur Howe (Schopf & Weiss)
  • BleuChip International Inc. v. Aulds, Circuit Court of DuPage County, Chancery Division, Judge Popejoy. 2009. Represented corporation and its CEO as plaintiffs in a claim against the corporation’s President. Case settled on confidential terms shortly after suit was filed. Opposing Counsel: Bruce Menkes (Mandel, Menkes LLC)
  • Anderson et al v. Moy-Gregg, Circuit Court of DuPage County, Chancery Division, Judge Popejoy and Judge Sheen. 2010-2011. Represented corporation and alleged majority owners in a corporate control dispute regarding the intent and meaning of stock gift. Opposing Counsel: Louis Bernstein.
  • Rubocki, et. al. v. Equity Risk Partners, Inc., Federal Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Judge Kendall. Alleged breach of employment contract and defense of covenant not to compete claims. Case settled on confidential terms. Opposing Counsel: Steven L. Gillman, Malcolm H. Brooks (Holland & Knight LLP).
  • Eastco International Corporation v. Addax Technologies, LLC, Federal Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Magistrate Judge Cole. 2013. Represented Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff in breach of contract action alleging that florescent ballast production units differed from sample units. Plaintiff purported to unilaterally cancel all outstanding contracts with defendant giving rise to a countersuit for breach of those contracts. Case settled with Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant dropping all claims and agreeing to pay Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff a confidential amount. Opposing Counsel: Peter Carey (Carey & Hartman LLC).
  • Aranas v. Suburban Neurologists S.C., Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, Judges Allen and Mullen. 2014-2018. Represented Plaintiff Neurologist in a breach of shareholder purchase agreement and non-compete agreement dispute. We obtained summary judgment in favor of our client in the breach of shareholder purchase agreement claims and defeated the Defendant’s claim that our client violated the non-compete agreement. We had previously prevailed in injunction proceedings where Defendant had tried to close down our client’s new medical practice and then prevailed in the Appellate Court. We then went to trial and obtained a substantial monetary damages verdict for our client at a bench trial regarding the Defendant’s breach of the shareholder purchase agreement. Opposing counsel: Norman Lerum.
  • Dr. FM, LLC v. Hoscon Ltd. et al, American Arbitration Association and Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division and Law Division. Judges Mikva and White. 2013-2016. Our client the Plaintiff, an emergency room physician formed a partnership with two other physicians to open an urgent care center. Our client’s partners wrongfully removed him from the partnership and denying him the fruits of quarter-million-dollar investment to start the business. Our client’s investment included $80,000 in cash but also $180,000 in estimated “sweat equity” for providing start-up services. We sought to unwind the transaction and return of his entire investment. We prevailed at an arbitration hearing and obtained a judgment for 100% of our client’s claimed damages. The Defendants then tried to contend that the arbitrator’s award was improper in state proceedings after retaining new lawyers. We prevailed on those claims as well. We then initiated a judgment enforcement action and collected all of our client’s damages plus 9% post-judgment interest. Opposing Counsel: Anish Parikh; John M. O’Driscoll (Tressler LLP).
• Defamation, First Amendment and Cyberbullying
  • Wuttke v. Fitzsimmons, Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division. Judge McNamara. Represented real-estate lawyer plaintiff in libel action against lawyer who is also City of Chicago Police Captain, for false and malicious statements made to ARDC and University of Illinois and other parties, which, plaintiff alleges, is part of longstanding pattern and practice by defendant of defaming and attempting to intimidate lawyers and others. Default judgment on liability entered in favor of plaintiff for discovery violations. Case settled in plaintiff's favor. Opposing Counsel: Vincent J. O’Brien.
  • Chicago Motor Car Corp., et al. v. David Bates, Federal Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Judge Lee. 2012-2013. Represented Defendant in a lawsuit alleging defamation, false light, tortious interference with contract, false advertising, and cybersquatting. Defendant was being sued as a result of several internet postings and YouTube videos he made criticizing the Plaintiffs. Obtained settlement wherein Defendant withdrew his motion for Rule 11 sanctions and Plaintiffs dismissed all claims against Defendant with prejudice. Opposing Counsel: Serena Pollack (Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP)
  • John Doe v. Jane Doe, Jane Doe allegedly made numerous posts about John Doe on the internet containing false and misleading information. Represented John Doe in action alleging that Jane Doe’s statements in the internet posts constituted defamation per se, cyberbullying, and invasion of privacy.
  • Mercado v. Levy et al, American Arbitration Association. Arbitrator James S. Montana Jr. Represented Defendants, a school and their owners in a lawsuit alleging defamation arising from a partnership and employment suit. We obtained substantial video-taped evidence from multiple witnesses supporting that our clients did not defame the Plaintiff and that all of their statements were supported by various eye witnesses. Case settled.
  • Williams v. Marder et al, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Judge Guzman. 2011. Represented Defendant in a lawsuit claiming defamation, tortious interference with inheritance expectancy and employment and malicious prosecution. Defendant was sued as a result of his alleged efforts to try to protect his father who suffered from dementia and Alzheimer’s from alleged abuse and neglect by a nurse who had sought to obtain a $3 million bequest from the father. Summary judgment entered in Defendant’s favor on all counts.
  • Burmeister v. Gentile, Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division. Judge Henry. Represented the Defendant one of Loyola University’s largest contributors to the sports program. Loyola’s head basketball coach sued Defendant for defamation and tortiuous interference with contract when he was fired. Case dismissed with prejudice based on the motion to dismiss we filed.
  • Nebel v. Modory, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Judge Coleman. 2016. Represented Defendant. Defendant posted a flyer regarding a problem employee class in his office with a photoshopped photograph of Plaintiff appended to it. All claims against our client were dismissed under the innocent construction. Opposing Counsel: Jessica Fayerman.
  • Ofer Mizrahi Diamonds Inc. and Ofer Mizrahi Ltd. v. David Cohen, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Judge Kendall. 2018. Represented Plaintiffs. Our clients some of the largest diamond wholesalers in the world sued another diamond wholesaler for $16,000,000 allegedly bringing a false lawsuit against them falsely accusing them of fraud and then publishing the allegedly false lawsuit on the internet and issuing a press release. The case was settled for undisclosed financial terms as well as with Defendant providing a full written retraction and apology for making the false claims. Opposing Counsel: Mark Hammervold.
  • Ardor Fiduciary Services Ltd et al v. Mona, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division. Judge Mitchell. Represented Defendant. Defendant posted his negative opinion regarding a Chicago area expert witness he had retained on the Rip-Off report. The expert sued him for defamation claiming that he also made false factual statements. Case was dismissed due to lack of personal jurisdiction as Defendant did not direct post at Illinois and was not an Illinois resident. Opposing Counsel: Thomas F. Burke.
• Legal Malpractice Litigation
  • Rykaczewski v. Cesario & Walker, Circuit Court of DuPage County. 1999. Attorney malpractice claim. Represented plaintiffs, litigants whose trial attorney allegedly improperly hired their expert witness for trial on a contingency fee despite ethical rule prohibiting such an arrangement. The trial court ruled that the expert witness could not testify thus causing the litigants to lose their case. Malpractice case against litigant’s attorney settled for $375,000 following non-binding mediation. Opposing Attorney: Jeffrey Zehe (Clausen Miller).
  • Markel v. Weiss, Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division, Judge Gillis. 1996. Attorney malpractice claim. Represented plaintiff, the buyer of a business who lost over $300,000 due to his attorney’s alleged failure to follow the form book in the sale of a business transaction. After deposing the attorney defendant, defendant requested a non-binding mediation with former Judge Brian Crowe acting as mediator. Case settled for $200,000 which represented nearly all that remained in the attorney malpractice insurance policy. Opposing Counsel: Thomas Browne (Hinshaw & Culbertson).
  • Ettswold v. Economy Ins. and Orner & Wasserman, Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division, Judge Gillis. 1996. Insurance bad faith and legal malpractice claims arising from $350,000 judgment entered against Ettswold in a car accident case. The judgment entered against Ettswold was $250,000 in excess of her insurance policy limits. One month after filing suit on Ettswold’s behalf, her insurance company, Economy settled by paying the plaintiff in the car accident case $190,000 to release all his claims against Ettswold for the $250,000 in excess of her insurance policy limits. As part of the settlement, Economy also agreed to pay all of Ettswold’s attorneys’ fees. Opposing counsel: Norton Wasserman (Orner & Wasserman) and Jack Martin (Touhy & Martin).
  • Ardebili v. Taha, et al, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, Judge Mason. 2007-2008. Representing business purchaser plaintiff in Legal Malpractice, Consumer Fraud, Rescission, Negligent Misrepresentation, Breach of Contract and Common Law Fraud claims stemming from the attempted purchase of a business. Case settled financial terms confidential. Opposing Counsel: Nicholas Albukerk (Law Offices of J. Nicholas Albukerk), Sana’a Hussien (Cohen & Hussien) and Amy Ezeldin.