Commercial Litigation
Most commercial disputes can be resolved at the conference table; the ones that reach our intake desk are the ones that cannot. We are retained when negotiation has failed, when an injunction is imminent, or when the contract at issue is large enough that the trial transcript will be read more carefully than the agreement itself. Our partners have first-chaired more than fifty federal jury trials in this area since the firm was founded ~ a track record we maintain by accepting roughly one matter for every three we are offered.
What we handle
- Breach of contract & UCC actions
- Post-acquisition indemnification claims
- Earn-out & working-capital disputes
- Common-law fraud & misrepresentation
- Tortious interference with contract
- Unfair competition & Lanham Act
- Commercial guaranty & lender disputes
- Seventh Circuit & state appellate work
Recent matters
Plaintiff verdict on 14 of 16 claims; affirmed by 7th Cir.
Recovery in excess of indemnity policy after a six-day bench trial.
Defense verdict for a private-equity buyer on disputed accounting metrics.
Pre-trial settlement on the eve of trial after summary judgment denied.
Lead attorneys
Margaret Halloran
Margaret has tried seventeen federal jury matters to verdict in commercial cases since 2010. She first-chairs every contract dispute the firm accepts above $50M.
Michael Kowalski
Michael drafts and argues the firm's dispositive motions across commercial matters and manages the deposition program for matters in the N.D. Ill.
IP & Trade Secrets
Trade-secret matters move on the fastest litigation timetable American courts permit. The temporary restraining order is decided in days; the preliminary injunction in weeks; the case itself is often resolved before the docket assigns a trial date. We are built for that speed: every IP matter is staffed within four hours of retention, and our partners have argued nine preliminary-injunction hearings in the past three years. We also handle restrictive-covenant enforcement and patent infringement matters, including in the Federal Circuit.
What we handle
- Trade secret misappropriation (DTSA & state)
- TROs & preliminary injunctions
- Non-compete & non-solicitation enforcement
- Confidentiality & NDA disputes
- Patent infringement (Hatch-Waxman, ANDA)
- Trademark & trade-dress litigation
- Copyright & software-licensing matters
- Federal Circuit appellate work
Recent matters
Preliminary injunction granted within 19 days against four departing engineers.
Damages and permanent injunction against a former regional sales head.
Affirmance of summary judgment of non-infringement in a four-patent matter.
Confidential settlement and rebrand obligation in a trade-dress dispute.
Lead attorneys
Daniel Rooke
Daniel leads the IP and trade-secret practice. He has argued twice before the Federal Circuit and has handled emergency injunction matters in twelve federal districts.
Priya Shah
Priya is the firm's lead second chair on injunctive matters. She manages the rapid-turn discovery and witness preparation that emergency hearings require.
Partnership Disputes
When a closely-held business comes apart, the dispute is rarely about the law of partnership. It is about a relationship that no longer functions and a balance sheet that has to be divided. We try these cases in the Delaware Court of Chancery and the Illinois Chancery Division ~ the two benches in the country best-equipped to hear them. Our role is to resolve the matter on terms our client can live with, whether that requires a buy-out, a dissolution, or a fully tried opinion from the bench.
What we handle
- LLC & partnership dissolutions
- Member & partnership exits
- Buy-sell agreement disputes
- Minority-oppression claims
- Breach of fiduciary duty
- Books-and-records actions (§220)
- Closely-held valuation disputes
- Family-business & succession matters
Recent matters
Negotiated dissolution of a 14-year holding company on the eve of trial.
Bench ruling in favor of the minority in a closely-held media company.
Compelled production of seven years of books in a Delaware §220 proceeding.
Mediated buy-out of a third-generation family member from a holding entity.
Lead attorneys
James Thorne
James practices exclusively in the Delaware Court of Chancery and the Illinois Chancery Division. He has tried eleven matters to a written opinion since 2019.
Elena Vasquez
Elena builds and argues the appeal in every matter the firm tries to verdict, and is responsible for the firm's standing in the Delaware Supreme Court bar.