Firm Overview
Areas of Practice
Attorneys
Representative Clients
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Representative Areas of Practice
While we do not believe a list of categories necessarily does justice
to the breadth and depth of our practice, we appreciate that it may
assist in understanding what we do. What follows, then, is a breakdown
of some of the (often overlapping) areas in which we have most
frequently or recently practiced:
Antitrust
The firm has a longstanding and successful antitrust practice.
Mr. Slater in particular, who has taught antitrust law since the 1970s,
specializes in antitrust law and devotes the majority of his time to
antitrust matters. Other members of the firm are also regularly
involved in its antitrust practice. While the list of antitrust matters
we have handled is long, representative matters include the following:
- In connection with the ongoing bankruptcy of United
Airlines, we were retained as special counsel to the Official Committee
of Unsecured Creditors to investigate and prosecute alleged antitrust
violations by a large group of public debt holders who controlled a
significant percentage of planes in United’s fleet.
- Our firm, along with a prominent Chicago patent firm,
conducted a 4-week jury trial in which our client, M3 Systems, was
accused of infringing two of C.R. Bard's biopsy device patents and in
which M3 countersued Bard for antitrust violations. The jury found for
M3 Systems and against Bard on all counts, invalidated the patents at
issue, and awarded M3 Systems several million dollars in antitrust
damages. In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the Federal
Circuit's decision affirming the key patent and antitrust verdicts.
- We were also counsel for plaintiffs in litigation involving
claims that the plaintiffs had been thwarted in their efforts to
acquire the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association. After
separate trials on liability and damages, the district court entered
judgment for plaintiffs against all defendants.
Arbitration and Mediation
Increasingly, disputes are being resolved, not in the nation’s
often crowded and backlogged courtrooms, but in settings which are less
formal, yet in which the stakes are equally as high. The firm has much
experience, and a record of extraordinary successes, in such settings.
In one recent matter, when our client’s D&O insurer refused to
cover a settlement of a shareholder class action as a “loss” under the
insurance policy, we took the matter to arbitration and obtained an
award for almost twice the amount the client had initially claimed as
its loss, i.e., $8 million. The arbitrators’ award was confirmed by a
federal district court. Robertson-Ceco Corp. v. National Union Fire
Ins. Co., 292 F.Supp. 2d 1082 (N.D.Ill. 2003). In another arbitration,
we represented the plaintiff investment funds against their broker in a
five-week hearing before a three-member panel of the National
Association of Securities Dealers, asserting various theories relating
to allegedly unsuitable and inadequately monitored investments. The
panel returned $17 million in actual damages, plus $4.5 million in
punitive damages, an award described by the Wall Street Journal as the
“largest given to a customer in a dispute with a brokerage house.”
(Wall Street Journal, October 20, 1998). On appeal, the award was again
affirmed in its entirety. Community Hospital of Springfield and Clark
County, Inc., et al. v. Kidder, Peabody & Co., Inc., et al., 81
F.Supp.2d 863 (S.D. Ohio 1999).
As business relationships increasingly become international in
scope, our practice has accordingly grown to encompass international
arbitrations. In one recent matter, for example, we represented an
American company which prevailed on claims that its exclusive agreement
to distribute Hyundai commercial vehicles in the U.S. was terminated in
bad faith by Hyundai.
In the context of mediation and settlement negotiations, we
have participated in countless sessions aimed at – and succeeding in –
favorably resolving various, often complex disputes in an efficient
manner before litigation costs needlessly escalate. Frequently we take
the lead in working out global settlements of numerous related matters
involving multiple parties with differing interests.
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Litigation
A substantial portion of our work involves representing parties
in the context of corporate bankruptcies. For example, we are currently
representing the former chairman and CEO of a now-bankrupt public
company in, among other matters, cases brought against him by the
company’s creditors in bankruptcy court, and by its shareholders in
federal district court and state court. We have also been appointed
special litigation counsel to the debtor-in-possesion or trustee for
certain bankrupt entities, and in that capacity have pursued claims
against former directors and officers of those entities, among others.
Members of the firm have also served as counsel to creditors and others
in numerous other bankruptcy and insolvency-related cases.
Commercial Litigation
Almost all of our cases can be described as "commercial
litigation". That being said, here we use the term as a catch-all to
encompass those types of cases that do not neatly fit within a more
clearly defined practice area within our firm. As such, it is by
necessity a broad category, co-extensive with the wide range of
business disputes in which our clients find themselves, ranging from
breach-of-contract cases between two parties in the same city, to
multi-faceted and complex matters involving many parties in different
cities, states or countries. We offer the following as examples of
matters in which we have experience and expertise:
- Contract disputes
- Acquisition and post-acquisition disputes
- Breach of fiduciary duty
- Fraud, including consumer fraud
- Distribution and franchise rights
- Partnership disputes
- Class actions
- Television broadcasting and related FCC matters
- RICO
Directors and Officers
Particularly in the post-Enron era, corporate directors and
officers are often the target of litigation brought by creditors,
shareholders and others – and the target of investigations undertaken
by government entities such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.
We have substantial experience in such matters. We are currently
defending numerous individual directors and officers in litigation
brought by creditors in the nation’s
bankruptcy courts alleging that these individuals breached their
fiduciary duties in connection with their companies’ downfall. We are
also simultaneously defending certain of the same individuals against
claims brought in other fora by the shareholders of the same companies
alleging breaches of the federal securities laws.
Our practice also includes prosecuting claims brought for the
benefit of creditors of other insolvent companies. Thus, we have been
appointed special litigation counsel to the debtor-in-possession or
trustee for certain bankrupt entities, and in that capacity have
pursued claims against former directors and officers of those entities,
among others. In connection with the bankruptcy of HA-LO Industries,
our efforts have resulted in our client recovering tens of millions of
dollars.
With respect to government investigations, we have represented
and continue to represent individuals who find themselves the subject
of such inquiries, particularly with respect to SEC investigations of
potential insider trading and fraud.
Often our involvement in matters such as the foregoing entails
addressing insurance coverage and indemnification issues. In defending
individuals who are the subject of claims or investigations, we work to
ensure that these individuals receive all the insurance coverage and
indemnification to which they are entitled. Conversely, when we are
bringing claims against directors and officers on behalf of other
parties, we aggressively pursue recovery from insurance funds in an
effort to make our clients whole. In connection with the HA-LO
litigation, for example, we pursued bad faith actions against the five
insurance companies providing HA-LO’s former CEO with Directors’ and
Officers’ liability insurance, with the result that several million
dollars in excess of the insurance policy limits were recovered for our
client.
Employment Law
Members of the firm have extensive experience in the realm of
employment law, having represented hundreds of clients – ranging from
Fortune 100 companies to individuals – in litigation and in other
contexts. This experience includes handling, in various fora, claims of
sexual harassment; claims of race, gender, age, disability and national
origin discrimination; and claims under the Equal Pay Act, the WARN Act
and the NLRA. It also includes counseling clients regarding such
matters as employment policies, training programs, policy
implementation, and hiring and termination issues; and negotiating
severance packages and employment agreements.
Insurance and Indemnification
Many of the matters we handle involve insurance coverage and
indemnification aspects. For example, our Directors and Officers
practice regularly entails exploring the coverage and indemnification
available to the individuals involved, and making sure that it is
accessed to the extent appropriate. While often such coverage and
indemnity issues do not require formal litigation, we are prepared to
litigate such claims when necessary, as we did in successfully pursuing
an arbitration against one of the nation’s largest insurers when it
denied coverage under a D&O policy for the settlement of a
shareholder action.
Intellectual Property Litigation
We have experience in a variety of matters involving issues of
patent law, copyright, trademarks and trade dress. For example, we have
been extensively involved in defending the Lemelson Foundation, which
controls the world’s largest privately held portfolio of patents, as
well as the heirs of the famous inventor Jerome Lemelson. The
Foundation and Mr. Lemelson’s heirs have been repeatedly sued for
hundreds of millions of dollars on various legal theories. All claims
have been successfully defended and dismissed. See, e.g., United States
Metals v. Lemelson Medical 106 P.3d 1265 (Nev. 2002); Syndia Corp., et
al. v. Lemelson Medical, Education, and Research Foundation, Limited
Partnership, 165 F.Supp.2d 728 (N.D.Ill. 2001). In other matters we
have, for example, prosecuted cases to protect trade secrets; defended
against claims of trade dress infringement; and responded to patent
infringement claims with substantial antitrust counterclaims on which
our clients ultimately prevailed.
Securities Litigation and Government Investigations
We have regularly acted as counsel, for plaintiffs and defendants,
in securities litigation in numerous federal and state courts, and in
securities arbitrations. Representative matters include our firm’s
representation of certain investment funds against their broker in a
five-week arbitration that resulted in a multimillion-dollar award
described by the Wall Street Journal as the “largest given to a
customer in a dispute with a brokerage house;” and our current
representation of the former Chairman and CEO of a publicly traded
company who is accused in several class actions of inadequate financial
reporting and related disclosures.
We also represent individuals in connection with
investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other
government agencies. In this regard, we are familiar with how these
representations differ from traditional, adversarial litigation. In a
world in which investors, creditors, and multiple government agencies
simultaneously investigate and litigate the same conduct, we take no
action without considering the impact on the related matters, whether
we are handling those related matters or not.
Tax
Shelter Practice
Over the last ten years, Sperling & Slater has represented dozens of individuals
and closely-held corporations in seeking legal recourse against accounting
firms, investment advisors and banks who designed, marketed and implemented
inappropriate tax shelters. We have
prosecuted these claims in federal and state courts, arbitrations and
mediations, under a variety of different states’ laws. As part of that process, Sperling &
Slater actively monitors the numerous criminal and civil cases against tax
shelter professionals pending nationwide, canvassing those cases for the most
incriminating publicly-available materials and supporting caselaw.
In the last six
months, Sperling & Slater has filed two of the largest Son of BOSS civil
cases of which we are aware against professionals who marketed and recommended
them – one against an international bank and its former executive in Illinois
state court for a client who has sustained in excess of $40 million in out of
pocket damages and another against an accounting firm on behalf of a tax shelter
participant who continues to litigate with the IRS but who has exposure,
according to the IRS, in excess of $80 million.
In drafting these complaints, we have compiled what we believe to be the
best available evidence against these defendants, as well as carefully drafted
the complaints to avoid the various procedural roadblocks these defendants
attempt to create.
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Sperling & Slater
55 West Monroe Street
Suite 3200
Chicago, Illinois 60603
312-641-3200
fax: 312-641-6492
info@sperling-law.com
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