Firm Overview

Areas of Practice

Attorneys

Representative Clients
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:
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Directors and Officers
  • Bankruptcy and Insolvency Litigation
  • Antitrust
  • Securities Litigation and Government Investigations
  • Insurance and Indemnification
  • Intellectual Property Litigation
  • Arbitration and Mediation
  • Employment Law

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sperling & Slater
55 West Monroe Street
Suite 3200
Chicago, Illinois 60603
312-641-3200
fax: 312-641-6492
info@sperling-law.com