Sperling & Slater

Adam P. Merrill is a partner in the firm. He has expertise in commercial litigation, bankruptcy and insolvency litigation, and corporate investigations. He has handled matters involving breach of contract, consumer fraud, non-compete and trade secret, accountant malpractice, antitrust, ERISA, tax, product liability, RICO, securities, and federal criminal cases. He has investigated, pursued, and settled claims on behalf of several bankrupt and insolvent entities. And he has represented numerous clients in connection with government investigations.

Mr. Merrill is admitted to practice in Illinois State courts and before the Northern District of Illinois. He is a member of the Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar. He is admitted to practice before the Third and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeal.

Prior to joining Sperling & Slater, Mr. Merrill was a litigation partner at Kirkland & Ellis. Mr. Merrill received his law degree from Brigham Young University, where he was a member of the Law Review and graduated cum laude. Mr. Merrill has an undergraduate degree in accounting and worked as an auditor for Price Waterhouse prior to attending law school.

Commercial Litigation. Mr. Merrill has been involved in post-merger and acquisition disputes, including Hartz Consumer Group v. JWC Hartz Holdings, New York state court (2003-2005); non-competition and trade secrets matters, including The Procter & Gamble Co. v. Stoneham, Ohio state court (1999); antitrust matters, including Sanner v. Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Northern District of Illinois (1995-1999); product liability matters, including Banis v. American Suzuki Motor Corporation and Domine v. American Suzuki Motor Corporation, Illinois state court (1996-1998); ERISA litigation, including Province v. The Pep Boys — Manny, Moe & Jack, Eastern District of Pennsylvania (1999-2001); and RICO litigation, including General Motors Acceptance Corporation v. Shorewood Towers and Ameritech Mobile Communications, Inc. v. Thomas-Rathor, Northern District of Illinois (1997-1998).
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Matters. Since 2000, Mr. Merrill has represented PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, as receiver of Independent Trust Corp., a failed Illinois trust company. As part of this representation, Mr. Merrill helped to secure a $68 million judgment against directors, officers and related companies, and investigated and pursued several "property of the estate" actions. Mr. Merrill has also served as litigation counsel to debtors and committees, including Williams Communications Group Inc., NRG Energy, Inc., Jitney Jungle Stores of America, Inc., and Reliance Acceptance Corp. As part of these matters, Mr. Merrill spent substantial time investigating, pursuing, and settling potential claims available to the debtors and creditors, including fraudulent transfer, preference, and reclamation actions. Mr. Merrill also represented an accounting firm in a suit brought by the liquidator of a failed Illinois insurance company, Shapo v. KPMG, LLP, Illinois state court.
Corporate Investigations. Mr. Merrill has conducted internal investigations and represented numerous clients in connection with investigations conducted by government entities, including the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Illinois Department of Insurance. Representative clients include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mercury Finance Co., and several other public and private companies. As part of these matters, Mr. Merrill, among other things, represented officers and employees during interviews with government attorneys and agents and as part of negotiations regarding Grand Jury appearances.

Adam P. Merrill
312-368-5932
amerrill@sperling-law.com

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