Rachel Ellen Simon was awarded the Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service, presented bythe judges of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. The annual award recognizes attorneys who have provided outstanding pro bono legal services in the district, dedicating their time and expertise to serve litigants most in need of assistance. (Link)

Michael Shakman, Mary Eileen Cunniff Wells, and Rachel Ellen Simon secured a victory in theIllinois Supreme Court on behalf of a disabled former Cook County employee who had been denied his disability benefits when he was terminated due to his disability. In a unanimous opinion, the Illinois Supreme Court held that the former employee was entitled to reinstatement of his disability benefits from the Pension Board and pension contributions from the County. Link to opinion.

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On September 21, 2021, a team of Miller Shakman attorneys obtained an appellate victory in New Jersey staying a $170 million legal malpractice action brought against their client, a large international law firm. After briefing and argument, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey reversed a trial court ruling denying the stay. The Appellate Division agreed with Miller Shakman’s argument that the malpractice action should be stayed pending the outcome of related federal tax litigation, which could reduce or fully eliminate all pending claims against the client. The appeal was briefed by Edward Feldman, Dan Feeney, Kay Dawson, and Rachel Ellen Simon, along with local counsel at Lowenstein Sandler LLP, and argued by Dan Feeney.

Michael Shakman, Zachary Freeman, and William Katt secured appellate victory affirming summary judgmenton all claims against a law firm accused of having failed to advise a client regarding statute of limitations issues.

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Following a seven-day trial, Miller Shakman attorneys won a judgment exceeding $7.7 million, including punitive damages, for an investor against his former business partner. The trial court found that the partner had breached his fiduciary duties by, among other things, diverting funds and mismanaging the real estate investments the parties jointly owned. Miller Shakman also won an additional $476,000 against another defendant. Both defendants were expelled or had their interests foreclosed in the projects. The Illinois Appellate Court upheld the decision on March 31, 2021:

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‍Cahnman v. Timber Court LLC, 2021 IL App (1st) 200338

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‍Further details about the case were reported in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Firm attorneys Karen Levine, Edward Feldman, Alexandra Block and Mary Eileen Wells tried the case and defended the judgment on appeal.

On May 9, 2017, Alexandra Block and Dan Feeney won an appellate victory for The Chicago Tribune in a precedent-setting Freedom of Information Act case, in which the Illinois Appellate Court, Second District, held that the College of DuPage Foundation and College of DuPage must disclose a subpoena under Illinois’ open records law. This was the first Illinois case to determine whether a non-profit dedicated solely to supporting a public college must comply with FOIA. Following the appeal, Ms. Block and Mr. Feeney also secured a full recovery of The Chicago Tribune’s attorneys’ fees in the Circuit Court of DuPage County.

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‍Chicago Tribune v. College of Du Page, 2017 IL App (2d) 160274

On June 23, 2017, Edward Feldman won a treble damages award and attorneys’ fees in a license and trademark case tried to a jury in October 2016. The jury had rejected our client’s opponents’ claim for nearly $30 million in damages from an alleged breach of contract and tortious interference, and awarded our client $5 million in trademark damages and $1.6 million in contract damages. On June 23, the trial court trebled the trademark award to $15 million and awarded attorneys’ fees and costs of over $2.2 million, bringing the total judgment to nearly $19 million. Mr. Feldman tried the case with Pete Ross, an attorney at Browne George Ross in Los Angeles.

On February 23, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a judgment dismissing a $600 million RICO claim brought against a large law firm represented by Marc Beem, Edward Feldman, Tom Staunton and Kay Dawson.  The Court agreed with our firm’s showing that the lengthy complaint in the case failed to allege that our client had entered into any agreement with other defendants to violate RICO.

Following a three-week jury trial, on October 21, 2016, Edward Feldman won a $7 million verdict for, as well as a defense verdict on claims against, a large media client.  The case involved license and trademark issues.  Our client’s opponents sought nearly $30 million in damages from an alleged breach of contract and tortious interference, but the jury found that it was they who had breached the contract and had infringed our client’s trademark rights.  Mr. Feldman tried the case with Pete Ross, an attorney at Browne George Ross in Los Angeles.

Karen Levine was named among the “Top 10 Leading Women Civil Appellate Lawyers in Illinois” in Leading Lawyer’s Magazine – Women’s Edition for 2015. Leading Lawyer’s based its list on a survey of practitioners and review by a panel of attorneys they selected. The magazine also included Ms. Levine in its lists of the Top 100 women business lawyers and Top 100 women consumer lawyers in Illinois.

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Leading Lawyers Network Magazine – Women’s Edition 2015: “Top 10 Women Civil Appellate”