Litigation

Having tried cases daily in the Cook County Criminal Courts, we have an unmatched understanding of how to evaluate cases for strengths and weaknesses. From business disputes to employment matters and breach-of-contract issues, we take an aggressive – yet professional – stance to secure the best outcome in each situation. At every turn, we emphasize practicality over posturing.

While taking a case to trial is a matter of last resort and should be approached cautiously, there are times litigation cannot be avoided. When that time comes, we go on the offensive to secure a quick resolution. We are not afraid to take a case into the courtroom because we know how to win when we are there.

We have deep experience in litigation issues including:

• Product liability
• Breach of contract
• Wage theft/bonus theft
• Consumer fraud
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Partner and shareholder disputes
• Employment discrimination
• Federal and state court matters
• CME arbitration matters
• AAA arbitration matters
• Personal injury

Recent Successes

• Investigated and identified embezzlement by a director of a proprietary trading firm and subsequently recovered $450,000 in stolen funds and real estate. While our client initially suspected the director had stolen approximately $100,000 from the company, our investigation revealed the scope of the fraud to be much larger. Within 24 hours of being retained, we conducted an on-site forensic investigation, obtained a signed confession from the embezzler, and located the stolen assets. Within days we initiated a civil suit and obtained injunctive relief to freeze the assets of the former director and family members to whom he had transferred stolen funds. He was subsequently arrested, charged with wire fraud, and sentenced to three years in prison.
• Saved a biodiesel refining plant hundreds of thousands of dollars
•  after an engineering firm breached a contract and threatened to sue. Rather than wait, we helped our client strike first by obtaining an injunction to prohibit the engineering firm from disclosing the plant’s proprietary technology, then forced the other side to the negotiating table where we brokered a favorable outcome for our client.

While O2 normally does not engage in appellate or post-conviction criminal work, we occasionally take on matters of justice when there is a wrong that should be righted.

Colleagues familiar with our reputation and experience requested that we review the case of a Chicago man who claimed he was falsely charged and imprisoned. He was shot at 18 times by two Chicago police officers following a routine traffic stop, resulting in grievous injuries.

The man was charged with several gun offenses and sentenced to 14 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after being advised by his trial attorney that he had no choice but to plead guilty.

Leveraging our years of experience in the State’s Attorney’s Office, we reviewed the police reports and interviews of the officers involved and uncovered major inconsistencies with the police version of the incident.

We then filed a post-conviction petition on behalf of our client. In response, the State’s Attorney’s Office retroactively dismissed all of the gun charges against him, and an innocent man was immediately freed from prison.