Law Firm Overview

I have handled a broad variety of civil litigation in both state and Federal court, with emphasis on disputes between business partners, legal malpractice, government relations, employment discrimination, "whistle-blowers," and civil rights.

My biggest victory in a civil case was Schiffels v. Kemper Financial , 978 F.2d 344 (7th Cir. 1992), where the Court of Appeals upheld a RICO complaint I filed on behalf of a whistle-blower.

After graduating from the University of Chicago Law School in 1963, I spent 10 years as a Federal prosecutor - the first five in the Midwest Office of the Antitrust Division, and the last five as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago. I developed a skill in organizing and trying complex financial cases. In the Antitrust Division, I investigated and supervised 18 civil price-fixing cases against publishers of children's books involving sales to schools and libraries. When these cases were filed, the story appeared on the front page of the New York Times . In the U.S. Attorney's office, I tried 29 criminal cases, including tax evasion, mail fraud, bank fraud, embezzlement, false claims, and bankruptcy fraud. During my last two years in the U.S. Attorney's office, I was chief of the Appellate Division, and personally argued 27 criminal appeals in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

After leaving the government at the end of 1973, I was employed by both a large and a small law firm, handling a variety of civil litigation. I established my own practice in October, 1982.

The cases I have handled in private practice include:

Employment Discrimination and Civil Rights : two "whistle blowers" suing employers for retaliatory discharge; two public employees charging that adverse job actions were motivated by their politics; a class of "janitresses" in the trial of an employment discrimination case against the City of Chicago; a terminated salesman in an age discrimination case against a major corporation; an activist suing a school board for hindering her communication with parents; a City of Chicago employee appealing his discharge and suing for damages for being arrested on the job; a citizen charging brutality by a suburban police department.

Other civil cases : several lawsuits between feuding or departing business partners; two legal malpractice cases; customers suing a brokerage house for securities fraud; a civil forfeiture case against the assets of an alleged drug dealer; an architect enforcing a mechanic's lien; a school being threatened with a breach of contract suit by students; private antitrust cases against a motel chain, a magazine distributor, and a municipality; a weekly newspaper in the trial of a trademark infringement case; a national trade association in a suit seeking to invalidate Federal regulations; a steel fabricator in an arbitration hearing involving the construction of a petrochemical plant; a pipeline company in a damage suit against the U.S. Corps of Engineers; a condominium association suing a developer over a faulty roof; an heir charging mismanagement against the executor of an estate; a professional contesting being listed on the state's Central Register of Child Abuse Reports; two state contractors suing for payment in the Illinois Court of Claims.

Criminal Cases:  a businessman charged with participating in a  scheme which allegedly led to the collapse of the Penn Square and Continental Banks;  a businessman charged with obtaining state contracts in return for political contributions;  a businessman charged with defrauding 18 banks by fraudulently obtaining loans; three cases involving businessmen charged with fraud for misusing investors' money; the head of a youth organization charged with Medicaid fraud; a businesswoman charged with failure to disclose foreign bank accounts on her tax returns; a businesswoman charged with tax fraud; a highway contractor charged with a scheme to rig silver futures trading on the Board of Trade; a businessman charged with perjury before the Grand Jury; a public employee charged with taking bribes.

Areas of Practice

• White Collar Criminal Law 50%
• Discrimination & Civil Rights 25%
• Business Disputes 25%

Pro Bono Activities

• Board Member, Chicago Children's Choir, 1988 - 2000
• Board Member, Chicago a Cappella, 2001 - Present

Representative Cases

• Liparota v. U.S., 105 S.Ct. 2084 (Supreme Ct. 1985)
• Bio-Scientific Clinical Laboratory v. Todd, 501 N.E.2d 192 (1st Dist. 1986)
• U.S. v. Grizaffi, 471 F.2d 69 (7th Cir. 1972)
• U.S. v. Robinson, 479 F.2d 300 (7th Cir. 1973)
• Schiffels v. Kemper Financial Services, Inc., 978 F.2d 344 (7th Cir. 1992)
• Nappi v. Meridian Leasing Corp., 859 F.Supp. 1177 (N.D. Ill. 1994)
• U.S. v. $87,118.00 in U.S. Currency, 95 F.3d 511 (7th Cir. 1996)
• Hernandez v. O'Malley, 98 F.3d 293 (7th Cir. 1996)
• U.S. v. Thomas, 321 F.3d 627 (7th Cir. 2003)

West Practice Categories

Civil Rights, Criminal Law, White Collar Crimes, Employment Law -- Employee, Litigation & Appeals, Legal Malpractice