Journal
Notes on how these disputes really unfold in court.
The partners write these for clients and for the lawyers who refer them. You will not find firm news, award announcements or opinions on cases that belonged to someone else.
Illustrative client reviews
Fraud6 min read
The true price of an emergency asset freeze
Getting the order is the cheap part. The bond and your own disclosure duty should decide whether you ask for one.
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Arbitration7 min read
An award you can't collect
Getting paid should shape an arbitration from day one. Ask where the money is before you ever file a demand.
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Practice4 min read
Inside our first meeting
Half an hour with a partner at no charge: what we listen for, and why we sometimes turn a case away.
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Business Litigation8 min read
Documents beat speeches, most of the time
The case you can win is rarely the one you describe at the start. It is the one your records will support.
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Costs5 min read
Flat fees, and where they fail
Some stages of a dispute can carry a fixed price and some cannot. This is how we tell the two apart.
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Bankruptcy6 min read
The day the company crossed the line
Director liability often turns on a date that nobody marked at the time. How trustees find it later.
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Okafor v. Tamsin Brewing Co.
No. 2021 CH 02266 (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.)For the minority members
Founding members of a family craft brewer shut out of management after refusing a low buyout offer, and the valuation that followed.
Halvorsen v. Ridgeline Holdings
No. 23 CV 1841 (N.D. Ill.)For the defendant
A $210 million earn-out claim over whether the buyer pushed revenue into a later year on purpose so that a contingent payment would never fall due.
In re Wexcombe Pension Plan
No. 19-1582 (7th Cir.)For the trustees
Can trustees who rely on competent outside advice be held personally liable once that advice turns out to be wrong?
Illustrative examples. Past results do not predict future outcomes.
Why we write
Why we write
Partners write these notes from their own matters, and nobody in marketing edits them. If a note will not help a client decide something, it stays unpublished.
Bring us a disputeA price you can plan around.
We quote bounded stages at a flat figure and tell you early when a stage cannot be fixed in advance.
Sometimes the answer is no.
Many disputes are better settled, parked or dropped. Saying so at the first meeting costs you nothing and can save a year.
A partner on every file.
The partner you meet runs the matter from first call to verdict. If we cannot staff it that way, we decline it.
Unsure where your dispute fits?
A short call with the partner who would handle it. You will learn plainly if the dispute is worth pursuing and what it would take to find out.