Shook Chicago was founded in 2015, when a commercial litigation boutique, Grippo & Elden, joined the firm. Since then, the Chicago office has grown into a business and commercial litigation powerhouse. With nearly 30 attorneys, the Chicago office offers representation across a spectrum of legal needs to protect and advance corporate business interests. These include insurance and reinsurance, antitrust, employment and labor, government and white collar defense, banking and financial services, securities, intellectual property, data privacy and security and product liability and toxic tort litigation.
Shook Chicago attorneys provide nationwide leadership to the firm’s practices, as well as leading in matters of Illinois law. Our Chicago office is the go-to destination for representing clients in Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) matters, including obtaining a groundbreaking defense victory in an Illinois Supreme Court case.
Our Chicago team has significant litigation experience in matters of breach of contract, insurance coverage, fraud and fiduciary issues, as well as class action and complex litigation. In 2024, the Chicago office became a home to Shook’s Government Investigations and White Collar Practice, with two high-profile hires with extensive experience and successes in these areas of law.
The following lists some of our premier practice areas with attorney contacts.
Practices
Appellate
The Chicago office has successfully represented parties in numerous substantive areas in appellate law. Our attorneys have extensive knowledge in federal appellate practice and procedure and have assisted firm clients in matters pending before various U.S. Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. They have authored appellate briefs before various state and appellate courts, and argued appeals before federal U.S. Circuit Courts.
Contact:
Bill Northrip
Antitrust
Chicago’s antitrust attorneys are class action litigators with experience handling agency-facing work and all aspects of antitrust counseling. The Chicago office provides nationwide leadership to the firm’s antitrust group, with deep experience representing various businesses in a full-range of antitrust issues including pricing policies, employment restrictions, exclusivity provisions, refusals to deal, FRAND rates, tying, information sharing, mergers, and joint ventures.
Contacts:
Riley Mendoza
Lynn Murray
Business Litigation
Business Litigation is a focus of the Chicago office, with a deep bench of power attorneys recognized by trial wins throughout the country. Our attorneys have successfully handled cases for clients engaged in major business disputes and civil litigation. From counseling through trial and appeal, our attorneys provide comprehensive experience in complex, multijurisdictional matters dealing with numerous adversaries engaged in business disputes. They have represented both defendants and plaintiffs in cases involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, insurance coverage, and employment issues in state and federal courts as well as in arbitration and mediation contexts.
Contacts:
Amy Cho
Gary Elden
Gary Miller
Lynn Murray
Riley Mendoza
Dave Schoenfeld
Matt Sitzer
Matt Wolfe
Class Actions
Shook Chicago office attorneys defend major companies in high-stakes complex, class action litigation. Our attorneys have represented Fortune 500 companies effected by legal actions targeting entire industries, including class actions and large numbers of individual cases aggregated under multidistrict litigation or state consolidation procedures. Whether the goal is to defeat class certification, win the case at trial or otherwise resolve litigation on favorable terms, our attorneys seek to reduce the risks posed by class action litigation.
Contacts:
Bill Northrip
Matt Wolfe
Employment
Employment and labor litigation is an ever-increasing reality for corporate employers, who are targeted with new wage-and-hour, benefits or regulatory-compliance lawsuits every day. Shook Chicago provides corporate employers effective, knowledgeable counsel and creative, cost-effective litigation strategies to offer clients the breadth of Shook’s world-class litigation experience.
Contact:
Riley Mendoza
Environmental
Shook Chicago covers legalities companies face with environmental and toxic torts, including claims of environmental contamination, product liability, business torts, and premises liability. Our attorneys have successfully handled environmental and toxic tort cases in state and federal courts and administrative tribunals across the nation. Our clients also look to us for advice and ongoing consultation, including analysis of existence of coverage, claims handling, regulatory matters and other issues affecting their business operations.
Contact:
Kirk Marty
Government Investigations and White Collar
Shook Chicago plays a prominent role in the firm’s Government Investigations and White Collar Practice, which is staffed with the firm’s most experienced trial lawyers who have direct government experience in a variety of agencies. Our Chicago team—with decades of experience both in private practice and government—handles high-stakes trials, investigations, white collar matters, regulatory and securities enforcement disputes, and complex litigations.
Contacts:
Jay Schleppenbach
Insurance and Reinsurance
Shook insurance attorneys have handled litigation, arbitration and appeals involving coverage for toxic torts and environmental contamination, product liability, business torts, premises liability, professional and fiduciary liability, credit union and bank fraud, punitive damages, advertising injury, construction defects, and intellectual property claims. Our clients also look to us for advice and ongoing consultation, including analysis of existence of coverage, claims handling, regulatory matters and other issues affecting their day-to-day business operations. Shook Chicago’s clients have included many of the top insurance agencies in the nation, often in complex coverage litigation across the U.S. involving billions in disputed insurance proceeds.
Contacts:
Amy Cho
Riley Mendoza
Lynn Murray
David Schoenfeld
Matt Sitzer
Matt Wolfe
Product Liability and Toxic Tort Litigation
Our attorneys litigate complex product liability and toxic tort cases, defending companies and manufacturers in proceedings involving litigation on their products, as well as toxic torts and environmental exposure. They use the power of the firm’s team of science and research analysts, who provide advanced scientific support to ensure our attorneys master the technical and scientific issues of each case.
Contacts:
Kirk Marty
Riley Mendoza
Bill Northrip
Privacy and Cybersecurity
Shook Chicago has become a critical base for cutting-edge litigation in privacy and cybersecurity—particularly biometric privacy litigation. Our privacy and cybersecurity team serves a client list spanning industries and businesses, helping them navigate the ever-growing challenges of collecting, storing and utilizing sensitive information. The Chicago office provides leadership in the firm’s biometric privacy litigation practice. Given its location, Shook Chicago has represented numerous defendants in class action litigation alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). They have argued before the Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Court in BIPA matters and led briefings in more than a dozen BIPA appeals.
Contacts:
Bill Northrip
Jad Sheikali
Matt Wolfe
Accolades
Shook Chicago and its attorneys have been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell, Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Legal 500, Lawdragon, Who’s Who in American Law, The Best Lawyers in America, Leading Lawyers, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Chicago Magazine and Crain’s Chicago. They are also members of legal organizations such as the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Law Institute.
Community Service
Shook Chicago recognizes the value of providing legal services to underserved populations through pro bono work. The office’s pro bono work includes representing asylum applicants in connection with the National Immigrant Justice Center.
