Law practice

Overview

I’m a trial lawyer who handles high-stakes technology, AI, and complex commercial disputes in courts and agencies across the United States. I have tried and won jury and bench trials, led class actions, and managed cases with exposure ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars.

I began my legal career in 1995 at Hopkins & Sutter, focusing on regulatory litigation before the Illinois Commerce Commission and complex commercial and intellectual property disputes in state and federal courts. I later became a partner at Ungaretti & Harris LLP and chaired the firm’s Intellectual Property group. During that time, I was recognized as an Illinois Super Lawyer and as one of “40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty To Watch.”

In 2007, I shifted from large-firm practice to building and leading technology companies. Throughout that period, I also served as general counsel for several companies, continuing to handle complex commercial and intellectual property matters. Over the past several years, I have returned to active trial and appellate practice, focusing on plaintiffs’ class actions and complex disputes at the intersection of generative AI, copyright, right of publicity, biometric privacy, and consumer protection. I serve as lead trial counsel in class actions against the generative AI music companies Suno and Udio, asserting copyright, DMCA, BIPA, and related state-law claims, and I regularly collaborate with other firms on high-stakes technology and AI matters.

Focus areas

  • Generative AI, copyright, and right of publicity. Class actions and complex disputes involving AI training data, music and media outputs, and use of voices, likenesses, and other personal attributes.
  • Biometric privacy and data-driven consumer protection. Claims involving biometric identifiers, user data, profiling, and unfair or deceptive technology practices.
  • Class actions and complex commercial litigation. High-stakes business, consumer, and technology disputes in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies.
  • Technology, IP, and trade secrets. Software, platforms, and hardware matters involving patents, trade secrets, computer intrusion, and unfair competition.
  • Regulatory and administrative trials. Contested proceedings before agencies and commissions, including cases involving utilities, infrastructure, and licensing.

Bar admissions

  • Illinois Supreme Court
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Education

  • JD, University of Illinois College of Law (1995)
  • BA, Northwestern University (1992)

Representative cases

AI, technology, and IP

  • Suno generative AI music class action – Lead trial counsel for independent musicians in a putative nationwide class action against Suno, a generative AI music company, alleging that it used copyrighted sound recordings without permission to train and operate its models and generate competing music, and asserting copyright, DMCA, BIPA, and state-law claims.
  • Udio generative AI music class action – Lead trial counsel for independent musicians in a putative nationwide class action against Udio, a generative AI music company, challenging its use of copyrighted sound recordings to build and run its AI system, and asserting copyright, DMCA, BIPA, and state-law claims.
  • Macrovision Corporation v. Sima Products Corporation (S.D.N.Y.; Fed. Cir.) – Trial and appellate counsel for Sima Products in a video and DVD technology case involving patent infringement and DMCA anti-circumvention claims; secured a favorable settlement after litigating the DMCA issues on appeal.
  • Katris v. Ernst & Company (N.D. Ill.; Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.) – Trial counsel for Ernst & Company in a case alleging misappropriation of financial trading software; obtained dismissal of all claims on summary judgment, affirmed on appeal.
  • SunGard Data Systems v. WTD, Ltd. (N.D. Ill.) – Trial counsel to SunGard Data Systems in a computer intrusion and trade secrets case against a group of former employees; the case settled favorably after expedited discovery.
  • Patent trials involving hardware and medical devices – Trial counsel in multiple patent suits, including cases over safe technologies (FireKing v. Corporate Safe Specialists; Corporate Safe Specialists v. Tidel), commercial truck scales (Mettler-Toledo, Inc. v. B-Tek Scales, LLC), and medical devices (RWM v. KCI) in federal courts in Texas and Illinois.

Class actions and consumer protection

  • Casey v. QT (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.) – Trial counsel for corporate and individual defendants in a nationally certified class action seeking more than $125 million over an alternative medical product; obtained a full defense verdict on all causes of action after a lengthy bench trial.
  • FTC v. QT, Inc. (N.D. Ill.) – Trial counsel for corporate and individual defendants in an enforcement action under the Federal Trade Commission Act concerning advertising for a consumer product, tried in 2006.
  • Clarus v. QT, Inc. (N.D. Ill.) – Trial counsel for defendants in a case alleging copyright and trademark infringement; obtained a favorable verdict denying the plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction.

Complex commercial and regulatory disputes

  • Air Canada v. Department of Transportation (DOT) – Counsel for Miami-Dade County, Florida, in a $4.6 billion administrative trial brought by six major airlines challenging a major airport improvement project at Miami International Airport; successfully defended the project.
  • Emerald Casino litigation (Ill. state courts; bankruptcy; administrative proceedings) – Trial counsel to Emerald Casino, an Illinois casino licensee, in state, bankruptcy, and administrative trials involving the company’s gaming license.
  • Central Court Limited Partnership v. Artesia Mortgage Capital Corporation (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.) – Trial counsel for plaintiff in a commercial real estate refinancing dispute; obtained summary judgment on all claims and recovered all damages.
  • Bank One v. Jones Lang LaSalle / Bank One v. Trammell Crow (N.D. Ill.; Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.) – Trial counsel for Bank One in disputes with key real estate vendors involving service agreements and a major sale–leaseback; both cases settled favorably before trial.
  • K&M Plastics et al. v. Commonwealth Edison Company (Illinois Commerce Commission) – Trial counsel for Commonwealth Edison in an administrative trial over electric utility rates for large commercial customers; the case settled after a favorable trial verdict.

Additional matters

  • Mitchell v. First Northern Credit Union, et al. (N.D. Ill.) – Trial counsel for a defendant in a case involving alleged infringement of a computerized loan management patent.
  • Amkor v. Motorola, Inc. (Del. Super. Ct.) – Trial counsel for Motorola in a case involving whether a party could assign a patent cross-license and joint-ownership agreement to a third-party purchaser.
  • Harris Potteries v. Lippert Marketing, Ltd. (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.) – Trial counsel for Harris Potteries in a dispute between a manufacturer and its sales representative over a sales representation agreement.
  • Schumacher Electric v. Motorola, Inc. (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.) – Trial counsel for Motorola in a case involving alleged failure of diodes used in electric battery chargers; the case settled favorably before trial.
  • In re: Resource Technology Corporation (Bankr. N.D. Ill.) – Trial counsel in a bankruptcy case involving methane gas pollution technology; successfully defended at trial against creditors’ efforts to avoid performance under a contract with Resource Technology Corporation.
  • Midwest Realty v. Fine Homes (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty.) – Trial counsel for plaintiff in a breach of contract case involving unpaid commissions for the sale of a multi-million-dollar home; obtained a favorable trial verdict for the plaintiff.
  • Niebur v. Town of Cicero, et al. (N.D. Ill.) – Trial counsel to individual defendants in a two-week trial involving constitutional and municipal employment claims; obtained a directed verdict for one defendant and a favorable settlement for the second following trial.