Ronald S. Safer

Ronald Safer manages complex, high-stakes cases with a focus in white collar crime and complex civil litigation. He has successfully represented companies and individuals in matters such as accounting fraud, tax fraud, anti-kickback violations, FCPA, RICO, environmental violations, and securities fraud. He represents clients before the U.S. Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and numerous state agencies.

Ron’s track record demonstrates his ability to command a courtroom while maintaining an unflinching commitment to his clients. His vast federal and state trial experience, paired with his unwavering work ethic and approachable demeanor, allows him to bring extraordinary value to his clients.

In 1989, Ron joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago and rose to Chief of the Criminal Division, successfully prosecuting more than one hundred defendants during his tenure. He prosecuted cases ranging from complex financial frauds and public corruption to sophisticated continuing criminal enterprises. He prosecuted the leadership of the Gangster Disciples, a criminal organization with over 30,000 members that annually sold over $100 million of drugs in Illinois alone. He conducted dozens of jury trials and argued many significant cases to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ron’s legal career has had many chapters, but each has been characterized by a deep and abiding commitment to personal integrity, public service, and the rule of law. Ron returned to private practice in 1999, with the goal of making public service an even more essential feature of his firm and his own personal practice. He has represented, pro bono, numerous wrongfully convicted inmates in Illinois and around the country, often in conjunction with the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Bluhm Legal Clinic, Center on Wrongful Convictions, where Ron serves on the Advisory Committee. Some of the representative cases of Ron’s public service commitment while in private practice include the exonerations of Julie Rea, Kristine Bunch, Bennie Starks, Eddie Bolden, Arthur Brown, and Jonathan Barr.