Practice Areas: Business Litigation, Insurance Coverage, Estate & Trust Litigation; view more
Licensed in Illinois since: 1977
Education: Northwestern University School of Law
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2006 - 2007, 2010 - 2025 Details
With more than three decades of legal experience in high-profile civil and criminal litigation, attorney Michael J. Gill has honed his skills through more than 40 jury and bench trials in state and federal courts as well as representing clients in arbitrations. He emphasizes his practice on complex cases involving financial disputes, technology issues and contract breaches. Cases Mr. Gill has handled have related to technology development, bank fraud, derivatives and futures trading, construction projects, and purchases and sales of businesses, real estate and goods. He has also litigated cases in the court system and arbitration involving insurance and reinsurance.
Because of his broad range of experience, Mr. Gill has often been called upon as a consultant by business clients to assess regulatory, criminal and civil risk levels within their organizations. He is partner in the international firm Mayer Brown LLP and practices from its office in Chicago, Illinois.
Practice areas
Business Litigation, Insurance Coverage, Estate & Trust Litigation, Communications, Construction Litigation: BusinessFocus areas
Construction Defects
- 60% Business Litigation
- 10% Insurance Coverage
- 10% Estate & Trust Litigation
- 10% Communications
- 10% Construction Litigation: Business
First Admitted: 1977, Illinois
Professional Webpage: https://www.mayerbrown.com/people/Michael-J-Gill/
Bar/Professional Activity:
- U.S. Federal Courts, 1977
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit
- Illinois, 1977
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois
- Supreme Court of Illinois, 1977
- U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois
- U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit
Verdicts/Settlements (Case Results):
- Represented AT&T in Congressional, DOJ and FCC investigations concerning its participation in the federal E-Rate program
- Resolved without penalty an SEC investigation with respect to United Stationers’ sales practices in Canada
- Negotiated a settlement for BNSF with its insurers with respect to its historic environmental liabilities across the United States
- Represented Allied Waste in Delaware shareholder litigation that sought to enjoin its $6 billion merger with Republic Services, which was resolved without any delay to the merger
- Obtained successful resolution for HK Systems of a lawsuit involving a $50 million property loss by Quad Graphics resulting from the collapse of a building housing automated paper storage facilities
- Successfully defended a lawsuit by the City of Milwaukee seeking to enjoin AT&T’s launch of U verse television in Wisconsin
Representative Clients:
- Ross Computer Systems v. Norand Corporation. Defended Norand Corporation in a lawsuit alleging breach of a computer reseller agreement, resulting in a nominal damages award
- The Central National Insurance Company of Omaha v. The Greyhound Corporation. A suit on behalf of Central National to enforce Greyhound's guarantee of its subsidiary's reinsurance obligations to Central National, resulting in a substantial settlement for our client after trial
- United States v. Commonwealth Edison Company. A federal court jury found ComEd not guilty of criminal violation of the Atomic Energy Act
- Standard Chartered Bank v. FDIC. Judgment in favor of SCB for the full amount of its loss in a fraudulent international wire transfer scheme
- Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois v. Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. Trial court denied LPCI’s motion for preliminary injunction to prevent MPEA from proceeding with McCormick Place expansion that required demolition of a landmark building. The decision was affirmed on appeal
- Alliance Insurance Company v. Certain London Reinsurers. Alliance was awarded the full amount of its claim plus interest in an arbitration against its reinsurers
- Objections to the Candidacy of Rahm Emanuel for Mayor of City of Chicago. The Chicago Board of Elections overruled challenges of objectors who argued Emanuel was not a resident of the City of Chicago because he had lived in Washington D.C. as President Obama’s Chief of Staff. The decision was affirmed by the Illinois Supreme Court
- Tenneco Automotive Inc. and Pactiv Corporation v El Paso Corp. and Lloyds. A Delaware Chancery Court preserving the historical property and casualty insurance coverage of Tenneco and Pactiv
- Bear Hunter v. CTC. An arbitration panel awarded our client sole ownership of a specialist trading post on the American Stock Exchange
Honors/Awards:
- Fellow - Litigation Counsel of America
- Magna Cum Laude, Order of the Coif, Northwestern University School of Law
Educational Background:
- Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, United States of America, B.A., 1974
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
- IT Systems Failure Litigation: 1976-2000 Patterns Observed and Lessons Learned Mealey's Cyber Tech Litigation Report, October 2000
- Electronic Discovery Deskbook, Practising Law Institute, March 2009
- Securities Investigations: Internal, Civil and Criminal, Practising Law Institute, October 2011
- Protecting Those Who Protect Chicago, 20 December, 2011
- Current Issues in Internal Corporate Investigations, 22 October, 2012
- Fern C. Bomchill, Michael J. Gill, Ethical Duties of the Corporate Lawyer – The Ethics and Reality of Protecting Communications of In-House Lawyers, Webinar, 16 June, 2011
- Anthony J. Diana, Michael J. Gill, Sharon A. Israel, After Rambus: Best Practices for Managing Spoliation Risk, 26 May 2011
- Michael J. Gill, Sharon A. Israel, E-Discovery & Records Management Teleconference: E-Discovery and Spoliation in the IP Context, 27 May, 2009
- Adjunct Professor of Trial Practice, Northwestern University School of Law, 1987 to Present
- Adjunct Professor, Government and Internal Investigations, Trial Advocacy, Northwestern University School of Law
- "Criminal Statutes Charged in Securities Cases," Securities Investigations, Internal, Civil and Criminal, Practising Law Institute, 2008
- "Managing Spoliation Calims and Defenses," Electronic Discovery Deskbook, Practising Law Institute, 2009
- Instructor, National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Illinois Attorney General's Trial Skills Training Course and Chicago Corporation Counsel's Trial Practice Program
- Northwestern University School of Law Review, Editorial Board, 1977
- The Benefits of Arbitrating Claims to Enforce Restrictive Covenants ABA Tort, Trial Insurance & Practice Committee News, 2007
Selections
18 Years Super Lawyers
- Super Lawyers: 2006 - 2007, 2010 - 2025
