Robert R. Anderson III

Robert Anderson is a shareholder with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He has a national practice focused primarily on defending insurers in coverage litigation arising from mass tort and environmental liabilities. He also represents contractors with respect to public and private contracting matters. He joined the firm in 2005.

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION
AV Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell
Leading Lawyer Illinois Leading Lawyers Network

MEMBERSHIPS / ASSOCIATIONS
LEGAL
Member, Illinois State Bar Association
Member, DRI

SPEECHES & PRESENTATIONS
Mr. Anderson lectures across the country on insurance coverage issues for various insurance industry groups and speaks frequently to Illinois contractors on construction-related issues.

RELATED NEWS
Thirteen HSPRD attorneys are named as Chicago's "Top Rated Lawyers" with AV Preeminent Ratings by Martindale-Hubbell.

PRACTICE AREAS
-Insurance Law
-Construction Law

EDUCATION
-Northwestern University School of Law (J.D. 1984)
-Boston University (B.A. 1981)
--magna cum laude

ADMISSIONS
BAR ADMISSIONS
-Illinois (1984)

COURT ADMISSIONS
-U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
-U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Northwestern University School of Law
Juris Doctorate, 1981

CHIRAG G. BADLANI

Chirag G. Badlani has joined the Firm as an associate. Mr. Badlani will represent clients in a wide variety of civil matters, with a focus in the areas of civil rights, constitutional law, and labor and employment.

Mr. Badlani graduated magna cum laude from New York University School of Law (J.D. 2008), where he served as a Production Editor for the Journal of International Law and Politics and as a Competitions Research and Writing Editor for the Moot Court Board. During law school, Mr. Badlani worked at NYU's Immigrant Rights Clinic and the Vera Institute of Justice. He received his B.A. from Yale College (B.A. 2003).

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Badlani was a law clerk to the Honorable Ann Claire Williams, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and to the Honorable Allyne Ross, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He also worked as a Planning Associate at the Vera Institute of Justice, in the Center on Immigration and Justice.

Mr. Badlani is a member of the bar in Illinois and New York.

MEMBERSHIPS / ASSOCIATIONS
LEGAL
Member, Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago
Member, Illinois State Bar Association
Board Member, National Immigrant Justice Center Junior Leadership Board
Chair of Outreach Committee, First 10 (formerly Chicago Young Public Interest Lawyers Network)

CIVIC / COMMUNITY
2014 Fellow, New Leaders Council (NLC) Chicago Chapter

RELATED NEWS
HSPRD lawyer Chirag Badlani was selected as a 2014 fellow by the Chicago Chapter of New Leaders Council (NLC), an organization that works to recruit, train, and promote progressive entrepreneurs and civically-engaged leaders.
The United States government lifted sanctions it had imposed for seventeen years on an American citizen labeled a "Specially Designated Terrorist" in response to a constitutional challenge brought by HSPRD, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the People's Law Office. Read more.
Five more reasons why HSPRD achieves success. Read more.
HSPRD associate Chirag Badlani discussed judicial clerkships at First 10 (formerly Chicago Young Public Interest Lawyers Network), which is an organization dedicated to supporting public interest lawyers in their first ten years of practice.
HSPRD is pleased to announce that Chirag Badlani has joined the firm as an associate.

PRACTICE AREAS
-Civil Rights/Constitutional Law
-Labor and Employment Law
-Class Actions

EDUCATION
-New York University School of Law (J.D. 2008)
--magna cum laude
--Order of the Coif (2008)
--Production Editor, Journal of International Law and Politics
--Competitions Research and Writing Editor, Moot Court Board
--Finalist and Best Brief Award, Orison S. Marden Moot Court Competition (2007)
-Yale College (B.A. 2003)
--Yale Manuscripts and Archives Senior Essay Prize

JUDICIAL CLERKSHIPS
-Honorable Ann Claire Williams, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
-Honorable Allyne R. Ross, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

ADMISSIONS
BAR ADMISSIONS
-New York (2009)
-Illinois (2012)

COURT ADMISSIONS
-U. S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
-U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

LANGUAGES
-Spanish

New York University School of Law
Juris Doctorate, 2008

LARRY D. BLUST

Larry Blust became a partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick Dym, Ltd. in 2014. Mr. Blust has been in private practice since 1968, except for three years during which he served as a Staff Judge Advocate and Military Judge in the U.S. Air Force. Mr. Blust has extensive experience in virtually every area of corporate, tax, wealth, and real estate law. Specifically, Mr. Blust practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions; tax reporting, consulting and controversies; gaming transactions; taxable and tax exempt bonds; infrastructure financing; other types of financing; fund structures; maritime matters; tax credits; entity structuring; wealthy family representation; and real estate law. Mr. Blust has also conducted a tax dispute practice in federal and state courts.

Prior to joining HSPRD, Mr. Blust was a partner at Barnes & Thornburg, where he served as the head of its Chicago Corporate and Business Department. Prior to that, Mr. Blust was a partner at Jenner & Block, where he was the head of the transitional Tax Department for over 20 years and was on the firm's Management Committee for 15 years.

Prior to receiving his law degree, Mr. Blust received a degree in accounting and an Illinois CPA Certificate and worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Mr. Blust represents buyers and sellers in M&A transactions, including complicated tax structuring and cross border transactions. Some of his specialized niche areas are tax-exempt entity acquisitions and LLC acquisition structures minimizing tax on retained minority interests and Hart-Scott-Rodino filings. Recent transactions include:

Sale of two consulting practices for large consulting firm
Joint venture between state university and a publisher on financial index
Acquisition of beer distributorship
Sale of manufacturer with Canadian and European operations
Tax Reporting, Consulting, and Controversies

Mr. Blust represents taxpayers at the audit, appellate, administrative hearing, and court levels regarding federal income, estate, and excise taxes and state and local income, sales, use, and franchise taxes. Recent matters include:

Settlement of TEFRA audit
Settlement of Chicago lease and use tax matter at administrative hearing level
Settlement of federal accumulated surplus tax case at appeals
In addition to representing taxpayers in controversies, Mr. Blust counsels on situsing to minimize state and local taxes, handles unclaimed property audits and issues, develops structures for foreign clients for investments in the U.S. and negotiates and drafts tax reimbursement (secondment) agreements and tax allocation agreements regarding U.S. employees and operations located overseas. Mr. Blust also consulted for a former governor regarding Illinois tax legislation, including a possible gross receipts tax and regarding film tax credits.

Gaming Transactions

Mr. Blust represents financial institutions and gaming companies in Indian and non-Indian gaming transactions. Examples of Indian gaming and economic development transactions are:

Certification of Tribes and Bands with Bureau of Indian Affairs
Acquiring and dedicating trust and reservation land
The financing of over 30 Indian casinos in California (3 of 4 Palm Springs casinos), Wyoming (only non-state regulated Indian casino), Minnesota, Oklahoma, New York, New Mexico, and Wisconsin
Tax exempt Indian Economic Development Bonds for gaming related hotel and spa
Representation of Indian casino management firm
Examples of Non-Indian Gaming Transactions:

Transfer and registration of gaming boats
Financing and licensing "trip to nowhere" gaming boat operations in Florida and New York
Representing owners of two casinos in Blackhawk, Colorado
Representing co-lead lender in refinancing of casinos in Las Vegas
Consultant to former governor regarding Illinois gaming legislation
Taxable and Tax Exempt Bonds

Mr. Blust has acted as bond counsel, borrower's counsel, underwriter's counsel, issuer's counsel, and credit enhancer's counsel on virtually every type of tax exempt and taxable bond. He was a pioneer on 501(c)(3) and Indian bonds and various synthetic bond and credit enhancement structures. Recent taxable bond transactions include the financing of a number of failed condominium project loans for several community banks by taxable variable rate demand bonds credit enhanced by Federal Home Loan Bank back to back letters of credit.

Recent tax-exempt bond transactions include:

Issuer's counsel on 2009 and 2010 Central DuPage Hospital bonds of $90 million and $240 million respectively
Bond and borrower's counsel on $50,000,000 re-credit enhancement of housing bonds
Several low and moderate income housing financings involving tax credits as well as tax exempt bonds
Infrastructure Financing

University of Illinois College of Law
Juris Doctorate, 1968

STEVEN H. COHEN

Steven H. Cohen, principal of Cohen Law Group, is of counsel to Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He joined the firm in 2013. Steven is nationally recognized for his representation of whistleblowers inqui tam cases brought under the False Claims laws. He has investigated and prosecuted sealed and unsealed qui tam cases spanning the spectrum of fraud involving government program monies, including health care, government contracting, and federally insured financial institutions.

In 2001, Steve founded the Cohen Law Group, where he dedicated his practice to representing whistleblowers in qui tam cases. In 2003, Steve co-founded the Whistleblower Action Network, an alliance of lawyers that investigated and prosecuted qui tam lawsuits on behalf of whistleblowers. Prior to the Cohen Law Group, Steve was a litigator in private practice, with a focus on class actions, shareholders' rights litigation, securities, business, and consumer fraud.

In addition to practicing law, Steve is active in local and national political campaigns. He was a member of the Obama for America National Finance Committee in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. Following the 2008 election, Steve was appointed as an advisor to the Department of Justice Agency Review Transition Team for qui tam/False Claims Act issues. In 2012, President Obama appointed Steve to the Board of Trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, an independent federal agency that provides scholarships to students seeking professional careers in public service.

Steve serves on a variety of academic, non-profit and foundation boards, including the Mikva Challenge, the Center for Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law, and Facing History and Ourselves. In addition, Steve is a partner at Impact Partner Films, which finances independent documentaries that address pressing social issues. Steve also serves on the President's Counsel of Taxpayers Against Fraud, the national public interest organization of whistleblower lawyers dedicated to combating fraud against the government and protecting public resources through public-private partnerships, and has taught clinical trial advocacy as an adjunct faculty member at the Northwestern University School of Law.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
United States ex rel. Steinke v. Merck. Settled federal and state false claims act cases involving Medicaid pricing fraud that had been initiated by a qui tam whistleblower. After seven years of investigation and litigation, Steve's efforts returned more than $400 million to federal and state taxpayers, making the settlement one of the largest Medicaid drug fraud civil settlements in the history of the federal False Claims Act.

State of Illinois ex rel. v. The University of Chicago Hospitals. Represented two relators in a case against the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) in which the relators alleged that the UCMC Children's Hospital violated Illinois law by improperly billing Medicaid for services provided in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The Illinois Attorney General's investigation, prosecution and ultimate recovery began after the relatorstwo longtime NICU nursesfiled a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that the NICU had violated Illinois licensing regulations by systematically placing two high risk neonatal intensive care babies in a bed space licensed for one baby, an egregious practice known as "double-bunking." The relators alleged that the UCMC placed these high-risk babies at further risk by systematically double-bunking and overcrowding the NICU from at least 1997 through 2005. The case was settled for $7 million. Under the unique settlement mechanism negotiated by the State of Illinois and the relators, the Illinois AG will disburse the settlement money to healthcare facilities that serve indigent women on the South Side of Chicago.

United States ex rel. Hamilton v. Leo Burnett. Litigated a qui tam action against Leo Burnett Company, Inc. in which the relators, two former high-level executives, alleged that the company had told the Army that an independent subcontractor was working on the internet portion of the "Army of One" advertising campaign, even though Burnett was completing the work. This enabled Burnett to charge the Army higher hourly rates and to circumvent the contract's cap on government reimbursement for Burnett's in-house work. The relators also alleged that Burnett had improperly inflated the hourly rates it billed the Army. The company paid the federal government $15.5 million. The relators received an award of $2.79 million.

Northwestern University School of Law
Juris Doctorate, 1979

MARK S. DYM

Mark Dym is a shareholder, founding lawyer, and member of the management committee of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. His practice concentrates on catastrophic personal injury claims and complex litigation. Mr. Dym is AV Preeminent Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating for attorneys in both legal ability and ethical standards given by that company. Mr. Dym has also been selected for inclusion in Illinois Super Lawyers, which is an honor given to only five percent of attorneys in Illinois. He has also been named a Leading Laywer.

Mr. Dym and his group represent individuals and companies in a variety of legal settings. Mr. Dym has recovered millions of dollars for injured persons and their families in claims throughout the country. His practice involves wrongful death claims, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, quadriplegia, paraplegia, loss of eyesight and hearing, serious disfigurement and other devastating injuries.

Mr. Dym and his firm also defend parties in a multitude of diverse injury, products liability, coverage issues, commercial, fiduciary, estate and employment matters, and counsel companies on safety measures and risk avoidance.

Mr. Dym has also handled and argued cases before the Illinois Appellate and Supreme Court as well as the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Dym counsels clients throughout the world, including Canada, England, and the Middle East. Mr. Dym has provided legal services for many professional athletes and served as legal counsel to the City of Chicago for the 1994 World Cup matches. He represented Soccer International in promoting and hosting the Opening Ceremony for the 1994 World Cup soccer matches. He counseled a group of American businessmen in a joint venture with a Russian company for the installation of a phone system in Far East Russia. He has counseled business groups in Iraq and the Assyrian Democratic movement in Iraq.

George Washington University National Law Center
Juris Doctorate, 1982

SUSAN GZESH

Susan Gzesh became of counsel to Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. in 2010. She focuses on the areas of civil rights, class actions, and labor and employment.

Since 2001, Ms. Gzesh has been Senior Lecturer and Executive Director of the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago. She directs an interdisciplinary academic program and teaches courses on contemporary issues in human rights, the rights of aliens and citizens, and human rights in Mexico. Her research interests bridge human rights and migration policy.

From 1977 until the mid-1990s, Ms. Gzesh practiced law in Chicago, working at the Legal Assistance Foundation, the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and at two law firms. She represented individual immigrants and refugees, as well as political candidates and religious organizations. In the 1980s, she was legal adviser to national and local religious organizations that participated in the Sanctuary movement. In 1983, Ms. Gzesh won political asylum in the U.S. for Dennis Brutus, a Northwestern University professor and prominent South African anti-apartheid activist.

From 1996-2001, she co-directed the Regional Network of Civil Organizations for Migration, an international civil society coalition that advocated for the human rights of migrants with governments of the Regional Conference on Migration. From 19971999, she served as legal advisor to the Minister for Migration Affairs of the Embassy of Mexico. Ms. Gzesh was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico in 1990 and served on the Clinton-Gore Presidential Transition Team in 1992.

MEMBERSHIPS / ASSOCIATIONS
LEGAL
Member, National Commission on ICE Misconduct for the United Food & Commercial Workers Union
Non-resident Research Fellow, Migration Policy Institute, Washington, D.C.
Board of Directors, Red Internacional de Migracion y Desarrollo
Member, Task force on the Midwest perspective on immigration policy, convened by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs
CIVIC / COMMUNITY
Board of Directors, Kartemquin Films
Public Square Advisory Board Member, Illinois Humanities Council
Advisory Board Member, PRODESC, Mexico City

University of Michigan Law School
Juris Doctorate, 1977

MICHAEL A. HIERL

Michael A. Hierl is a partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. Mr. Hierl has practiced exclusively in the area of intellectual property law since 1980. He has considerable experience in a wide range of patent, trademark, unfair competition, copyright, trade secret and regulatory matters, and has successfully resolved numerous intellectual property disputes over the years, with and without litigation. He joined the firm in 2009.

Mr. Hierl has been AV Preeminent rated for the past 25 years by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating for attorneys in terms of both legal ability and ethical standards by that company. He has also been named a Leading Lawyer in Intellectual Property law for the past 10 years (since the first year of publication) by the Illinois Leading Lawyers Network.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Experienced in counseling on the proper use and protection of trademarks and service marks, preparation of trademark availability opinions, prosecution of trademark applications to registration and trademark opposition practice.

Broad experience in the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications in various chemical, mechanical and electro-mechanical areas including reissue and reexamination practice.

Experienced in negotiating and preparing patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret license agreements and other technology related agreements, providing opinions on patent/trademark infringement and validity matters, counseling clients regarding infringement avoidance and advising on other intellectual property matters including management of IP portfolios.

Represents movie studios, authors, publishers, songwriters, musicians and music production companies in copyright and contract matters. Copyright litigation has involved copyright infringement, title and damages issues.

Extensive litigation experience in patent, trademark, unfair competition, copyright and trade secret matters over 30 years of practice involving many technologies and disciplines.

The John Marshall Law School
Juris Doctorate, 1980

JOHN K. HUGHES

John Hughes is a founding member, shareholder, and member of the Management Committee of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. Since 1974, Mr. Hughes has been engaged in civil litigation in both state and federal courts at the trial and appellate level. He has extensive trial experience, particularly in the areas of personal injury; professional, product and municipal liability; medical malpractice; and insurance coverage.

Mr. Hughes has defended physicians, attorneys, therapists and hospitals from claims of deviation from the standard of care owed to patients or clients, wrongful death and violation of statutory duties. He has also tried cases involving admiralty law, industrial accidents and other personal injury matters. His municipal liability practice involves defending local governmental entities from tort claims.

Mr. Hughes has served as coordinating counsel of insurance programs for both physicians and attorneys, and has represented professionals before the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Successfully defended a women's healthcare clinic in a case involving the care of a 13-year-old girl who died immediately after a second trimester abortion.

Successfully defended an obstetrician/gynecologist in a case involving an alleged failure to give antibiotics prior to an abdominal hysterectomy. The plaintiff required two subsequent surgeries and sixteen more hospitalizations.

Successfully defended a general surgeon accused of alleged negligence in performance of right antecubital cut down and failure to monitor administration of narcotic drugs, resulting in left hand amputation and drug dependency.

Successfully defended an internist in a case involving an alleged excessive administration of steroids, resulting in bilateral avascular necrosis, causing need for bilateral hip replacement.

Successfully defended a cardiologist to whom a patient with a positive treadmill test was referred who discharged patient after a negative arteriogram and discontinued medications. Patient died shortly thereafter of heart attack.

University of Chicago Law School
Juris Doctorate, 1974

CHRISTOPHER A. JOHNSON

Christopher Johnson is an associate with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He concentrates his practice in insurance coverage advice and litigation. He joined the firm as an associate in 2010.

Mr. Johnson defends insurers in nationwide complex coverage litigation arising from mass toxic tort and environmental contamination losses. He has performed extensive research and provided advice on insurance coverage issues including allocation of loss, trigger of coverage, duty to defend, and number of occurrences.

Prior to joining HSPRD, Mr. Johnson worked for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in the Juvenile Justice Bureau.

MEMBERSHIPS / ASSOCIATIONS
LEGAL
Member, Illinois State Bar Association
Member, Defense Research Institute

DePaul University College of Law
Juris Doctorate, 2010

ROBERT KRUG

Robert W. Krug is a partner at Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He represents individual clients and major corporations in a broad range of immigration matters, including temporary and permanent employment and family-based immigration, asylum, consular processing, and citizenship matters. He has represented clients before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. consular posts around the world.

Prior to joining HSPRD, Mr. Krug practiced immigration and nationality law for six years in Chicago.

MEMBERSHIPS / ASSOCIATIONS
LEGAL
Member, Illinois State Bar Association
Member, American Lawyers Immigration Association
CIVIC / COMMUNITY
Board Member, International Chamber Artists
Secretary, School Board of Northside Catholic Academy
PUBLICATIONS
Temporary Non-Agricultural Workers, in Business Immigration Law: Forms & Filings (L. J. Press 2010). Read more.

DePaul University College of Law
Juris Doctorate, 1998

CARYN C. LEDERER

Caryn C. Lederer is a partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. She represents clients in a wide variety of complex litigation matters, with a focus on civil rights, class actions, and labor and employment cases. She joined the firm in 2010.

Before joining the firm, Ms. Lederer worked with the Special Litigation Unit at New York Legal Assistance Group, where she litigated class actions challenging systemic violations of low-income and immigrant New Yorkers' rights to government benefits and services. Prior to that, Ms. Lederer served as Special Counsel for Public Service at the Center for Legal and Court Technology at William & Mary Law School, where she oversaw the Center's public interest projects including the Accessible Courts Initiative and work related to the Guantnamo military commissions. Prior to her work with the Center, Ms. Lederer was a litigation associate at Weil, Gotshal, & Manges.

During law school, Ms. Lederer served as an Executive Editor of the Journal of Law and Politics and participated in the International Human Rights Law Clinic. Following law school, she worked in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Tanzania.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
American Immigration Council v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Represents the American Immigration Council in ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation seeking records concerning "voluntary" returns of noncitizens from the United States to their countries of origin. Since the lawsuit was filed in June 2012, DHS and CBP have released several hundred pages of previously withheld records.

Cristobal Lopez, et al. v. Fish Farms, et al. Represented 14 Mexican agricultural guestworkers in a lawsuit against a Tennessee tomato farm that recruited the workers through the federal government's H-2A visa program, subjected them to discrimination, inhumane working conditions, and then retaliation for complaining to federal and state authorities. HSPRD, with co-counsel Southern Migrant Legal Services, successfully resolved the lawsuit with a settlement of $390,000.

Successfully represented an executive employee in litigating Title VII retaliation and breach of contract claims against his employer, resulting in a favorable resolution for our client.

Successfully litigated claims including labor trafficking, race discrimination, and wage and hour violations for a group of migrant farmworkers, resulting in a favorable resolution for our clients.

ROGER LITTMAN

Roger Littman is a partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He joined the firm in 2012. He concentrates his practice in the areas of medical negligence, representing physicians, nurses, clinics, laboratories and hospitals involving death and catastrophic injury. Mr. Littman has tried more than 60 cases before juries, 42 of which involved medical negligence.

Mr. Littman represents clients from different professions in court and before the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Mr. Littman also has experience handling commercial litigation involving intellectual property and fraud. Mr. Littman is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell and is one of fewer than 100 elected Illinois members of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a national organization that promotes improvement of ethical and technical standards of trial practice.

Before joining HSPRD, Mr. Littman was a partner at Querrey & Harrow where he practiced for almost 29 years. Prior to that, Mr. Littman was an Assistant Attorney General, representing government agencies and officials before state and federal courts in civil rights, employment, and personal injury matters.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Obtained defense verdict for a neurologist who treated a patient who was recovering from a stroke by slowly resuming oral anticoagulation rather than using the intravenous anticoagulant Heparin. Patient suffered second stroke on his first night home from the hospital before the Coumadin had resumed protective levels. Despite an extraordinarily sympathetic case, the jury supported the neurologist's analysis that the risk of bleeding on Heparin outweighed the risk of second or recurrent stroke.

Won trial for suburban internist who misdiagnosed subungual melanoma as traumatic lesion, delaying diagnosis until cancer metastasized to organs, resulting in death after 16 months of chemotherapy and radiation.

Obtained defense verdict for urgent care doctor in Whiteside County whose patient's unrelenting headaches proved to be subdural hematoma, which resulted in intracranial bleeding and death.

Won trial for Rockford cardiologist whose attempts to anticoagulate and then through endovascular means evacuate brachial artery clot resulted in massive spontaneous bleeding and death.

Successfully defended Kankakee emergency physician who sent patient home with cool, pale leg with diagnosis of musculoskeletal injury, only to have patient return with cold, blue leg, resulting in above-knee amputation.

Obtained defense verdict for two Chicago internists who treated 36 year old male with complaints of shortness of breath and GI distress after exercise as having exercise-induced asthma and heartburn. Patient suffered fatal myocardial infarction after running several miles, leaving widow and two children under age 7.

University of Illinois College of Law
Juris Doctorate, 1979

MATTHEW J. PIERS

Matthew Piers is a shareholder and the president of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd., as well as a member of the firm's Management Committee. He joined the firm now known as HSPRD in 1989. He is a nationally-recognized trial attorney, with a focus in complex litigation matters. He has 40 years of experience in commercial, tort, and class action litigation in a broad array of federal and state courts around the country. For plaintiffs, he has obtained many multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. For defendants, he has successfully handled claims involving hundreds of millions of dollars.

After three years of college at Cornell University, Mr. Piers enrolled in the University of Chicago Law School, where he graduated in 1974. He worked for a year as a staff attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, and then established a private litigation practice focused on constitutional, civil liberties and employment discrimination cases as well as class actions and other complex litigation matters.

From 1984 to 1989, Mr. Piers served as Deputy Corporation Counsel of the City of Chicago, and was in charge of the supervision of all litigation for the City under the administration of Mayor Harold Washington.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION
Jones v. Walgreen Co. Represented a nationwide class of women retail store management employees in a Title VII class action lawsuit against the nation's largest drugstore chain. The settlement provided for monetary relief of $17 million, as well as an injunction requiring both objective criteria for pay and promotions decisions involving female managerial employees and outside review of gender equity compliance efforts.

Lewis v. City of Chicago. In this ongoing class action, HSPRD represents more than 6,000 African Americans who took and passed a hiring exam for entry-level firefighter positions in the Chicago Fire Department and then were wrongfully denied the opportunity to be considered for employment by the City. The trial court ruled that the City's method of hiring bore no demonstrable relationship to the relative skills or abilities of candidates for the position and that it disproportionately excluded African Americans, making it more than 5 times more likely that a white candidate rather than an African American would be hired. The City's practice was, as the trial court called it, "a manifest violation of Title VII," our nation's core federal guarantee of equal employment opportunity. We have prevailed not only at trial but also in the federal Court of Appeals and before the US Supreme Court, which issued a unanimous opinion in favor of our clients. In May 2011, the Court of Appeals directed the trial court to enter a remedial order, which will result in the hiring of 111 class members as Chicago Firefighters and payment of $78.5 million in back pay and pension contributions.

University of Chicago Law School
Juris Doctorate, 1974

KALMAN D. RESNICK

Kalman Resnick is a shareholder with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym., Ltd. Mr. Resnick's almost 40 years of experience as an immigration law practitioner and his vast knowledge of a multiplicity of immigration practice areas contributes to his ability to advocate for and counsel his clients in the field of immigration law. In addition to immigration law, Mr. Resnick practices in the areas of labor and employment law, civil rights and constitutional law.

Mr. Resnick has practiced immigration law since 1973. He has extensive experience in virtually every area of immigration practice, including business immigration, family unification, asylum and refugee matters, nationality and citizenship issues, employer sanctions and other employment related immigration matters, the defense of foreign nationals under removal proceedings, and federal immigration matters.

He has litigated immigration cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals, the U.S. District Court, and the Board of Immigration Appeals.

His clients include multinational corporations, medium and small-sized businesses, universities, medical centers, and individual foreign nationals and their families. He counsels corporations, unions, universities, and other non-profit organizations concerning institutional immigration policies and practices, including employment-related immigration issues.

Mr. Resnick has decades of experience representing clients in the fields of labor and employment law. He has extensive experience in collective bargaining negotiations, labor arbitration, wage and hour matter, and the litigation of labor and employment matters.

Upon graduation from law school in 1973, Mr. Resnick received a Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship to work at the 18th Street Neighborhood Legal Services Office of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago. In 1976, he obtained private foundation funding to open the Legal Services Center for Immigrants, one of the nation's first legal services advocacy centers for immigrant rights, which continues in operation today.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Served as co-lead counsel in the landmark federal class-action case in immigration law that successfully challenged the U.S. State Department's Western Hemisphere immigrant visa allocation practices between 1968 and 1976, resulting in injunctive orders preventing the deportation of hundreds of thousands of people, authorizing their lawful employment in the United States, and recapturing and re-issuing 144,996 immigrant visas for natives of Western Hemisphere Countries.

Represented the plaintiffs in the litigation which resulted in the United States Supreme Court's decision establishing the right of state and local governmental workers to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Represented the plaintiffs in the litigation that established the right of lawful permanent residents to employment with the United States Postal Service.

Represented the plaintiffs in the litigation that established the right of refugees and asylees to receive Illinois States Scholarships.

Represented the plaintiffs in the litigation that established the rights of unemployment insurance claimants to due process of law in the adjudication of their claims, including their rights to adequate notice and fair hearings.

University of Michigan Law School
Juris Doctorate, 1973

KENDRA H.M. SCHEUERLEIN

Kendra H.M. Scheuerlein is an associate with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. She concentrates her practice in the areas of immigration and nationality matters. These include family-based immigration issues, naturalization, asylum, U visa, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival applications. Ms. Scheuerlein also represents clients in removal proceedings before the Department of Homeland Security. She joined the firm in 2014.

Ms. Scheuerlein graduated from the DePaul University College of Law in May 2013. During law school, Ms. Scheuerlein worked in two immigration law-based clinics and volunteered with various organizations, including the asylum project through PROBAR in Harlingen, Texas; the expungement project through Cabrini Green Legal Aid in Chicago, Illinois; and the Cook County Circuit Court Domestic Violence Courthouse Project.

MEMBERSHIPS / ASSOCIATIONS
LEGAL
Member, Illinois State Bar Association
Member, Chicago Bar Association
Member, American Immigrant Lawyers Association
Member, Women's Bar Association of Illinois
Member, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild

CIVIC / COMMUNITY
Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Chicago, IL

DePaul University College of Law
Juris Doctorate, 2013

DONNA KANER SOCOL

Donna Socol is a founding member and shareholder of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. She concentrates on representation of the health care industry, including tort, medical malpractice, medical device, pharmaceutical and commercial litigation defense. She has defended numerous multi-million dollar lawsuits involving brain damaged and impaired infants, as well as serious injuries and deaths involving adults and children. She has defended almost every medical specialty in malpractice matters. She has also arbitrated matters before the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation on behalf of physicians.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Represented a neurologist in a case in which the plaintiff was paralyzed from lupus-related transverse myelitis. The plaintiff demanded $16 million, and, after a month-long trial, the jury returned a not-guilty verdict in 45 minutes.

Represented a cardiologist and a hospital in a wrongful death case accused of failing to diagnose and treat a patient with congestive heart failure. A not guilty verdict was obtained for both defendants in fewer than thirty minutes.

Represented a physician in a wrongful death action who was alleged to have caused the death of an elderly patient for failing to diagnose and treat an E. Coli infection. Despite inflammatory evidence presented at trial, a not guilty verdict was obtained.

Represented a radiologist in a case involving plaintiff's headfirst fall from a myelogram table in which he allegedly suffered multiple cervical fractures and never returned to work. The jury returned a not guilty verdict on behalf of the defendant.

Represented a manufacturer of tampons in toxic shock syndrome cases throughout the state of Illinois.

Represented a pediatric surgeon in a case involving the dealth of a twin and his brain-damaged twin brother in which she obtained a not guilty verdict.

Represented a Fortune 500 company in a complex multi-party lawsuit involving a magnesium explosion at a steel plant. The case was successfully concluded on behalf of Ms. Socol's client.

Represented a manufacturer of asbestos in a products liability action.

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION
AV Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell
Best's Listed Recommended Attorney
Listed in Who's Who in American Law by Marquis
Illinois Leading Lawyer
Leading Lawyer Illinois Leading Lawyers Network
Top Rated Lawyer in Medical Malpractice Law by The American Laywer Media and Martindale-Hubbell (2014)

DePaul University College of Law
Juris Doctorate, 1976

DANIEL A. WAITZMAN

Daniel Waitzman is a partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He focuses his practice on complex insurance coverage litigation and general commercial litigation matters. Mr. Waitzman's experience spans the range of the litigation process, including pre-suit claim investigation, analysis, extensive fact and expert discovery, dispositive motion practice and trial. He has significant experience representing insurers in coverage disputes nationwide involving long-tail exposure, including bodily injury and property damage related to asbestos, environmental, mass tort and product liability claims.

Mr. Waitzman regularly counsels clients with respect to claims involving complex insurance coverage issues, including the nature and extent of the duty to defend; trigger of coverage; allocation; potential bad faith claims; responding to settlement demands; policyholder and insurer insolvencies. He has also represented individuals in breach of contract and consumer fraud actions.

Prior to working at HSPRD, Mr. Waitzman served as a judicial extern for Judge Lee Preston, then Supervising Judge of the Commercial Section of the Cook County Law Division.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Presently leading a joint defense group site team for a phase 1 trial site in an insurance coverage suit concerning environmental liabilities at sites throughout the United States.

In a multi-million dollar asbestos bodily injury insurance coverage suit, served as trial counsel during a several month trial resulting in a ruling that the insured had failed to demonstrate primary exhaustion.

Obtained a favorable ruling on motion for summary judgment regarding an insurer's duty to defend under a vendor's endorsement.

Co-liaison counsel for communication with the Court and Discovery Master on behalf of joint defense group in an insurance coverage suit concerning environmental liabilities at sites throughout the United States.

IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law
Juris Doctorate, 2006

MARK B. WEINER

Mark Weiner is a partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He concentrates his practice in the areas of personal injury, workers compensation, and commercial litigation. He joined the firm in 1992.

Mr. Weiner's practice includes the representation of plaintiffs and defendants in personal injury actions. Mr. Weiner has also represented the health care industry in the defense of medical malpractice actions, as well as in transactional and real estate matters. Mr. Weiner is an experienced trial lawyer.

Prior to joining HSPRD, Mr. Weiner worked as an Assistant Illinois Attorney General in the Antitrust Division and for the DuPage County Assistant State's Attorney in the Criminal Division. Mr. Weiner also served as the Third Ward Alderman in Berwyn, Illinois from 2005-2009.

MEMBERSHIPS / ASSOCIATIONS
LEGAL
Member, Illinois State Bar Association
Municipal Arbitrator, Cook County
Board Member, Illinois Medical Disciplinary Board (2001-2005)

CIVIC / COMMUNITY
Board Member, 16th Street Theater Board (2009-present)

RELATED NEWS
HSPRD partner Mark Weiner received a favorable decision of permanent and total disability from the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission on behalf of an airline worker who was injured on the job.

University of Denver Law School
Juris Doctorate, 1988

CHRISTOPHER WILMES

Christopher Wilmes is a partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He represents clients in a wide variety of civil matters, with a focus on employment and civil rights cases. Mr. Wilmes joined the firm in 2009.

Prior to joining HSPRD, Mr. Wilmes worked at the Legal Assistance Foundation as a Skadden Public Interest Fellow representing clients with criminal-record-related legal issues.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Successfully represented a custodial worker in a jury trial against the City of Chicago. Our client prevailed in her claims that the City of Chicago violated the Illinois Human Rights Act by barring her from her workplace based on an old dismissed criminal charge.

Successfully brought Fair Credit Reporting Act claims on behalf of a job applicant who was erroneously labeled a sex offender by a background check company.

Recovered $550,000 in unpaid wages owed to hundreds of individuals who worked for a national tanning salon chain.

Lynch v. Huberman. Obtained a preliminary injunction order on behalf of several Chicago Public Schools teachers after a district court judge held that the Chicago Board of Education had violated their First Amendment rights to political speech. Read case details.

Represented plaintiffs in Fair Credit Reporting Act class action lawsuit alleging that employer denied thousands of individuals jobs based on background check reports without first providing them a copy of their report. Case resulted in settlement of $975,000.

Joshaway v. First Student and Hunter v. First Transit. National class actions against the two subsidiaries of the largest public transportation provider in the United States, challenging the use of criminal background checks on employees and applicants in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The $5.9 million settlement is the largest FCRA settlement resolving employment-related claims in U.S. history and requires corporate policies in full compliance with the law.

Arroyo v. United States of America. Successfully defended in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals a twenty-nine million dollar Federal Torts Claims Act judgment in favor of a child who was profoundly disabled as a result of medical malpractice.

Represented plaintiff in a $625,000 Fair Credit Reporting Act class action settlement involving a national temporary employment agency.

Successfully represented individual who was denied public housing by the Chicago Housing Authority based on a record of dismissed criminal charges. Case was affirmed on appeal.

Represented dozens of individuals in Petitions for Rule to Show Cause brought against the Illinois State Police, where the Illinois State Police refused to comply with judges' orders to expunge or seal criminal records. The Illinois State Police ultimately agreed to systemically reform its policies and comply with all expungement and sealing orders issued across the State.

Successfully represented three candidates for school board election whose petitions and statements of candidacy were challenged by an objector.

Northwestern University School of Law
Juris Doctorate, 2005

Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold is a Partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. Matt concentrates his practice in medical malpractice defense, healthcare law and transactions, mental health law, nursing home liability, appellate law, and insurance coverage disputes.

Deane B. Brown

Deane B. Brown, a Shareholder with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd., has earned a highly regarded reputation in the Chicago legal community as a tenacious, strategic and skilled advocate for her clients.

Lauren Phyllis Buford

Lauren Phyllis Buford is an Associate with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. Her practice focuses on the defense of hospitals, nurses, and physicians in medical malpractice matters. She joined the firm in 2018.

Lori L. Deem

Lori L. Deem, a Partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd., is an experienced employment law attorney who has developed a highly regarded reputation as a strong advocate, strategic counselor and pragmatic problem-solver for her clients.

Derek G. Dominguez

Derek Dominguez is an attorney with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He practices plaintiff's personal injury, workers' compensation, and criminal defense.

Kelli A. Fennell

Kelli A. Fennell is an Associate with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. She concentrates her practice in the areas of immigration and nationality matters. These include family-based immigration issues, naturalization, asylum, U visa, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival applications.

Jennifer A. Heydemann

Jennifer Heydemann is a Partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. She focuses her practice on the representation of physicians, hospitals and healthcare providers in medical negligence lawsuits.

William B. Kalbac

William Kalbac is an Associate with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. and a member of the firm's litigation and intellectual property teams. He practices in both state and federal court.

Dina Torrisi Martin

Ms. Torrisi Martin is a Shareholder with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd., and head of the firm's medical malpractice team. She is an experienced trial attorney defending hospitals and health professionals as well as general corporate liability matters.

Catherine C. Reiter

Ms. Reiter is a trial attorney with broad litigation experience. Her nine years of experience in the nursing profession has been invaluable in defending hospitals and health professionals in more than sixty trials to verdict, as well as in her health related commercial and general liability trials.

William B. Schiller

William B. Schiller is a Partner of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. His practice concentrates in the area of U.S. immigration and nationality law. He represents individuals, corporations, universities, professionals (including scientists, researchers and professors) and families before the United States Department of Homeland Security, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, and U.S. Consular posts worldwide.

Kate Schwartz

Kate Schwartz is a Partner of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. Ms. Schwartz represents clients in a broad range of complex litigation matters, with a concentration in the areas of labor and employment, civil rights, and constitutional law.

Naiara F. Testai

Naiara F. Testai is an Associate with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. She concentrates her practice in the areas of immigration and nationality law. Ms. Testai joined the Firm in June 2020.

Justin Tresnowski

Justin Tresnowski is an attorney with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He counsels and represents clients in state and federal court on a wide range of legal issues, with a focus on civil rights, constitutional litigation, and labor and employment litigation. He joined the firm in 2019.

Margaret Truesdale

Margaret Truesdale is an Associate at Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. Ms. Truesdale represents clients in state and federal court in a broad range of complex litigation matters, with a concentration in the areas of civil rights, constitutional litigation, and labor and employment. She joined the firm in 2020. Ms. Truesdale dedicates pro bono efforts to systemic criminal justice reform as co-chair of the Criminal Justice Advisory Committee of Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers.

Charlie Wysong

Charlie Wysong is a partner with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. He counsels and represents clients on a wide range of legal issues, with a focus on civil rights, labor and employment litigation, whistleblower and qui tam claims, education law, and complex business litigation.