Highly Experienced Commercial Litigators For Complex Cases

Fiduciary Duty

• Touhy v. Simon, et. al. We obtained a substantial settlement for the beneficiary of a trust, the widow of the former Speaker of the House, who was victimized by her former trustee, the late Speaker’s attorney. Simon breached his fiduciary duty by engaging in conflicts of interest, neglecting the trusts’ financial affairs and ignoring the thefts of a forger who was looting the trust estate.
• Field v. Golan. When his own law partners ejected him from the law firm he helped found, noted Chicago lawyer Robert Field turned to Tobin & Muñoz for representation. Following a 10-day trial, a Cook County judge found in favor of Mr. Field, awarding him over $800,000 after finding that his former partners violated their duties of “loyalty, good faith and honesty” to him.
• We represented Debra and Albert White in a federal lawsuit against their former attorneys for failing to protect their claims against the U.S. government, Drug Enforcement Agency and members of the Chicago Police Department. Craig Tobin and Tomas Petkus represented the Whites, and their case was settled and dismissed. In addition, we were able to recover the Whites damages and use the legal system that caused them harm to do them justice. The White family suffered a nightmare that is almost beyond belief. Then, their lawyers missed a critical deadline that left them almost without recourse. On a quiet evening, the Whites and their grandchildren became the victims of an illegal raid. Debra was taking out the garbage as she talked on the phone to her sister. When she opened her garage door, men dressed in dark clothes pointed guns at her. The men, who were DEA agents and Chicago police officers, ran after her, kicked in the door and chased her up the stairs. More agents and police officers broke in, rounding up family members at gunpoint. As a child, Debra had been the victim of a brutal and particularly traumatic home invasion and assault. Before dropping the telephone and running for her life, she yelled to her sister to call the police. After the family was taken into custody, an officer said that “we have hit the wrong home.” It was too late. The damage had been done.The Whites hired an Ohio attorney and family friend to represent them. But their claims against the government were denied when the claims were not filed by the legal deadline. As part of the federal lawsuit brought by Tobin and Petkus, it included claims for not pursuing the case in a timely manner, as well as having failed to investigate and consider Debra’s injuries, medical history and the devastating effect the events had upon her.

Employment Discrimination

• Confidential v. Confidential, et. al. We successfully represented the lead group of 29 African-American workers in class claims of racially based employment discrimination. More than 300 African-American employees suffered discrimination for decades in wages, benefits, salary, advancement and opportunity due to their race. A Fortune 100 company paid the lead plaintiffs a multimillion-dollar settlement, agreed to the implementation of ameliorative policies and paid additional millions to the other class members.

Commercial Litigation

• Meridian Rail v. The Town of Cicero. We successfully defended the Town of Cicero in a complex litigation matter where the plaintiff claimed over $28 million in damages because of alleged constitutional violations, including inverse condemnation. After many years of discovery, hearings and motion practice the case resolved to the benefit of the Town of Cicero. Plaintiff dismissed its case. The town required that the plaintiff bring a purchaser for the property and they would work with the developer. At the end of the day, we were not only successful in defeating the $28 million claim, but worked with a developer to render the property productive.
• Field v. Golan. When his own law partners ejected him from the law firm he helped found, noted Chicago lawyer Robert Field turned to Tobin & Muñoz for representation. Following a 10-day trial, a Cook County judge found in favor of Mr. Field, awarding him over $800,000 after finding that his former partners violated their duties of “loyalty, good faith and honesty” to him.
• Monroe Capital, L.L.C., vs. CORE Business Credit, L.L.C. We represented Monroe Investments, a nationally known investment hedge fund in the Circuit Court of Cook County in a misappropriated trade secrets case. Monroe Investments sued a former executive with the company, and his subsequent employer. The lawsuit alleged that the former executive had copied proprietary confidential financial information, including price models, cost calculations and client lists while negotiating with a competing company for a new job. As a result, a settlement was reached that achieved Monroe’s business objectives.
• We successfully represented Jonathan Segal, an investor in Geisha L.L.C., and owner/operator of the popular Japonais restaurant in Chicago. Jonathan alleged his partners, without his knowledge or the consent of other investors, opened Japonais locations in other U.S. cities, capitalizing on the Chicago original’s name and good will.
• Chicago Pizza, Inc. v. Pizza USA, Inc. (Ill., 2008). We successfully protected a Chicago Pizza, a local pizza entrepreneur’s business, from an imposter. An individual, Irfanullah Muhammad, opened up a business called Chicago’s Pizza, in a systematic effort to pass itself off as the well-known and respected Chicago business. Craig Tobin, Frank Marino and Tomas Petkus prosecuted the case using consumer fraud and business fraud statutes. As a result, a permanent injunction was entered against the defendants and they were ordered to pay the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees. The case worked its way through the Illinois Appellate Court and to the Illinois Supreme Court, where on two occasions, the judgment was sustained.
• RT Nelson & Associates v. AON, et. al. We successfully represented the owner of an insurance brokerage firm against the Defendants in a defamation claim for statements made about Plaintiff and his company by the Defendants in an effort to get business from Plaintiff.
• Near North Insurance Brokerage, Inc., et al. v. AON Corporation, et al. We successfully defended prominent businessman and owner of Near North National Group, Michael Segal, in a multimillion-dollar racketeering and defamation claim filed against him.
• Muñoz v. City of Chicago. We obtained a substantial judgment for a contractor in a major dispute with the City. The City claimed that it owed no money and that the contractor was liable to them for hundreds of thousands of dollars under the contract for a railroad crossing and an overhead viaduct. Plaintiff successfully claimed that the City’s purchasing department conducted two sham hearings denying Plaintiff’s legitimate proof of its position. The court heard the evidence and judgment was entered on behalf of the Plaintiff. All of the City’s claims were rejected.
• Busse v. UNUM Provident, et al. We successfully represented a permanently disabled anesthesiologist in a substantial claim against his disability insurance carrier. The Defendant carrier came to national prominence concerning its business. The Defendant was the subject of numerous high-profile stories about this international corporation and its refusal to pay claims. Individuals insured by the company had little success in collecting money directly or through the result of lawsuits from the Defendant carrier. Prior to trial in an interlocutory appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court, we obtained a landmark decision that assisted us in successfully resolving this case. The carrier claimed that the policy benefits were to be determined on a month-to-month basis. The Appellate Court decision allowed us to be able to prove that the doctor’s injury was permanent and once that determination is made by the jury it cannot be subjected to the review of the carrier to disallow benefits. The decision also allowed for the presentation of evidence demonstrating bad faith by the carrier to the jury. The case settled at trial.
• Abreu v. National Benefit Life. We obtained a substantial jury verdict under a life insurance policy. The Defendant claimed that the Plaintiff had falsified his application and not disclosed a serious pre-existing heart condition and they refused to pay. We successfully contended that the Defendant carrier had convinced Plaintiff to abandon his incontestable policy and replace that policy without giving him adequate information about what the replacement would do. The insured had a massive heart attack a week prior to the time frame in which the new policy’s incontestability provision would go into effect. We successfully argued that they got him to abandon a policy that had no contestability for one they could contest.

Securities Arbitration

• Netzky v. Prudential, et. al. We obtained a judgment for a sophisticated investor against a brokerage firm for losses sustained for trades not performed.

Shareholder Action

• Shumway v. Imanage. We successfully represented shareholder for claims arising from defendant’s IPO and obtained substantial settlement.
• Nelson v. CoreComm, Ltd. et. al. We successfully represented plaintiff in case involving failure of corporation to recognize shares in connection with a merger of a former tech startup company.
• Miller, et al. v. Endeavor Information Systems, Inc. Elsevier Scientific, Inc. and Reed-Elsevier, Inc., et al. We successfully represented plaintiffs’ group in a large securities claim for the failure of an international corporation to recognize the stock of a startup corporation that was merged into Elsevier Scientific, Inc. and Reed-Elsevier, Inc.

Shareholder Derivative Action and Trade Secrets

• El Ebro Foods/Abreu v. LaPreferida, et al. We successfully represented a partner/shareholder in a landmark derivative suit that involved industrial espionage, trademark, trade name misappropriation and breach of fiduciary duties that resulted in the chairman of the board being removed. The chairman was one of the founders and a 50 percent shareholder through his corporation in the company. A family member of the Plaintiff was appointed as a provisional director to protect the corporation. Trade secret ownership of food formulas were determined on behalf of the plaintiff’s corporation. Damages and attorney’s fees were awarded. The case is a landmark decision that is in many law books and accounting books used at major universities and graduate programs.