Andrea M. Despotes

Described by clients as a "phenomenal practitioner and extremely bright," Michael Hartz advises on business succession planning, tax-efficient wealth transfer into trusts for future generations and strategies for fulfilling philanthropic goals. Michael is ranked among the leading lawyers for private wealth law in Chambers High Net Worth, where his practical, effective solutions to complex problems have led to consistent recognition. With 40 years of experience in trust and estate planning and...

James C. Franczek, Jr. is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Employment Law - Management, Labor Law - Management and Litigation - Labor and Employment. James C., who practices law in Chicago, Illinois, has been recognized since 1989. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which James C. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Seth is a partner in the firm’s Corporate & Securities practice group. Seth focuses his practice on representing large and middle market private equity and venture funds and privately and publicly owned companies in a wide variety of domestic and cross-border complex business transactions. These include mergers & acquisitions, divestitures, leveraged buyouts, venture capital investments, carve-out transactions, joint ventures, start-up financing, growth capital investments and c...

Martin G. Durkin is a trial lawyer whose practice includes antitrust and commercial litigation. He has successfully litigated business and transactional disputes, and tried many complex commercial matters. Mr. Durkin's practice is focused on commercial matters, including breach of contract, business torts, RICO, securities fraud and consumer fraud. Mr. Durkin has also represented a number of Fortune 500 companies in the defense of class actions and mass actions. Representative Matters Class A...

Lawrence Levin primarily represents public companies, private companies and investment banks on a wide range of regulatory, transactional and general corporate matters. He is the co-head of Katten's Corporate Securities practice in Chicago. Larry primarily advises publicly traded issuers on day-to-day federal securities law disclosure and compliance matters and board corporate governance. He also represents issuers and underwriters in offerings of equity, debt, Rule 144A high-yield offerings ...

L. Timothy Halleron focuses his practice on high-net-worth tax and estate planning matters. Tim advises individuals and family offices in planning for the preservation and transfer of wealth within families without the imposition of gift, estate or generation-skipping transfer tax. Read full biography: https://www.mwe.com/people/halleron-l-timothy/

Jillian S. Cole is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law. Jillian S., who practices law in Chicago, Illinois, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jillian S. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Michael J. Sorich is a veteran trial attorney and partner at Cavanagh Sorich Law Group with a track record of securing outstanding results in personal injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death cases. Sorich brings more than two decades of trial experience to his practice and has obtained more than $300 million in verdicts and settlements for clients in Illinois and across the country since joining the firm in 2016. He has played a key role in many of the firm’s biggest and most hig...

Edward R. Winkofsky, Chair of the Gaming Practice, focuses his practice on gaming regulatory compliance, licensure, and private equity investments in the gaming industry. He also advises clients on internal investigations and charitable gaming. Since joining the firm in 2010, Ed has served as regulatory counsel to gaming industry suppliers and operators, sports wagering and iGaming platform providers and content creators, horse tracks, video gaming route operators, lottery providers, tribal l...

Gerry has developed a well-earned reputation for providing strategic guidance to employers in numerous types of employee relations matters, including labor issues arising out of corporate transactions such as sales and mergers, collective bargaining and compliance with the full range of federal and state labor and employment statutes. He has extensive experience in employment contract disputes and other issues that arise between employers, their employees and union representatives. He has tri...