Claire Dugard

Joseph has close to 20 years of experience advising financial institutions on corporate and securities matters. Joseph uses a practical and efficient approach to help clients achieve their goals and has successfully completed over 100 M&A and capital market transactions. He also actively serves as outside corporate counsel for bank clients, including publicly traded companies. Joseph is co-chair of Barack Ferrazzano's Financial Institutions Group. He is a frequent speaker at industry conf...

Thomas J. Pontikis is a partner with Lipe Lyons Murphy Nahrstadt & Pontikis Ltd. in Chicago, Illinois. His practice focuses on insurance defense, commercial litigation, mass and toxic tort litigation, product liability, construction litigation, professional malpractice, construction defect matters, and Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants. He is peer review rated by Martindale-Hubbell with an AV Preeminent designation, reflecting high peer recognition for ethical standards and le...

Barry Maram is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Health Care Law. Barry, 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 Barry is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Brooks B. Gruemmer is a corporate partner with a wide-ranging practice representing private equity and other investment funds and private and public companies, with an emphasis on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, joint ventures, and the related financing required to fund such transactions. Read full biography: https://www.mwe.com/people/gruemmer-brooks-b/

David W. Wirt is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation - Bankruptcy. David W., who practices law in Chicago, Illinois, has been recognized since 2016. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which David W. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Ana Valenzuela is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Immigration Law. Ana, who practices law in Chicago, Illinois, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Ana is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Legal Experience: Ms. Goldstein is a principal with the firm concentrating her practice in the areas of matrimonial and family law since 1985. She has been an active trial attorney preparing and litigating divorce cases involving complex financial matters, including business and real estate valuation, cash flow analysis and custody issues. Ms. Goldstein also has been appointed by the Court to represent children in custody disputes. Memberships: Ms. Goldstein is a member of the Illinois State ...

You often hear about small-town values from big-city attorneys in commercials, but Jim McPhedran, who grew up on a farm outside Oglesby, took his small-town values to Chicago and brought back his law degree to help the people of the Illinois Valley. He remains as committed to his community today as he was as a new lawyer over three decades ago. "I learned a long time ago that you treat all clients the same," said Jim McPhedran. "Each deserves the same level of respect, consideration, and hard...

Tom represents clients in patent and trademark prosecution, intellectual property litigation, and post-grant patent challenges before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Tom has a broad base of experience in various technological and business areas, particularly in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical and medical device inventions. He drafts invalidity opinions, investigates freedom to operate, counsels on strategic portfolio management, and conducts due diligence investigations prio...

A firm founder, visionary leader, and skilled litigator, Paul Slater handles high-stakes antitrust cases for private and public enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies. He pioneered the opt-out practice, representing companies as individual plaintiffs in industry-wide multidistrict antitrust litigation. This practice enables clients to tailor their claims and maximize their recoveries outside of class action proceedings, which often fail to meet individual client needs. Mr. Slater repres...