John D. Shugrue

Amy Andrews is an experienced commercial litigator who focuses her practice on financial and complex commercial litigation for businesses large and small. Inquisitive by nature, she prides herself on developing a deep understanding of the business needs of her clients and diligently solving their legal issues, whether in or out of the courtroom. Amy has considerable experience representing a diverse portfolio of clients in complex litigation matters in federal and state courts nationwide. Wit...

John G. Caruso is a partner in the Real Estate Group in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. John represents and counsels clients in a broad range of commercial real estate transactions, including financings/commercial lending, acquisitions, dispositions, synthetic lease and sale-leaseback transactions, commercial leases, rights-of-way and easement agreements and portfolio acquisitions and dispositions. John actively represents clients in structuring joint ventures for the acquisit...

Matthew P. Walsh II is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Construction Law. Matthew P., 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 Matthew P. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Tim Schafer, II is an experienced trial lawyer, handling cases involving personal injury or wrongful death caused by truck accidents, car accidents, medical malpractice, premises liability, product liability, train accidents and airplane crashes. During his career Tim has obtained two of the largest jury verdicts in the State of Indiana, $30,750,000 for brain damage and wrongful death caused in a premises liability case and $32,500,000.00 for brain damage caused to a young mother who was invo...

Gabor Balassa is a senior litigation partner and trial lawyer. Gabor has successfully tried significant commercial disputes in federal and state courts and in arbitrations across the country, including in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, Tampa, and Wilmington. He represents a diverse client base, ranging from big-four accounting firms, to oil & gas, telecommunications, and pharmaceutical companies, to private-equity firms. Gabor’s broad experience encompasses class ac...

Jeremy J. Glenn 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. Jeremy J., who practices law in Chicago, Illinois, has been recognized since 2022. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Jeremy J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Chicago trial attorney Brian LaCien is a founding partner of Smith LaCien LLP. He has a broad range of experience in the areas of medical malpractice, professional negligence, wrongful death, class actions, trucking litigation, product liability, aviation negligence, civil rights violations and premises liability. LaCien and Todd A. Smith, also a founding partner, have a long track record of achieving exceptional results for clients, with more than $2 billion in verdicts and settlements and o...

Michael Hartmann is active in all phases of intellectual property law with an emphasis in intellectual property litigation and technology protection and transfer in the United States and internationally. He has acted as lead trial counsel in jury and bench trials, International Trade Commission investigations, and related pre-trial and appellate proceedings in diverse technical fields. These include software, telecommunications, machine vision and semiconductor manufacturing, oil field drilli...

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

Stephen L. Ritchie is a partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis. Steve's practice is concentrated in the areas of complex business transactions, with a particular focus on structuring, negotiating and managing the legal aspects of mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, venture capital and growth equity investments, restructurings and workouts. He has also served as lead counsel in the representation of numerous portfolio companies of private equity funds. P...