Robert M. Criswell

John Hartmann is a partner in Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s litigation practice group, where he focuses on shareholder, professional liability and business litigation matters, as well as regulatory enforcement proceedings and corporate internal investigations. John has represented leading corporations, professional services firms, private investment firms, as well as their directors, officers and partners, in numerous securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits, disputes over co...

James H. Whalen is the co-managing partner of Lipe Lyons Murphy Nahrstadt & Pontikis LTD, a Chicago, Illinois law firm. He practices in the areas of Litigation – Insurance, tort defense, commercial litigation, and product liability. Mr. Whalen represents clients in state and federal courts, as well as before state administrative bodies. His practice includes construction, business, commercial, product liability, employment discrimination, and premises liability litigation. Mr. Whale...

Stephen Wu is a nationally recognized antitrust lawyer who focuses his practice on defending antitrust litigation in federal courts around the country, defending mergers and acquisitions before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and State Attorneys General and counseling clients on antitrust compliance issues. Read full biography: https://www.mwe.com/people/wu-stephen/

Holby is a strategic intellectual property advisor who focuses on the creation, development, protection and enforcement of numerous sophisticated global patent and trademark portfolios. His practice encompasses all aspects of patent and trademark development, including prosecution, licensing, opinion work, counseling and due diligence. Holby provides legal services with a full appreciation of the perspectives of in-house counsel, management and technical staff, routinely advising them regardi...

Ruth A. Bahe-Jachna has more than 30 years of experience working on and managing large-scale litigation matters, including numerous MDL proceedings. She regularly defends clients in class actions and product liability and consumer fraud litigation in state and federal courts, as well as in employment-related class actions and FLSA collective actions. Her experience includes the representation of telecommunications clients, including a major U.S. trade association representing wireless manufac...

Peter M. Siavelis is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Patent Law. Peter M., 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 Peter M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Kevin Van Wart is a partner Kirkland's Chicago office, where he concentrates in complex litigation, including mass tort claims, class action lawsuits, product liability and pharmaceutical claims, and high stakes commercial disputes. Kevin has served as lead trial and appellate counsel in a wide variety of cases throughout the country and teaches trial advocacy at the University of Chicago Law School. The National Law Journal featured Kevin's successful trial work in naming Kirkland to its 200...

Michael J. Summerhill is a partner in the firm’s Litigation practice group. He is a seasoned litigator with extensive appellate and trial court level experience. He represents clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to startups in a variety of industries, including health care, software, health information technology, financial services and FinTech, medical device, consumer products, and venture capital. Mike also arbitrates commercial disputes before the American Arbitration Associa...

Sean W. Bezark focuses his practice primarily on environmental matters for public corporations, privately held companies, banks, lenders, REITs and private equity investment funds. He advises clients on environmental aspects of corporate and real estate transactions, bankruptcy cases, environmental investigations and remediation projects, brownfields development, insurance procurement and risk and cost allocations. He also counsels clients on legal and technical aspects of complex contaminati...

Susan Daley is a partner with Perkins Coie and has more than 20 years of experience in the areas of executive compensation, securities and employee benefits. She is currently President of the Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, Chair of the Federal Securities Law Subcommittee of the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation, and a member of the BNA Pension & Benefits Advisory Board. She is a former Chair of the Ill...