Jim has extensive experience and an impressive record of success as a business trial lawyer. He has handled high-profile litigation, provided legal counseling, conducted investigations, and overseen matters related to contractual, regulatory, employment, and internal compliance issues. Jim has worked on a wide range of complex multi-party business and commercial litigation trials, arbitrations, appeals, and investigations. His experience includes both litigating a broad range of disputes and counseling on mitigating potential areas of risk including those related to contracts, business torts, shareholder disputes, directors' and officers' liability, employment matters, fraud, defamation, privacy, compliance, cybersecurity, intellectual property, partnerships, joint ventures, and real estate related disputes, including leases and purchase agreements. Jim also handles corporate investigations and provides his clients with general business counseling on a variety of topics. He has considerable experience prosecuting and defending temporary restraining orders/injunctions and other equitable relief matters.
Jim regularly represents clients ranging from sole proprietors and practitioners to large corporate entities and institutions, both in pursuing claims and in defending and trying or arbitrating lawsuits in various complex commercial litigation matters. He has experience representing technology based companies, manufacturers, retailers, hospitals, medical professionals, insurance producers, law and accounting firms and individual lawyers and accountants, against claims and potential claims and with respect to subpoenas for depositions and records, administrative proceedings, criminal matters, and risk management issues. Jim’s successful representations have involved winning cases through dispositive motions and at trial or through arbitration when necessary. He also has experience defending multiple Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) class action clients in various business segments including the manufacturing, software, health care, temporary staffing, technology, and service industries. He also represents BIPA defendants in “mass arbitration” actions where he leads complex litigation/arbitration strategies. In addition to BIPA class actions, Jim has handled class actions asserting false claims act and consumer protection claims.
Jim is admitted to practice in the state of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, including the Trial Bar, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and the U.S. District Court, District of Colorado and has been involved in federal and state court litigation around the country. Jim authors a regular column for Law360 and LexisNexis, where he shares insights on current Commercial Litigation issues.
Jim’s numerous successful representations have earned him recognition, for three consecutive years (2009, 2010, 2011), as an Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star, an honor conferred upon less than 2.5 percent of the top Illinois lawyers.
Jim has served, by gubernatorial appointment and Illinois State Senate confirmation, as chairman of the Illinois Department of Employment Security Advisory Board. He has served in that capacity for four different administrations. Jim is a member of Loyola University Chicago’s College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council. He also serves at a local high school as an assistant mock trial coach and has served, by mayoral appointment and City Council confirmation through two different administrations, as chair of the city of Park Ridge’s Planning and Zoning Commission and as chair of its O’Hare Airport Commission. He has been elected to several terms as a Chicago Public School System Local School Council representative, and has volunteered in the Chicago Public School System, District 64 School System, the Chicago Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), the Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois, and the Park Ridge Police Parent Patrol.
Jim received his bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from the Honors Department, in economics from Loyola University of Chicago in 1992 and served as a student representative on the Loyola University Board of Trustees. He received his law degree from Loyola University of Chicago Law School in 1995 where he served as law review executive editor and as an assistant Legal Writing/Moot Court instructor. Jim is fluent in Greek.