Department profile
Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP

Litigation: General Commercial

USA Guide 2026 : Illinois


Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP

Rankings

About

Provided by Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP

Fortune 500 companies and business leaders turn to Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP (RSHC) to handle their most challenging commercial litigation, especially matters involving reputational risk and media attention. RSHC is nationally renowned for its class actions practice and for its elite team of trial lawyers, including numerous former Assistant U.S. Attorneys and former state prosecutors. 

RSHC attorneys have successfully tried over 200 high-stakes cases to verdict in courts across the country and won thousands more cases through pretrial motions. The firm’s formidable reputation for fearless advocacy is based on its record of success, often in cases where other firms initially failed to achieve positive results.

RSHC’s litigators are united by a culture of excellence that is relentlessly client focused, dynamically innovative, and passionately committed to winning. They excel at delivering solutions, whether by helping clients devise plans to avoid or resolve litigation, securing dismissals and summary judgment, or winning at trial and on appeal.

Twice shortlisted by Chambers USA as an outstanding firm for diversity and inclusion, RSHC draws from its authentic diversity to assemble bespoke teams for each lawsuit depending on the client’s needs. This nimble team structure, coupled with deep experience executing bold strategies, enables RSHC litigators to go toe-to-toe with the toughest adversaries in the most difficult jurisdictions and consistenly win.

Industries (23)

  • Insurance
  • Consumer Products
  • Pharmaceutical
  • Industrial Manufacturing
  • Health Care & Life Sciences
  • Aerospace & Aviation
  • Energy / Utilities
  • Chemical
  • Financial Services & Asset Management
  • Primary, Secondary & Higher Education
  • Medical Devices
  • Food & Beverage
  • Automotive
  • Media, Entertainment & Sports
  • Telecommunications
  • Real Estate
  • Technology
  • Blockchain & Cryptocurrency
  • Transportation & Logistics
  • Construction
  • Retail
  • Airport Concessions
  • Private Equity & Venture Capital

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Litigation: General Commercial - Illinois

Band 2

Band 2


What the Team is Known For
Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila has a breadth of experience spanning commercial litigation, including contract disputes, business tort claims and insurance cases. It has notable capabilities in handling class actions, with experience defending against allegations of false advertising, insurance bad faith and consumer protection breaches. It is frequently sought after by clients in the insurance and food and beverage sectors, among others.

Work Highlights

Provided by Chambers

  • Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila represented United Airlines in an appeal brought by a former communications worker, who alleged age bias and retaliation after she was placed on a performance improvement plan and allegedly constructively discharged from employment.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

  • The partners are experienced litigators and many are former US attorneys. They have keen insights into trial strategy, discovery, witness preparation and trial technology. The firm is a formidable force.

    Litigation: General Commercial respondentUSA
  • Riley Safer has a deep understanding of complex business processes within the insurance industry, as well as stellar litigation skills. Most of their lawyers have represented the insurance industry for years, and even decades, and bring not just legal and analytical expertise, but also institutional memory.

    Litigation: General Commercial respondentUSA
  • They are solution-oriented, nimble and they win. They get the results that you want and they bring really great experience and talent for matters in an efficient way.

    Litigation: General Commercial respondentUSA
  • They are good creative and strategic thinkers, who focus on winning positive outcomes.

    Litigation: General Commercial respondentUSA
  • They're smart, kind, organized, detail-oriented and strategic. It's rare to find a combination of all these traits in all legal members of a team.

    Litigation: General Commercial respondentUSA

Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers

  • Eminent PractitionersPatricia Brown Holmes
    Eminent PractitionersPatricia Brown Holmes

    Patricia Brown Holmes

    Patricia Brown Holmes sits as managing partner of the firm. She is noted for her experience in representing public and private corporate clients in high stakes commercial disputes.

    • She has superb judgment and perspective.

      Litigation: General Commercial respondentUSA
    • Patricia is an exceptional adviser, litigator and strategist. She is also a great thought partner.

      Litigation: General Commercial respondentUSA
    • She is a great attorney, with a depth of knowledge and skill that is unmatched.

      Litigation: General Commercial respondentUSA
    • She is fantastic.

      Litigation: General Commercial respondentUSA

Ranked Individuals at Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP (1)

Illinois

Members

Provided by Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP

  • David H. Resnicoff

  • Stephen M. Hankins

  • Eli Litoff

  • Robert H. Riley

  • Nick Kahlon

    Head of Department

  • Amy C. Andrews

  • Joseph A. Cancila, Jr.

  • Kalia M. Coleman

  • Matthew C. Crowl

  • Gregory L. Curtner

  • Matthew J. Fischer

  • Monique B. Howery

  • Lauren Jaffe

  • Jacob Kahn

  • Shalem A. Massey

  • Jeffrey W. Morof

  • Abigail L. Peluso

  • Rodney Perry

    Head of Department

  • Keyonn L. Pope

  • Thomas B. Quinn

  • Michael H. Fleck

  • James P. Gaughan

  • Sondra A. Hemeryck

  • Christopher S. Hickey

  • Jennifer Steeve

  • Kate Stimeling

  • Brian O'Connor Watson

  • Jeffrey R. Williams

  • Ariel Wilson

  • Geoffrey G. Young

  • Shaun Zhang

  • Ronald S. Safer

  • Lauren Abendshien

  • C. Matt Alva

  • Olivia Luk Bedi

  • Brendan J. Gerdes

  • Jeffrey W. Gordon

  • Maegan McAdam

  • Lucas T. Rael

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