The Patterson Law Firm, LLC

The Patterson Law Firm, LLC, consists of trial lawyers for businesses, professionals, and entrepreneurs. Including our managing member, Michael Haeberle, our top six lawyers have spent more than 212 years combined winning business lawsuits. We offer this unique experience in an eighteen-lawyer boutique. Our attorneys include a PTA mom and special needs child advocate, a hockey coach, law clerks to judges, and authors of books and articles. Chief among the publications is our 600-page book on handling business emergencies, which focuses on temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions in business lawsuits. Originally published by the American Bar Association in 2009, it was updated in 2021 in a second edition, requested by the ABA.

Because of our experience with emergency actions and legal malpractice cases—two of the most difficult areas of commercial litigation--we often accept complex matters that don’t fit into easy categories. Nevertheless, most of our experience is concentrated in these areas:

Breach of contract. While the elements of a breach of contract claim are simple, the variety of contracts is not, and the defenses can be complex. We represented one of House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s victims who claimed that Hastert broke his oral promise to pay him compensation for molesting him when he was a child. We successfully defended David Paul in a case filed by Chemical Bank of New York, claiming that he owed $8 million on a guaranty. We have a treasure trove of jury instructions, briefs, and motions in limine relevant to breach of contract claims, giving us a head start confronting the issues.

Business divorces (shareholder, LLC-member, and partnership litigation). Shareholders, partners and LLC-members can face freeze-outs, squeeze-outs, or breaches of the duties of loyalty and competence from their business colleagues. The Illinois Business Corporation Act (BCA), the Illinois Partnership Act, the Illinois LLC Act, and similar statutes in other states provide remedies for many varieties of misconduct. Remedies include removal from the business, appointing a receiver to manage it under the supervision of the court, dissolution, money damages, or a forced buyout at the “fair” value (not necessarily the market value). Typically these cases involve the analysis of the relevant statutes, the governing documents of the business, and the financial books and records. In one case, two brothers were 50/50 interest holders, couldn’t get along, and one brother locked our client out of the business, spent money neither he nor the business had, and offered a low price for a buyout. During the litigation, the script was flipped, and our client bought out his brother and made a good profit. Cases we have handled include ones for an international software company, a nationwide provider of artificial turf, a multi-million dollar sales representative company, and many others.

Condominium, cooperatives, and homeowner disputes. Homeowners, condominium owners, and cooperatives need associations to govern themselves, but disputes often erupt between owners and the Association, owners and certain officers, or between the owners themselves. In one case, dissident homeowners sued the association’s president, our client, claiming wrongdoing. And they did so in a manner to try to deny him the protection of the association’s insurance policy, purchased to defend and indemnify him and other directors for serving in a volunteer capacity. After over one year of litigation, our client was exonerated, and we managed to get the insurance company to foot the bill. In another case, after a three-week trial, we forced a not-for-profit corporation to dissolve because it was mistreating our group of ten cooperative owners. In both cases, our opponents outspent us three to one.

Construction lawsuits. Owners, architects, construction managers, general contractors, subcontractors, and their insurers can be sued when things go wrong on a construction project.Claims of cost overruns and extra work orders; defective work; delay claims; and mechanics liens are among the disputes we have handled. In one case, we got the contract or to admit he lied, a true Perry Mason moment.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain litigation and arbitration. Cryptocurrency and blockchain litigation is a rapidly developing frontier in the legal field. Cases are filed against cryptocurrency exchanges and individuals by both private citizens and the federal government. Lawsuits related to new coins that we have handled include: false advertising and misinformation; ponzi schemes; and breach of fiduciary duty. Other lawsuits allege that cryptocurrency exchange users have been frozen out of their accounts or that businesses were founded as exit scams.

Data Privacy and cybersecurity practice. The collection, use, and storage of personal information is subject to an increasingly complex framework of laws and regulations in the US, EU, Canada, Asia and around the world. Monetary penalties for violating these laws are severe and reputational damage can be irreparable. We work with clients to enhance disclosures, strengthen compliance, and implement integrated risk management programs that create a strong control environment as a springboard for innovation.

Employment, commission, and brokerage claims. We help employees preserve their employment and civil rights and sales representatives and brokers recover payment for services rendered. Less frequently, we have defended employers from unjust claims in labor and union disputes. Our experience on both sides makes us uniquely positioned to provide clients with the knowledge to weigh all options and sometimes to negotiate creative settlement agreements. Key statutes can make some litigation more economical. For example, sales representatives owed commissions may be entitled to triple the amount of their unpaid commissions as well as reimbursement of their legal fees and expenses under Illinois’ Sales Representative Act. Illinois’ Wage and Commission Act offers similar protection to employees owed wages by providing reimbursement of attorney fees and expenses (but not triple damages).

Infringement of patents, trademarks, and copyrights. We protect and enforce intellectual property (copyrights, trademarks and patents) from infringment. We stay abreast of the trends in technological and business advancements. In one case, we successfully defended our client from allegations that its website did not comply with U.S. Treasury regulations, invoking federal law, executive orders and Treasury Department regulations. We have experience with trademark registration and trademark infringement disputes

Insurance coverage. We represent policy holders for insurance and contractual indemnity claims. The key component of a successful resolution of a business issue can depend on establishing insurance coverage. In one case, obtaining insurance coverage enabled us to settle a massive series of lawsuits against directors and officers of a hospital. See, Yessenow v. Executive Risk Indem., Inc., 953 N.E.2d 433 (1st Dist. 2011) In another case, the policyholder lost a coverage jury trial while represented by another lawyer; we stepped in, won a motion for a new trial, and then won the second trial, establishing insurance coverage for a fire that had destroyed a business. We have experience with CGL, E&O, D&O, and SIR insurance policies; counseling on whether to tender defenses; cases that include bad faith claims, indemnity contract disputes, and other risk-shifting contract provisions; and excess insurance matters.

Legal and accounting malpractice actions for plaintiffs. This is one of the largest areas of our practice, and we may be the largest law firm in Chicago, and maybe the Midwest, handling such cases. We obtained the largest legal malpractice verdict in the state of Ohio ($32.3 million). Gogo hired us to sue a major law firm that had mishandled its patent portfolio.These cases are complex because we often have to win two cases in one (the case within the case doctrine) and because sophisticated lawyers are the opponent. We have also obtained millions of dollars in accounting malpractice claims.

Personal injury. We have worked on complicated personal injury matters. In several instances, we have accepted cases rejected or dropped by other lawyers and obtained millions of dollars in settlements. A few of our best results must remain secret because our opponents or clients requested that the settlement be kept confidential.

Professional regulation. We represent professionals licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) and the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC).

Real estate litigation. We represent developers, commercial lessees, and commercial landlords in their disputes with each other. (We generally do not accept cases involving the eviction of individuals.) In one case, a commercial developer of an office building sued our client, the general contractor, for millions, but we defeated this at trial and won our counterclaim so that he had to pay us.In another case, a commercial lessee hired us to defend it from a landlord’s claim that it was liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in reimbursement for expenditures that we showed were not owed under the lease.

Securities and financial malpractice. Stock, option, and commodities trading can result in several different types of claims: regulatory actions by government agencies, criminal charges, and civil lawsuits for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duties, and legal malpractice actions. The firm has advised traders about investigations, representing individuals and companies during investigations, filing whistleblower actions involving improper practices, and pursuing and defending civil lawsuits related to such practices.

Matters we do not handle. Matters we refer to other lawyers include bankruptcy, capital market transactions, criminal law, eviction of individuals, family law, initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, patent prosecutions, and tax advice and planning. We strive to be the best at what we do rather than to try to do everything.

Patterson Law Firm's main office is based in Chicago, Illinois, but the managing member also holds an office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 1437 North Prospect Ave, Suite 203, Milwaukee, WI 53202.