Chapman & Spingola LLP

		Overview
		Commerical Litigation
		Intellectual Property Litigation and Transactions

Commercial Litigation

In business litigation, what counts are results and we pride ourselves on the successful results we have consistently obtained for our clients at the trial and appellate levels.

First and foremost, we are trial lawyers. In today's world of business litigation, a trial attorney has to be able to present a client's case to a judge, jury, or arbitration panel in any forum in the United States. We excel in each of these settings.

As an example, one of our clients was accused of violating the terms of a joint venture agreement concerning the operation of an "Indy-style" racing team. We not only successfully defended our client before an arbitration panel in Washington, D.C. over a 15-day hearing, but also obtained an award for our client on its counterclaim of more than $4 million! James P. Chapman, our Senior Trial Counsel, one of the foremost business trial attorneys in Illinois over the last 40 years, played a substantial role in shaping our trial strategy and working with our client in this victory.

In another case, we defended a client accused of misappropriating the employees and assets of an options clearing firm. The plaintiff asked a jury in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois to award him more than $8 million in damages. After a three week trial, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty against our client, a verdict we were able to uphold on appeal.

In addition, Mediation is a growing part of business litigation. We prepare and present persuasive "position statements" that have repeatedly produced successful results for our clients (often saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and costs).

In a recent patent litigation mediation, working with our client, we produced an animated demonstration showing the alleged infringement. Within a matter of hours, the opposing party agreed to a settlement that recognized our client's patent and required that party to cease producing products that we contended infringed our client's patent.