• insurance company on rental issues

See less

He has represented public and private companies that sponsor employee benefit, health and welfare, and retirement plans governed by ERISA, and their directors and officers and plan fiduciaries, as well as service providers to ERISA plans and plan sponsors. He has extensive experience in Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and has defended some of the highest profile lawsuits involving ESOPs, helping to define the landscape of the evolving law relating to ESOPs.

Ted has a considerable experience in trial and appeals courts, including arguing before the United States Supreme Court and several United States Circuit Courts of Appeals. He also has represented clients in arbitration proceedings. He has represented clients across the full spectrum of litigation, from avoidance, dispute resolution and pre-litigation planning, through dispositive motions, discovery, trial and appeal.

Ted’s clients include a number of Fortune 500 companies. He represents both public and private organizations, as well as non-profit organizations.

See less

• Neil et al. v. Zell, et al. (The Tribune Company ERISA Litigation)

Co-lead counsel defending a national trust company in a class action brought by participants of a retirement plan of Tribune Company, alleging that the trust company approved a prohibited transaction and breached its fiduciary duty under ERISA in connection with a transaction in which the company went from a publicly held corporation into one of the largest, wholly employee-owned companies in the country.*

• Allen, et al. v. GreatBanc Trust Company

Lead counsel defending a national trust company in a case brought by participants of a retirement plan claiming that the trust company engaged in prohibited transactions and committed breaches of fiduciary duty in violation of ERISA.*

• Armstrong v. LaSalle Bank, N.A Bank of America

Lead counsel representing one of the largest US banks in a class action brought by participants of a retirement plan of one of the largest wholly employee-owned companies in the country, claiming over $300 million in damages and alleging that the bank as ESOP Trustee breached its fiduciary duty under ERISA in connection with the company’s allegedly improper leveraged acquisition of a large competitor and by approving an allegedly improper valuation of the company’s stock.*

• Solis, Secretary of Labor v. GreatBanc Trust Company

Lead counsel defending a national trust company in a case brought by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, alleging that the trust company engaged in a prohibited transaction and committed breaches of fiduciary duty under ERISA.*

• Kaplan, et al. v. Houlihan, et al.

Lead counsel defending two former directors of Houlihan Smith & Co., Inc., in a case brought by participants of a retirement plan, alleging that the directors violated ERISA by engaging in a transaction as part of the liquidation of the company.*

• In re Life Associates, Debtor / Trustee v. Principal Mutual

Lead counsel defending Principal Life Insurance Company in a case brought by a Bankruptcy Trustee alleging improprieties in the distribution of “demutualization” proceeds. *

• Fish, et al. v. GreatBanc Trust Company, et al.

Lead counsel defending a national trust company in a case brought by participants of a retirement plan and its successor trustee, alleging that the trust company committed breaches of fiduciary duty under ERISA.*

• Miller, Special Litigation Trustee v. Lee Morgan, et al.

Lead counsel defending a national trust company in a case brought by a Bankruptcy Litigation Trustee alleging that the trust company aided and abetted a breach of fiduciary duty under Ohio state law by company directors and officers in approving a transaction.*

• Johnson, et al. v. Couturier, et al. / Secretary of Labor v. Couturier, et al.

Counsel defending a director of a company in an action brought by former and present participants of a retirement plan alleging breach of fiduciary duties under ERISA and state law in connection with the setting of compensation and grants of options and synthetic equity and a transaction in which all the assets of the company were sold.*

• Douglin, et al. v. GreatBanc Trust Company

Lead counsel defending a national trust company in a class action brought by participants of a retirement plan claiming that the trust company engaged in a prohibited transaction and committed breaches of fiduciary duty in violation of ERISA.*

*Matter handled prior to joining the firm.

See less

• Who’s Who in the World
• Who’s Who in America
• Who’s Who in American Law
• Leading Lawyers: The Top Business Lawyers in Illinois, Commercial Litigation, Employee Benefits Law, 2008–2022

See less

• Illinois State Bar Association
• Chicago Bar Association
• Employee-Owned S Corporations of America, Advisory Committee
• The ESOP Association, Board of Directors, Board of Governors, Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee on Fiduciary Issues (Past Chair), Legislative & Regulatory Committee, DOL / EBSA Subcommittee, Chair
• The Employee Ownership Foundation, Board of Trustees
• National Center for Employee Ownership
• Russell Sage Fellow, Yale Law School
• Fellow, Northwestern University Program in Law and the Social Sciences

See less

Chris meets the needs of a broad range of clients, from nonprofit and for-profit health systems and hospitals to laboratories, pharmacies, physician practice management platforms, and physician groups. He guides them through all manner of complex mergers and acquisitions, strategic affiliations, and challenging regulatory situations to achieve successful resolutions.

In his pro bono practice, Chris represents clients through the Alliance for Children’s Rights guardianship and adoption program. He also advises nonprofit organizations on their internal privacy policies and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance.

See less

• Represented a national health system in its divestiture of its home health agency, hospice, and skilled nursing facilities in Illinois
• Represented a client in connection with the successful acquisition of an acute care hospital from a nonprofit hospital system that had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
• Represented two integrated, full-service laboratory companies in connection with their sale to a national laboratory company
• Represented a private equity group in its acquisition of a scaled outpatient imaging platform operating in 15 states
• Represented a client in connection with its sale of five radiation oncology facilities to a regional health system in Georgia
• Represented a national provider of outpatient cancer services in its affiliations with and acquisitions of various radiation oncology, medical oncology, urology, and surgery providers
• Advised a client regarding its national physician practice management rollout and associated corporate practice of medicine strategy
• Represented a national for-profit health system in its sale of an acute care hospital to a joint venture involving a private university and nonprofit health system

See less

Mike previously served as counsel to US Senator Mazie K. Hirono on the US Senate Judiciary Committee, including in her capacity as chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Federal Rights and Agency Action. Mike also staffed Senator Hirono on the US Senate Small Business Committee and advised the Senator on a variety of policy issues, including bankruptcy, cybersecurity, financial services regulation, intellectual property, immigration, civil rights, and campaign finance and government ethics.

Mike maintains an active pro bono practice. He serves on the Firm’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee, for which he co-chairs the Washington, DC committee, and on the Diversity Committee, for which he leads the firm’s working group on LGBTQ+ recruitment and retention.

While in law school, Mike was a George Washington Scholar, a Thurgood Marshall Scholar and a Deans Fellow. He was also notes editor for the Public Contract Law Journal.

Following law school, Mike was seconded to a firm client in the tech industry, where he focused on securities, intellectual property and corporate transactions. He also served as a legal fellow with an immigration advocacy organization, focusing on legislative and regulatory reform.

See less

While in law school, Michael served as a senior editor of the Washington University Law Review and as vice president of the Health Law Association. He was a recipient of the Don Sommers Award in professional responsibility.

See less

• Represented Living Spaces Furniture, LLC, in the structuring, negotiation and documentation of its senior secured syndicated bank facility and its private placement notes facility
• Represented Prime Healthcare Services, Inc., one of the largest acute care providers in the United States, in the negotiation and documentation of its $450 million senior asset-based facility with Ally Bank and a syndicate of other lenders
• Represented Premier, Inc., in connection with the negotiation, documentation and execution of a $1 billion senior unsecured revolving credit facility provided by a syndicate of lenders for which Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, served as Administrative Agent; Premier operates as a health care alliance that unites hospitals, health systems, physicians and other health care providers with the common goal of improving the financial, clinical and operational areas of their business; the proceeds of the facility are used to fund future acquisitions and for other general corporate purposes

See less

Michael also has substantial experience in cross-border planning for international families. He represents entrepreneurs with global business interests, families seeking to establish trusts and other structures to benefit loved ones in the US and beyond, and multi-jurisdictional individuals looking to structure their affairs in a private, tax-efficient manner. He also advises clients on issues relating to foreign trusts, pre-immigration planning, expatriation, in-bound and out-bound transfers, compliance obligations and structuring investment vehicles in the United States and other jurisdictions.

Michael regularly speaks to local and national audiences on a variety of issues related to US and international tax and estate planning.

See less

• Represented a trustee in the administration and the Internal Revenue Service audit of a complex taxable estate consisting of multiple trusts and conflicting beneficiaries and creditors
• Represented a family patriarch and matriarch in structuring control and ownership of a multi-hundred million dollar family business to implement a desired management succession plan among descendants as well as the tax-efficient transfer of wealth to irrevocable trusts

See less