Stephen J. Siegel

LITIGATION FOCUS

 

BIOGRAPHY

Stephen J. Siegel is a partner of Novack and Macey LLP.  Steve represents businesses and individuals in seeking cost-effective solutions to their commercial disputes. He represents both plaintiffs and defendants, at trial and in arbitration and mediation proceedings. Steve has a particular depth of experience in closely-held company and partnership disputes involving claims of securities fraud and/or breach of fiduciary and contractual duties; energy disputes; non-compete, trade secrets and employment termination disputes; and real estate litigation. He has been selected for inclusion among Illinois “Leading Lawyers,” which recognizes the top five percent of attorneys in the State as selected by peers and an independent panel.

In recent years Steve has taken a leading role in obtaining:

• An $18 million settlement, reached during arbitration, of a liquidated damages claim in favor of a coal purchaser against a large coal producer for the producer’s failure to deliver low-priced coal as market prices rose;
• A $20 million arbitration award in favor of investors for mismanagement and securities fraud in two closely-held investment vehicles;
• An arbitration award and federal district court judgment in favor of a publicly-held energy company, restraining frivolous multi-million dollar litigation in Guatemala and directing payment of all of our client’s attorney’s fees incurred in the arbitration, a ruling which freed our client to sell its Guatemala assets;
• Settlements for five former clients of broker Frank Gruttadauria, who misappropriated over $100 million from several dozen of his clients, while misrepresenting to them that their accounts had grown to approximately $275 million in value. Steve obtained settlements (confidential in amount) from Lehman Brothers, SG Cowen and others;
• An arbitration award in favor of a retail power seller denying a commercial customer’s claim for purported overcharges and awarding our client all of its arbitration expenses;
• An arbitration award in favor of a retail gas supplier awarding our client every dollar it sought in damages, attorney’s fees and arbitration expenses on its claim to enforce two unsigned contract amendments;
• A mandatory injunction for a client charged with fraud by the public company to whom she had sold her consulting business, which permitted her to sell millions of dollars of restricted stock she received in the disputed merger transaction, a victory that was followed by a seven-figure settlement payment reported in the company’s next SEC filing; and
• A seven-figure judgment after trial, affirmed on appeal, on a building owner’s claims against both a contractor and its principals.

Steve is also a trained mediator and is qualified to mediate a wide variety of business disputes. 

Steve is a member of the Leadership of the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association (ABA).  He recently was appointed to co-chair the 2013 Section Annual Conference of the ABA Section of Litigation set for April 25 to 27, 2013, in Chicago.  Approximately 1,000 attorneys are expected to attend. 

Steve is a member of the Board of Governors of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, a preeminent legal reform organization.  In addition, he is a member of the Energy Bar Association and serves on the Advisory Board of The Institute for Energy Law.  Steve also volunteers at A Just Harvest, a soup kitchen and community development organization in Chicago’s Rogers Park area, and has been active in a wide range of other legal and civic organizations.  

Before joining Novack and Macey in 1993, Steve served as law clerk to United States District Judge Morey L. Sear (E.D. La.) and practiced at Latham & Watkins LLP.  He also previously served as a legislative assistant to then-U.S. Rep. Harry M. Reid (D.-Nev.) (now U.S. Senate Majority Leader).

EDUCATION

• Middlebury College (B.A. 1984), Cum Laude
• University of Michigan Law School (J.D. 1990), Cum Laude

BAR ADMISSIONS

• Illinois
• United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• United States District Courts for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois
• Trial Bar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

SPEECHES AND PUBLICATIONS

• Steve Siegel Explains When and How to Use ADR Cost-Effectively to Resolve Legal Disputes PDF
• Recovering Attorney Fees for Litigation Work Performed by In-House Counsel PDF
• In-House Decisions: “Extrajudicial” Waiver Does Not Necessarily Result in Broad Subject Matter Waiver PDF
• In-House Decisions: Offers by Corporate Counsel to Represent Employees Personally – A Cautionary Story PDF
• In-House Decisions: Counsel’s Recollection of Internal Investigation Held Nondiscoverable PDF

MEDIA COVERAGE

• Novack and Macey LLP Collaborates with LAF to Represent Students in Special Education and School Disciplinary Disputes
• Novack and Siegel win appeal and defeat a putative class action at its onset, before any class certification or merits proceedings
• Siegel and Waskowski win summary judgment for client in lease dispute
• Steve Siegel Explains When and How to Use ADR Cost-Effectively to Resolve Legal Conflicts
• Steve Siegel to Co-Chair 2013 ABA Litigation Section Conference
• Attorneys Siegel and Douglass Successfully Resolve a Multi-Million Dollar Claim for an Alternative Retail Electricity Supplier
• Siegel and Douglass Win Natural Gas Arbitration
• Novack and Macey LLP Joins The Institute for Energy Law
• Partners Siegel and Miller Prevail Quickly in Avoiding Enforcement of a Detrimental Signed Agreement
• Novack and Macey Partner Steve Siegel Joins ABA Section of Litigation Leadership
• Novack and Macey Again Selected as a “Go-To” Law Firm
• Overcharge Claim Soundly Defeated
• Novack and Macey LLP Selected as a “GO-TO Law Firm” by a Fortune 250 Company
• Levine, Siegel and Campbell Obtain Over $18.9 Million in an Arbitration Award Against a Fund Manager
• Novack and Macey Attorneys Win Dismissal of a Lawsuit Against a Prominent NASCAR Racing Team
• Indiana Contractor-Partner Liable for Construction Defects