Steve D’Amore
Partner
Co-Chair, Litigation Department
Global co-chair of Winston & Strawn’s litigation department, Steve is a trial lawyer who concentrates in business disputes in state and federal courts throughout the country and in domestic and international arbitration forums. He is recognized as a BTI Client Service All-Star for exceptional understanding of his clients’ business and litigation needs, named one of Lawdragon 500’s Leading Lawyers in America, and recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®for Commercial Litigation.
Steve recently was selected as chair-elect of the firm. He will work alongside outgoing Chair Tom Fitzgerald until June 2024. At that time, Tom will step down from his role, and Steve will head the firm as part of a leadership team while continuing to practice.
Key Matters
Steve’s recent representative experience includes the following:
- Defeated a bellwether case claiming that food ingredient manufacturers were liable for Plaintiff’s overconsumption of sweetened foods and resulting health Forbes described the case as “the most notorious illustration of how a baseless lawsuit can effectively demonize one disfavored food ingredient.”
- Currently representing a major food ingredient manufacturer in a class action in Illinois federal court alleging that the company’s equine products were contaminated with a chemical additive used in cattle feed that is poisonous to horses. The plaintiffs bring claims for violations of Illinois’ Food Drug and Cosmetic Act and its Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, as well as claims of negligent misrepresentation, strict products liability, unjust enrichment, and breach of express warranties.
- After four years of litigation, obtained a jury verdict of more than US$93M in favor of a life sciences company in a contract dispute over a pricing agreement, a verdict that at the time was the largest commercial verdict awarded in the venue.
- Obtained a US$84.5M verdict in favor of a life sciences company and against certain London-based insurers who provided product recall insurance to our client. The trial was conducted in multiple phases, and we prevailed on behalf of our client in both the liability phase, which sought rescission of the policies, and the damages phase, where we recovered the maximum amount of insurance available at trial.
- Obtained a jury trial victory on behalf of a global ingredients and ethanol producer, who brought an action for fraudulent inducement, misrepresentation, and breach of contract against an equipment provider that claimed to have developed a proprietary technology for use in the production of ethanol. After a three-week trial, the New York jury rejected the equipment manufacturer’s US$180M damages claim and instead awarded our client rescission of the agreement and the return of its payments.
- Obtained a jury trial verdict of US$88M (including US$33M of interest) on behalf of two technology companies in a dispute over the right to advertise in a leading computer publication, a verdict that at the time was the largest commercial jury verdict awarded in the Circuit Court of Cook County.