William C. O'Neil, Partner

Bill O’Neil is a litigation partner who concentrates his practice on complex commercial disputes. He handles matters at the trial and appellate levels of state and federal courts throughout the country. His experience includes federal regulatory proceedings and corporate internal investigations. 

Mr. O’Neil’s significant matters include representation of:  

Securities, M&A & Corporate Governance Litigation

• Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Bear Sterns, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley in obtaining the dismissal of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 claim seeking more than $200 million in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois related a drop in Sears Roebuck & Co.’s stock price;  
• The Lightstone Group, Prime Office, and members of the Board of Prime Group Realty Trust in the successful defense of a series of shareholder derivative actions seeking in excess of $100 million in damages;
• Spine Pain Management, Inc., a publicly traded medical management and billing company, as first-chair trial counsel in successfully defending securities claims in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida;
• Echo Global Logistics, Inc. in post-acquisition litigation alleging fraud and breach of contract in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; and 
• One of the nation’s largest automotive companies in a confidential arbitration related to post-acquisition working capital adjustment claim.  

Antitrust Litigation

• Solyndra LLC in the prosecution of a billion dollar price fixing claim against three Chinese solar panel manufacturers;
• Marsulex and ChemTrade, Canadian sulfuric acid smelters, in a federal multi-districted price-fixing class action in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois; and
• Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. in a multi-districted price-fixing class action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Corporate and Government Investigations

• The board of directors of PharmaNet Development Group, the largest publicly traded clinical research organization in the U.S., in a corporate internal investigation and Senate Finance Committee investigation;
• Morgan Stanley in a confidential interal investigation; and
• One of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders in a confidential government investigation.    

Other Business Litigation 

• Gazprombank, Russia’s third-largest bank, in obtaining the dismissal of a $300 million tortious interference with prospective business advantage claim in Texas state court; 
• Philip Morris USA in a four-week smoking and health jury trial in Florida state court; 
• MoZeus Worldwide, as first-chair trial counsel, in defending trade secret and non-competition claims in Georgia state court; 
• Aon PLC in defense of a professional liability claim related to its brokerage of a tower of commercial general liability insurance; 
• Abbott Laboratories in numerous employment discrimination actions in state and federal courts throughout the country; and 
• Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals in the prosecution of false advertising and defamation claims in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  

Pro Bono

Mr. O’Neil’s pro bono cases have included representing a prison inmate in a successful appeal before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals that resulted in new law in the circuit, the court’s reversal of its own prior precedent, and the reversal of the defendant’s conviction. In addition, Mr. O’Neil successfully represented a United States Postal Service employee who was the victim of a highly publicized workplace shooting in obtaining permanent disability benefits from the U.S. government.

Activities

Education