Eric N. Macey

BIOGRAPHY

Eric Macey, who was the firm's co-founder with Steve Novack in 1984, has a clientele consisting of a wide range of business corporations and institutions, investment ventures, partnerships and individuals. Among other clients, Eric has represented or currently represents McDonald's Corporation, affiliates of Time Inc., Hyatt Corporation, ExxonMobil Corporation, Kohler Co., Yahoo! Inc., General Growth Properties, Inc., Constellation Energy Group, Mirant Corporation, North American Corporation of Illinois, PJM Interconnection LLC, Sunoco Logistics, L.P., Prudential Preferred Properties, GES Exposition Services, Inc., Travelweb LLC, The Lurie Co. and Wrightwood Capital LLC.

Although he is always happy to see a client's case through to a successful settlement short of trial, Eric is most at home in the courtroom. He has extensive trial experience in state and federal courts throughout the country and has acted as both an arbitrator and mediator in various alternative dispute resolution settings. In the past several years he has obtained:

• An injunction for an Internet travel service against a competitor for breach of contract
• A jury verdict in federal court in Chicago to rescind his client's multi-million purchase of fake antique statues
• A multi-million dollar judgment for the nation's largest wholesale power producer after a bench trial
• An arbitration award restraining $100+ million litigation in Guatemala, which was confirmed by the federal court in Washington, D.C.
• A favorable multi-million dollar settlement of lender liability litigation
• A multi-million dollar judgment against a corporation and its president for bilking the federal government
• A successful result defending a senior Fortune 500 executive in claims by his former employer
• A successful defense at trial in federal court in Chicago for a corporation's board of directors against claims by shareholders for breach of fiduciary duty and shareholder oppression

Eric has been an instructor with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and for many years has been an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University School of Law, teaching courses in Trial Advocacy and Discovery. He is a member and officer of the Chicago-Lincoln American Inn of Court, and a member of the Chicago, American and Federal Energy Bar Associations. He has also been selected as a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and has been regularly selected by his peers as a Leading Lawyer in Illinois and an Illinois "Super Lawyer."

Eric is also the Chairman of The Posse Foundation in Chicago and a member of its National Board. The Posse Foundation identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. The Foundation extends to these students the opportunity to pursue personal and academic excellence by placing them in supportive, multicultural teams ("Posses") of 10 students. The Foundation's partner universities award Posse Scholars four-year, full tuition leadership scholarships.

EDUCATION

• Princeton University (A.B. 1973), Magna Cum Laude
• Annenberg School of Communications, University of Pennsylvania (M.A. 1975), full tuition scholarship
• George Washington University Law School (J.D. 1978), High Honors, Order of the Coif; member, George Washington Law Review

BAR ADMISSIONS

• Illinois
• Trial Bar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• U. S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Numerous other federal district courts and courts of appeal

SPEECHES AND PUBLICATIONS

• "The Collateral Estoppel Effect of Administrative Agency Actions in Federal Civil Litigation," 46 George Washington Law Review, 65 (1977) 
• "Appeals Court Warns A New Retainer Agreement Pitfall," Law.com  
• Co-author, "Are Your Attorney-Client Retention Agreements Enforceable?" CBA Record, January 2001  
• "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do," USA Today  

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

• PJM Interconnection, LLC v. Gorton, et al., Case No. 1:08-cv-216 (D. Del.) (filed April 16, 2008)
• Mirant Americas Energy Marketing LP v. 1st Rochdale Co-op. Group, Ltd., 363 F. Supp. 2d 679 (S.D.N.Y. 2005)
• In re USinternetworking, Inc., 310 B.R. 274 (Bkrtcy. D. Md. 2004)
• Newsub Magazine Services LLC v. Heartland Direct, Inc., No. 02 C 4949, 2004 WL 524689 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 16, 2004)
• Fait v. Hummel, 333 F.3d 854 (7th Cir. 2003)
• People ex rel. Devine v. Time Consumer Marketing, Inc., 336 Ill. App. 3d 74 (1st Dist. 2002)
• Antler v. Classic Residence Management Ltd. Partnership, 315 Ill. App. 3d 259 (1st Dist. 2000)
• Marquette v. Matra Transport, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6010 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 30, 1997)
• Pritzker v. Krishna Gallery of Asian Arts Inc., No. 93 C 4147, 1996 WL 563442 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 30, 1996)
• Continental Bank, N.A. v. Meyer, 10 F.3d 1293 (7th Cir. 1993)
• Gaff v. Federal Deposit Ins. Corp., 919 F.2d 384 (6th Cir. 1990)
• Leffingwell v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 717 F.Supp. 620 (N.D. Ill. 1989)
• Abrams v. Rapoport, 163 Ill. App. 3d 748 (1st Dist. 1987)
• Batsakis v. Federal Deposit Ins. Corp., 670 F.Supp. 749 (W.D. Mich. 1987)
• Taylor Made Golf Co. v. Kansas City Golf & Tennis, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19843 (D. Kan. Sept. 26, 1986)
• Taylor Made Golf Co. v. Kansas City Golf & Tennis, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27174 (D. Kan. Apr. 4, 1986)
• Taylor Made Golf Co. v. Kansas City Golf & Tennis, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27222 (D. Kan. Apr. 3, 1986)

MEDIA COVERAGE

• Wrightwood Sues McLean Over Atlanta Loan
• Novack and Macey Wins Remand Battle for Electric Power Grid
• Eric Macey Selected President of The Chicago-Lincoln American Inn of Court
• Novack and Macey LLP Selected as a “GO-TO Law Firm” by a Fortune 250 Company
• Novack and Macey Wins Summary Judgment for General Growth Management, Inc.
• Appellate Court Allows Breach of Contract and Fraud Litigation
• Stewart Title Breached Duty To Defend Insured Party