Richard L. Fenton has practiced for nearly 30 years in the field of general commercial and business litigation. Mr. Fenton is a member of the bar of Illinois, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eleventh circuits, the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois and the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and the United States Tax Court, and also has been admitted pro hac vice in numerous state and federal jurisdictions. In December, 2003, Mr. Fenton was elected to membership in the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, and is also a member of the American Bar Association.
Mr. Fenton has broad experience litigating a wide variety of commercial disputes in both trial and appellate courts, including securities and consumer class action defense, executive compensation and employment litigation, franchise terminations, antitrust actions, fiduciary liability, misappropriation of trade secrets and proprietary information, insurance coverage, insurance bad faith and general business litigation. Mr. Fenton also has extensive experience in real estate and commercial finance litigation, zoning and land use issues, real estate partnership disputes and lender-liability matters. Mr. Fenton also has represented clients in regulatory investigations in the securities, employee benefit and corporate governance areas, and has extensive experience representing clients in mediation and arbitration proceedings.
Mr. Fenton successfully argued the appeal in Gilchrist v. State Farm Automobile Insurance Company, et al. (11th Cir. 2004), resulting in the complete dismissal of one of the largest class actions ever certified. Mr. Fenton also was a principal member of the trial team that obtained a defense verdict for Allstate Insurance Company in a multi-state class action that was tried in St. Clair County, Illinois in April, 2004. Mr. Fenton first chaired the representation of former executives of a publicly held company on severance and employment claims, resulting in a recovery after trial of over $30,000,000, the defense of PepsiAmericas in a suit by a former subsidiary over tax allocations, resulting in a defense verdict after trial, and the successful prosecution in arbitration of claims for fiduciary misconduct against the managing partners of a real estate venture, resulting in a recovery by the partnership of more than $7,000,000. Mr. Fenton is currently lead trial and appellate counsel for Allstate Insurance Company in a series of consumer class actions arising out of the insurance industry’s specification of aftermarket parts in automobile repair, and is national coordinating counsel for Allstate in connection with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita litigation in Louisiana.
Representative clients who Mr. Fenton has or is currently representing are PepsiAmericas, Prudential Insurance Company, General Electric Credit Corporation, McDonald’s Corporation, VMS Realty Partners, Jones Lang LaSalle, Allstate Insurance Company, Chas. Levy Circulating Company, Concord Homes, Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, USF&G Corporation, Juno Lighting, Tellabs, Great West Insurance Company, Sears Roebuck & Co., DBTel Corporation, American Home Mortgage Corp., the Central Bank of Uruguay, Hudson Highland Group, Universal Underwriters Insurance Company, Central States Pension Fund, Sun Chemical Corporation and Inland Real Estate Corporation.
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, LLP, regularly handles high-risk and complex matters for financial and insurance industry clients. Staffed with seasoned litigators and former insurance regulators, Sonnenschein lawyers are relentless advocates for its clients’ interests.
For more than 70 years, Sonnenschein has partnered with insurance companies to understand their business and legal needs. Recent confirmation of Sonnenschein's outstanding insurance industry qualifications came in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. The 2008 edition identifies Sonnenschein as one of the top firms in the country representing insurers on their most complex matters. The Chambers description speaks for itself:
Considered “a go-to resource,” Sonnenschein has a major practice in this field. Insurance has been a priority of the firm for many years, and its competitors accept that it has fashioned itself into “a major competitor and a worthy opponent for anyone.” Commentators declare that “there is no insurance issue that it doesn’t have a wealth of experience in,” and praise it for its depth and reach. Its experts are to be found in California, Illinois and New York, but the firm offers a nationally integrated service, drawing upon specialized expertise and knowledge in its various offices as and when required. The lawyers themselves are “passionate, enthusiastic and edgy, constantly sparking ideas off each other.” According to clients, “the group has enough talented and experienced lawyers to handle numerous complex and large matters at any one time.”
When products are attacked, when lawsuits go national, when regulators join the fray, when reputations are on the line, leading businesses turn to Sonnenschein.