Lowell E. Sachnoff
Representative Matters
Lead trial and appellate counsel for plaintiffs and defendants in numerous cases representing individuals and corporations in contract and commercial matters involving corporate, securities, antitrust, accounting, intellectual property, licensing, computer hardware and software, banking and other complex litigation, arbitration and mediation matters.
Principal attorney defending corporations, senior officers and directors in many individual, multi-party and representative actions arising under federal and state corporate and securities laws, SEC investigations, civil and criminal matters and in derivative litigation for alleged breach of statutory and common-law obligations.
Successfully represented individual and corporate defendants in numerous civil and criminal jury trials, including class action defense of outside directors of Marshall Field & Company in federal district court in Chicago arising out of the attempted takeover of Marshall Field’s by Carter Hawley Hale, and jury verdicts of no liability for all defendants in In Re System Software Associates, Inc. in federal court in Chicago and in In Re Tricord Corp. Litigation in federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Obtained a not-guilty verdict for Cerro Copper Corp. in criminal antitrust trial court in Philadelphia.
Lead trial counsel representing plaintiffs in significant corporate and commercial litigation including:
The founding shareholders of Pacific Lumber Corporation in the Drexel Burnham matter in federal district court in New York that resulted in the recovery of $140 million on the eve of trial; and
The California Public Employees Retirement System as lead counsel in derivative litigation involving W.R. Grace & Co. in state court in New York City.
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Speeches / Presentations
- Writes and speaks extensively on a broad range of topics. Recent articles include: “Securities Laws and Rule 10b-5,” Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education; “The Business Judgment Rule & Corporate Governance,” ALI-ABA; “Federal Antitrust Multiparty Litigation,” Practising Law Institute; and “Fiduciary Duties of Directors and Officers In Corporate Takeovers,” ALI-ABA
Experience
| 2007 | Reed Smith |
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| 1971 | Sachnoff & Weaver (combined with Reed Smith in 2007) |
Legal Education
| 1957 | LL.B., Harvard University |
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| — | Advanced arbitration and mediation training, AAA and CPR Institute For Dispute Resolution |
Undergraduate Education
| 1952 | A.B., magna cum laude, Harvard University Phi Beta Kappa |
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Professional Affiliations
- Past Chair, Chicago Bar Association Securities Law Committee
- Member, Planning Committee of the Ray Garrett, Jr. Corporate and Securities Institute of Northwestern University Law School; the Tulane Institute For Corporate Governance; the American Law Institute; and the PLI Securities Advisory Committee
- Visiting lecturer on corporate, securities, antitrust and complex litigation at the University of Chicago Law School, Northwestern University School of Law and Chicago-Kent College of Law
- Faculty Member, Corporate Council Institute
- Member, American Bar Association Committee on Corporation Laws -- responsible for drafting the Model Business Corporation Act
- Included in the 2007-2009 editions of Best Lawyers in America for the area of Corporate and Securities law
- Selected as a 2009 Illinois Super Lawyer in Securities Litigation by Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition magazine
Awards & Honors
- Received the 2007 Edwin A. Rothschild Lifetime Achievement Award for Civil Rights from the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
- Recognized in Crain's Chicago Business special report, "Who's Who" in the Law, 2007 & 2008.