Eric is a former federal prosecutor who focuses his practice on white collar criminal defense, securities enforcement matters, internal investigations and complex commercial litigation. With more than two decades of experience, Eric has tried over 35 federal and state cases, briefed and argued many cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, handled arbitration proceedings before the International Court of Arbitration, and directed hundreds of complex investigations. He is recognized by Chambers USA as a lead attorney in Illinois's White Collar Crime and Government Investigations category, with clients citing him as "a remarkable individual" who is "very intelligent and ... thoughtful in his analysis."
Eric is a highly accomplished trial lawyer who has defended numerous complex civil and white collar criminal matters for corporations and executives in courts throughout the United States. Eric’s extensive government and private practice experience in the white collar space provides him with a unique ability to support clients in the following areas:
- Internal investigations involving Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), False Claims Act (FCA), SEC violations and antitrust violations
- Insider trading issues,
- Health care fraud – including False Claim Act and Anti-Kickback allegations
- Dodd-Frank whistleblower investigations
- Representing individuals and corporations in investigations and litigation with state attorneys general, the Department of Justice (DOJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Departure of Agriculture (USDA) and other governmental agencies.
Eric has also successfully defended corporations and individuals in proceedings involving the DOJ’s FCPA unit and Antitrust Division – receiving multiple declinations of prosecution.
Eric was a deputy chief in the Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago for over nine years. He most recently served as the first assistant state’s attorney for Cook County for State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, where he supervised over 800 lawyers and investigators in the criminal, appellate and juvenile justice bureaus as well as the civil actions bureau. He has also served as the co-chair of the white collar litigation and internal investigations practice of another international law firm.
While serving as deputy chief of the Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eric successfully handled numerous high-profile white collar criminal cases, including:
- Conrad Black and other top executives of Hollinger International, relating to the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the corporation
- One of the largest electrical contracting companies in the country for willfully violating Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations
- The largest food-storage warehouse company in the Midwest and its president for fraud and USDA food safety violations for storing tons of adulterated food products
- The former Chicago Police Department’s chief of detectives and other organized crime associates who were convicted of operating a multi-million dollar jewelry theft ring
