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Recognized as a "Top Lawyer" by The American Lawyer, listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and named an Illinois "Super Lawyer," John has experience across a range of business disputes, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, noncompete agreements, defamation, misappropriation of trade secrets, ownership of intellectual property, Lanham Act claims, ownership and value of closely held corporations, Uniform Commercial Code controversies, lender liability and class actions. He has also represented professionals before licensing boards.

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J.D., New York University School of Law, 1980

A.B., The University of Chicago, 1977, 

<ul>
<li>The American Lawyer &#8220;Top Lawyer&#8221;</li>
<li>The Best Lawyers in America®
<ul>
<li>Illinois: Commercial Litigation (2008 to 2025)</li>
<li>Illinois: Arbitration (2008 to 2025)
<ul>
<li>Best Lawyers® &#8220;Lawyer of the Year&#8221; (2016)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Illinois &#8220;Super Lawyer&#8221; (2006 to 2010, 2012 to 2022)</li>
<li>Martindale-Hubbell: AV Preeminent</li>
</ul>

Chicago

Hundreds of BakerHostetler Attorneys Honored as 2023 Best Lawyers, Ones to Watch and Lawyers of the Year

191 BakerHostetler Attorneys Named in 2022 “Best Lawyers” List; 10 Recognized as “Lawyer of the Year”

150 BakerHostetler Attorneys Named 2016 Super Lawyers; 91 Named Rising Stars

Media Law and Digital Content

Commercial Litigation

International Arbitration and Litigation

Global Capabilities

Class Action Defense

Litigation

Noncompete and Trade Secrets

<h5>Select Trial Experience</h5>
<ul>
<li>iPCS Wireless, Inc. v. Sprint Corporation, et al., Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Chancery Division. Bench trial lasting 26 days. Represented an affiliate of Sprint Corporation in a lawsuit against Sprint for breach of contract and to enforce the exclusivity provisions in the management agreement between the parties. The court ordered Sprint to cease operating Nextel business in the client&#8217;s exclusive territory. Affirmed on appeal; cert. petition to Illinois Supreme Court denied.</li>
<li>International Arbitration, International Chamber of Commerce, New York, New York. Represented a domestic seller in breach of contract against a foreign buyer for failure to purchase $90 million of goods. Arbitration award in client&#8217;s favor and enforced in Brazil.</li>
<li>Horizon Personal Communications, Inc., and Bright Personal Communications v. Sprint Corporation, Court of Chancery, Delaware. Bench trial. Represented two affiliates of Sprint Corporation against Sprint for breach of contract action and to enforce the exclusivity rights and trademark provisions in the parties&#8217; management agreements. Court ordered Sprint to cease using Sprint trademarks to promote Nextel products in clients&#8217; exclusive territories.</li>
<li>Richard E. Hodge v. PIVP Hotel Management Corporation, Superior Court, California, County of Los Angeles, Santa Monica. Represented City of Chicago Firefighter Pension Funds in an action to collect a multimillion-dollar loan to the defendant&#8217;s corporation, guaranteed by defendant. Defendant counterclaimed for $18 million on a lender liability theory. The jury returned a verdict for the funds and against the defendant on all counts.</li>
<li>Markarian v. Markarian, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Chancery Division. Represented the plaintiff, one of two shareholders, in a dispute regarding ownership and control of a closely held corporation. Court returned judgment for the plaintiff, holding that the plaintiff was entitled to enforce a shareholder agreement granting him control of the corporation.</li>
<li>People of State of Illinois v. Aaron Thurman, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Criminal Division (pro bono). Represented the defendant in a first degree murder trial. Jury found defendant not guilty.</li>
<li>Richard Meyer v. Crain Communications, Inc., U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. Represented the plaintiff in a defamation action against Crain Communications for statements made in an article about the plaintiff published in Crain&#8217;s magazine Ad Age. A jury verdict was returned against the plaintiff; the court granted a judgment JNOV in the plaintiff&#8217;s favor following post-trial motions. The case was later settled.</li>
<li>Scranton Gillette Communications, Inc. v. William O. Dannhausen, et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. Represented the plaintiff in an action for theft of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, trademark infringement, and false advertising. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff.</li>
<li>The Goodyear Tire &amp; Rubber Company v. Tire Grading Co., U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. Represented the plaintiff in a jury trial against one of its tire dealers for fraud and breach of contract. Verdict in favor of the plaintiff.</li>
<li>Arbitration, American Arbitration Association, Chicago, Illinois. Represented one of two shareholders in a closely held corporation against a claim of breach of fiduciary duty and other claims. The arbitrator held in favor of the client on the breach of fiduciary claim and granted award to each party on other claims.</li>
<li>Arbitration, American Arbitration Association, Chicago, Illinois. Represented a manufacturer in a breach of contract against a buyer for the sale of coke and other claims. Award granted on some claims, denied on others.</li>
<li>People of State of Illinois v. Clifton Carrol, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Criminal Division (pro bono). Represented a defendant in a first degree murder trial. The jury found the defendant guilty.</li>
<li>Illinois Department of Professional Regulation v. John Doe, M.D., Illinois Department of Regulation. Represented the defendant/doctor in an administrative hearing in which the IDPR was seeking to revoke the doctor&#8217;s medical license on grounds of unprofessional conduct. The client was found not guilty.</li>
<li>Arbitration, American Arbitration Association, Chicago, Illinois. Represented a manufacturing client in an arbitration to apportion the relative fault between it as designer of equipment and the manufacturer of the equipment for personal injury loss resulting from use of the equipment.</li>
<li>Institutional Equipment and Interiors, Inc. v. Muriel Hughes, Circuit Court of DuPage County, Illinois. Represented the plaintiff corporation in a dissenting minority stockholder appraisal lawsuit. The court rejected both parties&#8217; suggested stock valuations and settled on a value in between the proposed valuations.</li>
</ul>
<h5>Select Class Action Experience</h5>
<ul>
<li>International Game Technology. Defended international gaming and technology company in $1 billion class action brought by users of online social games. Plaintiffs alleged online games violated Washington state gambling, consumer protection and consumer fraud laws.</li>
<li>Vantiv, Inc. Represented credit card processor in which plaintiffs claimed more than $2 billion in statutory damages for alleged violations of California privacy laws, consumer protection and consumer fraud acts.</li>
<li>Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation. Defended NMAC in class action brought by purported class of buyers of Nissan automobiles who financed purchase through NMAC. Plaintiff class alleged violations of federal truth-in-lending act and Illinois deceptive trade practices act for allegedly failing to disclose certain fees incurred in purchase.</li>
<li>Unilever Corporation. Defended Unilever Corporation in class action brought by purported class of buyers of consumer products. Plaintiff class alleged Unilever’s advertisements were in violation of state deceptive trade practices act and were fraudulent in violation of state common law.</li>
<li>Laurel Motors Mercedes Benz. Defended Laurel Motors in class action brought by purported class of buyers of Mercedes Benz automobiles. Plaintiff class alleged that Laurel Motors had failed to disclose certain conditions of automobiles at time of sale in violation of state deceptive trade practices act and that advertisements were fraudulent in violation of state common law.</li>
</ul>

John M. Touhy

John M. Touhy

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