Nearly 20 years as general experience level, Craig E. Donnelly has represented individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses in a variety of litigation and general corporate matters. Whether our client is seeking to enforce their rights, defend against litigation, or pursue general business interests, Donnelly Law LLC prides itself on a results-oriented approach to suit the needs of the client. The following matters provide a representative sample of recent representation.
- Craig E. Donnelly serves as outside general counsel for a medical/rehabilitation supply distributor. In that capacity, he is called upon to review and draft vendor/supplier agreements, review and consult on employment matters, provide counsel on general contract/corporate matters, and represent the company in potential and pending litigation.
- Craig E. Donnelly was retained to represent a defendant after a judgment was previously entered against him years earlier for several million dollars. Craig was able to secure a settlement for a fraction of the total exposure to the client and a release of the judgment in its entirety.
- Craig E. Donnelly was among the attorneys representing a defendant corporation and an individual in a lawsuit alleging various breaches of a non-compete and non-solicitation agreement. It was alleged that the individual client resigned his position with his former employer and breached a non-compete and non-solicitation agreement by going to work for a competing company and bringing former clients with him. Craig was among the attorneys defending against motions for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions while vigorously defending the client on the merits. The matter was settled favorably for the client.
- Craig E. Donnelly represented an individual and his investment companies in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois after judgment was entered against them for nearly 2 million dollars by a large national banking institution. The judgment creditor lender aggressively sought to freeze and seize the clients’ various assets in an effort to collect on their judgment. A secondary case was filed by the lender alleging that the client had fraudulently transferred assets in an attempt to avoid the judgment, which the client denied. After a long, protracted court battle, Craig and a co-counsel were able to negotiate a global resolution to the matter and the freeze on the clients’ assets were released.
- Craig E. Donnelly represented an individual in derivative claims brought on behalf of an LLC of which he was an investor. The matter involved claims against the manager of the LLC alleging that the manager deliberately misappropriated the funds invested with the LLC. The client successfully recovered via settlement a portion of the money lost.
- Craig E. Donnelly represented a small business engaged in the diamond and gemstone trade against claims that it converted certain property belonging to the plaintiff. The client denied any wrongdoing and a favorable settlement was reached prior to trial.
- Craig E. Donnelly represented a publicly-traded company in litigation to enforce its trade secrets and prevent the use of those trade secrets by unauthorized individuals. In this matter, a lawsuit was filed seeking injunctive relief. This aggressive action resulted in a favorable settlement between the parties where the individual agreed to cease and desist from further use of the trade secrets.
- Craig E. Donnelly represented a family owned LLC which operated several small retail franchises in the Chicago area. The client was sued by its lender, a large national bank, who alleged that the client had defaulted on several of its loans representing several million dollars of exposure to the client. Craig successfully defended against multiple claims and was able to work with the client to refinance the loans with another lender and resolve the lawsuits.
- Craig E. Donnelly represented a Chicago area business with multiple locations throughout the area in connection with their various employment matters, including the investigation and defense of discrimination and hostile work environment claims brought by employees. These actions were pending before state and federal administrative agencies as well as state and federal court.
- Craig E. Donnelly represented the owner of a commercial building in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood when the lender sought to foreclose on the property. The matter was resolved by negotiating a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
- Craig E. Donnelly was among the attorneys representing a minority shareholder in a dispute among shareholders of family owned corporation. After the death of the majority shareholder, a dispute arose among the remaining shareholders concerning operations of the company. The client, who also served as executor of the estate of the deceased majority owner, was alleged to have oppressed the other minority shareholder and misappropriated money and assets from the company for her own benefit. A settlement was reached before trial.
- Craig E. Donnelly was the primary trial attorney and obtained a favorable defense verdict for a client after a trial in the United States Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. A large tobacco company sued the client, the owner of a chain of retail liquor stores, claiming that he violated various Federal statutes governing trademarks for cigarettes and cigarette packaging. They also claimed he was guilty of fraud and unfair competition by selling counterfeit cigarettes. The Plaintiff sought over $500,000 in damages as well as reimbursement of their attorney’s fees. After a bench trial, the Judge ruled that the client did not “willfully” violate any federal laws and, as a result, judgment was entered against our client for a mere $2,000. Before trial, the Plaintiff rejected a settlement offer exceeding the amount of the eventual judgment.
- Craig E. Donnelly was among the attorneys who obtained a favorable verdict in the Circuit Court of DuPage County on behalf of a large industrial equipment company. This matter involved a claim for breach of contract after the client contracted with the defendants to purchase a parcel of property. The court found that the defendant failed to perform multiple improvements to the property they were required to make as part of the sales contract.
- Craig E. Donnelly was among the attorneys who obtained a favorable settlement on behalf of the client in a legal malpractice action involving a commercial real estate transaction worth several million dollars.