Michael P. Foradas, P.C. 
Professional Profile
Mr. Foradas is an experienced trial lawyer, having tried to verdict or judgment many cases in a wide variety of areas, including toxic tort and products liability, insurance coverage, and general commercial and business disputes. He has litigated before tribunals in Illinois, California, Delaware, Florida, Michigan, New York, Texas and many other jurisdictions.
Mr. Foradas has been described as having "outstanding trial skills" "exceptionally good with judge and jury" and "always on our short list; he can do anything" by interviewees surveyed by Chambers USA. He has been selected by that publication as among the "first rank" of America's Leading Insurance Lawyers in Insurance Dispute Resolution every year since 2004. Mr. Foradas has also been selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America publication in the area of Business Litigation each year since 2005 and has been named an "Illinois Super Lawyer" for the past several years.
In its January 2008 Special Issue, in which it named Kirkland & Ellis its "Litigation Department of the Year," The American Lawyer profiled the victory that Mr. Foradas achieved over famed lawyer Gerry Spence in a high-profile toxic tort case charging that Kirkland client Union Carbide Corporation had poisoned residents of a small Colorado town as a result of its uranium mining practices.
Representative Matters
Set forth below are representative cases where Mr. Foradas has acted as trial or lead litigation counsel and in which he achieved successful resolution for clients at or before trial.
Mass Tort and Products Liability
Trial counsel and National Coordinating counsel for The Dow Chemical Company with respect to its premises asbestos litigation. In early 2008, Mr. Foradas obtained a full defense verdict following a three-week jury trial in Wolf v. Dow Chemical, an asbestos wrongful death case in Texas state court.
Trial counsel for Alcon Laboratories in Senn v. Alcon Laboratories, an Oregon state court jury trial that involved claims that "off-label" use of an Alcon drug caused plaintiff's permanent paralysis. Case settled after close of evidence for substantially less than plaintiff's pretrial demand.
Lead counsel for Union Carbide in federal lawsuit by more than 200 plaintiffs alleging various personal injuries arising out of Union Carbide's operation of uranium mining and milling operations in Western Colorado. Case was dismissed at trial level on summary judgment; profiled in The American Lawyer.
Lead counsel for Dow Chemical in mass tort claims brought by Latin American workers for personal injuries as a result of exposure to Dow's DBCP product. Obtained dismissal of plaintiffs' attempt to enforce $400 million dollar Nicaraguan judgment; affirmed by Ninth Circuit.
Insurance Coverage
Lead counsel for General Motors in arbitration under English Arbitration Act for insurance coverage relating to $103 million underlying product liability judgment rendered in Florida state court. Case settled on very favorable terms on eve of trial in May 2007.
Trial counsel for Pittway Corporation in Pittway Corp. et al. v. Liberty Mutual, involving insurance coverage litigation for property damage allegedly caused by resort development. Case settled after several day jury trial for amount in excess of actual damages.
Trial counsel for Dow Chemical in The Dow Chemical Company v. Aetna, et al., an eleven-week federal court jury trial for Dow against multiple insurers involving hundreds of millions of dollars of insurance coverage for multiple Dow environmental sites. Case settled prior to closing arguments for amount substantially in excess of client's pretrial projections.
Lead counsel in multiple complex insurance coverage cases for many Fortune 500 policyholder clients involving the successful resolution of hundreds of millions of claims for general liability, products liability, directors' and officers', and business interruption insurance coverage. Case descriptions and references available on request.
Commercial Litigation
Trial counsel for Ventana Medical Systems, a manufacturer of high-tech medical diagnostic equipment, in patent, antitrust and trade secret litigation filed in federal court in Boston. Kirkland took over the case, captioned CytoLogix Corporation v. Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., from a prior firm after an adverse finding on liability for patent claims and obtained a full defense verdict following a three-week jury trial on all antitrust claims and held patent damages to ten percent of plaintiff's demand.
Co-lead counsel for Citadel Investment Group, a $12 billion hedge fund in Rush Simonson v. Citadel Investment Group. LLC, et al., an Illinois state court case asserting billions of dollars of damages against Citadel for alleged theft of trade secrets, business opportunity and other business torts. The case was dismissed with prejudice by plaintiff with letter of apology to the client after the Kirkland team found a "smoking gun" defeating plaintiffs' claims.
Trial counsel for Republic Engineered Products, a specialty steel company, in a commercial arbitration trial over long term coke supply contract. Achieved complete victory for client following expedited discovery and week-long trial.
Trial counsel for John Morrell, a meat packing firm, in two separate jury trials in federal court against its unions for illegal wildcat strikes, John Morrell & Co. v. Local 304A of the United Food and Commercial Workers, AFL-CIO. The damages, which totaled over $29 million, are believed to have been the highest damages awarded to a company in a lawsuit against a union.
Memberships & Affiliations
Member, Board of Editors, Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin, 2001-2007Faculty member, Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, entering minority law student program, 1982 and 1983
Other Distinctions
Guest Lecturer, Chicago Bar Association, Insurance Coverage Litigation, 1994Faculty, Practising Law Institute, Antitrust Law, 1988 and 1989
Publications
Some Sobering Facts About Equitas and The Potential Ramifications for Policyholders, March 2002 issue of Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin, published by the Law Journal Newsletters.
A Policyholder's Common-Sense Approach to Business Interruption Claims, February 2004 issue of Insurance Coverage Law Bulletin.
