Roger Pascal
Partner
Roger Pascal concentrates his complex and multiparty litigation practice in intellectual property, antitrust and other commercial litigation, but he has tried cases in fields as disparate as airplane crashes, criminal law, and commodity futures trading.
He also represents entities and individuals in criminal and administrative matters, as well as civil trials and appeals.
He has tried and argued cases in numerous federal and state trial and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. [See, 429 U.S. 318.]
Aircraft Crash Litigation
He has been a licensed pilot for many years and has successfully tried to judgment an aircraft crash case against the United States. [See, 89 F.Supp.2d 983 (N.D. Ill. 1999)]
Trade Secret Litigation
- He and his team won a jury verdict for AT&T Wireless in a complex and protracted trade secret dispute, defeating a damages claim for up to $4 billion. (Original IFPC Shareholders, Inc. et al. v. AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. et al. (DuPage County, Illinois 2003)).
- Mr. Pascal and his team developed the now widely utilized doctrine of "inevitable disclosure" to enjoin a departing executive of PepsiCo from competing against his former employer by "inevitably" utilizing specific sensitive information gained during his prior employment.
The injunction entered by a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois judge was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in an opinion widely reported in the trade and legal press (PepsiCo, Inc. v. Redmond et al. (7th Cir. 1995)).
- He successfully prosecuted trade secret injunction litigation against a major advertising agency that threatened to take on as a new client the producer of certain beverages that competed directly with the products of the firm's client that had only recently been promoted by the same advertising agency. (The Quaker Oats Company v. FCB Worldwide, Inc. (N.D. Illinois 2002)).
Patent Litigation
Mr. Pascal's patent trial clients include:
- A manufacturer of over-the-counter drugs
- A cable television parts manufacturer
- A manufacturer of high-speed data connectors
- A nationwide pizza chain
- A major cookware manufacturer
- A home expressions company's candle business
- A manufacturer of hair care products
In representing defendants in infringement cases, he has succeeded on several occasions in invalidating allegedly infringed patents and in proving inequitable conduct before the patent office, with accompanying awards of attorneys' fees for such conduct.
In one case in which it was claimed that our client was guilty of patent infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets, the plaintiff — a large, well-known manufacturing company — ultimately formally abandoned its patent, admitted in writing that no trade secrets had been misappropriated and made a substantial settlement payment to our client — the defendant.
Securities and Market Regulation Litigation
Mr. Pascal has represented options exchanges and their clearing agency in seminal cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits, including a case involving the right of those clients to list and conduct trading in options on the underlying securities of companies of the exchange's choosing.
His securities clients have included publicly listed corporations, hedge funds and privately held entities.
Corporate Compliance
Mr. Pascal has served as special investigative counsel to audit committees and special litigation committees of major corporations.
He also has served as special counsel to corporations and individual employees in connection with grand jury investigations of antitrust, securities and tax law violations.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Mr. Pascal has experience in alternative dispute resolution, including the representation of clients in a number of mediations and active participation in a national dispute resolution organization.
Experience
Pro Bono Activities
Mr. Pascal has served as counsel in some of the most significant public interest litigation in Chicago over the past 35 years, including K.L. v. Edgar, which challenged the constitutional adequacy of the care received by patients in Illinois mental hospitals.
Mr. Pascal was a member of the original Gautreaux v. Chicago Housing Authority team that successfully challenged discriminatory site selection for public housing in Chicago and ultimately brought about the Gautreaux process, a national model for scattered site, low-density public housing.
For many years he served regular shifts at Schiff Hardin's legal clinic handling family law, credit, immigration, housing, and other cases for clients of the clinic.
Awards and Honors
Illinois Super Lawyers, General Litigation
Leading Lawyer — Antitrust Law; Commercial Litigation; Intellectual Property Law; Publicly Held Corporations, Illinois Leading Lawyers Network
Edward J. Lewis II Pro Bono Service Award, Chicago Bar Foundation
Roger Baldwin Lifetime Achievement Award, Roger Baldwin Foundation
Personal PAC Leadership Award
Loyola Law School Public Interest Convocation Award
Who's Who in American Law
Who's Who in America
Who's Who in the Midwest
Who's Who in the World
AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
Education
Harvard Law School
(J.D., cum laude,
1965)
University of Michigan
(A.B., with distinction,
1962)
Phi Beta Kappa
Teaching Appointments
Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University School of Law (1998-present)
"Introduction to Trial Advocacy"
"Ethics Workshop"
"Pretrial Litigation"
Professional Memberships
Chicago Council of Lawyers
Board of Governors
Past Vice President
Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI)
Board Member
Past President
Civic and Charitable Memberships
Evanston Community Defender
Board Member
Roger Baldwin Foundation of ACLU
General Counsel
Board Member
