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 served as the Leader of the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group for more than 20 years.

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.]

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)).

Aviation

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)]

Intellectual Property

In addition to his trade secrets work, Mr. Pascal has represented plaintiffs and defendants in patent, trademark, copyright, false advertising and unfair competition disputes. He has briefed and argued a number of claim interpretation proceedings and has successfully briefed and tried inequitable conduct claims in a full evidentiary hearing

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.

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.

Pro Bono Activities

Mr. Pascal has served as counsel in some of the most significant public interest litigation in Chicago in recent decades.

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

Edward J. Lewis II Pro Bono Service Award, Chicago Bar Foundation

Appleseed Fund for Justice Unsung Hero Award

Roger Baldwin Lifetime Achievement Award, Roger Baldwin Foundation

Illinois Super Lawyers — General Litigation

Leading Lawyer — Antitrust Law; Commercial Litigation; Intellectual Property Law; Publicly Held Corporations, Illinois Leading Lawyers Network

Loyola Law School Public Interest Convocation Award

AV Rated — Martindale-Hubbell

Personal PAC Leadership Award

Who's Who in America

Who's Who in American Law

Who's Who in the Midwest

Who's Who in the World