Craig Martin > Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP > Chicago, United States > Lawyer Profile

Craig Martin – Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. Regularly appearing as lead counsel in trials and appeals before both state and federal courts, Chicago-based Craig Martin has a broad base of expertise from antitrust and patent litigation to commercial contract and trade disputes. In a significant case before the Supreme Court, Martin represented Northwestern University in a proposed class action that accused the university of mismanaging workers’ retirement savings. He also continues to represent Provisur Technologies, the food slicing and packaging giant, in high-stakes global patent infringement litigation against its primary competitor Weber Inc.

Craig Martin – Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. Regularly appearing as lead counsel in trials and appeals before both state and federal courts, Chicago-based Craig Martin has a broad base of expertise from antitrust and patent litigation to commercial contract and trade disputes. In a significant case before the Supreme Court, Martin represented Northwestern University in a proposed class action that accused the university of mismanaging workers’ retirement savings. He also continues to represent Provisur Technologies, the food slicing and packaging giant, in high-stakes global patent infringement litigation against its primary competitor Weber Inc.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has a broad ERISA practice typically representing employers and plan fiduciaries in matters including plan fee litigation, ESOP and stock drop litigation, DOL investigations, recovery of pension overpayments, reimbursement rights and multiemployer plan withdrawal liability disputes. The firm is active before federal, as well as state, courts and was active in the Supreme Court case, Hughes v Northwestern. The Northwestern case was spearheaded before the 7th Circuit by practice heads, Amanda Amert and Craig Martin in Chicago. Both Amert and Martin are active across a range of ERISA litigation, defending class actions, ESOP stock drop litigation and breaches of fiduciary duties, in a number of industries including insurance, financial services, and chemicals. Martin is regarded for his trial experience and Amert specializes in representing employers around the country in both individual and class action lawsuits in addition to disputes and investigations with the DOL. The practice is also adept at navigating compliance issues related to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s reporting requirements and investigations, and leverages its connections to the firm’s transactional benefits, labor and employment and securities groups to offer comprehensive advice to clients. Matt Basil, also in Chicago, concentrates on advising large companies on an array of commercial disputes including ERISA and breach of fiduciary duties.

From biotech companies, to private universities, to special committees, the team at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP represents a diverse range of clients in arbitrations, state and federal courts and the Supreme Court. Recent matters include securities class actions, shareholder litigations and  insurance coverage disputes. In New York, securities specialist Tariq Mundiya chairs the litigation department and recently represented Industrial Automation in an acquisition related arbitration. In Chicago, Craig Martin is an experienced trial lawyer regularly represents major Chicago companies and is currently representing Provisur Technologies, Inc. in a patent infringement dispute that is being litigated in the United States and Germany. M&A specialist Sameer Advani frequently appears alongside Mundiya. Further recommended in New York are Todd Cosenza , who centers his practice on securities class actions, and Jeffrey Korn , an antitrust expert who recently represented Runa Capital in an enterprise ownership dispute.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has a track record of precedent-setting victories and favorable settlements involving securities litigation and shareholder class actions. The firm frequently acts for underwriters in the defense of high-stakes matters, particularly cases arising from IPOs, as well as regulatory investigations and inquiries from the SEC. The practice is led from New York by head of litigation Tariq Mundiya and co-charis for securities litigation Todd Cosenza and Antonio Yanez. Mundiya handled putative derivative and class action cases for Xerox, Cosenza acted for Wells Fargo in a high-profile case alleging alleged failures by the bank to comply with consent orders issued by regulators in the aftermath of its high-profile 2016 customer account fraud, and Yanez is currently representing alternative asset management and investment firm GWG Holdings in matters arising out of an SEC investigation into its accounting and capital raising practices. Craig Martin in Chicago remains a lynchpin of the practice and recently acted for Ulta Beauty in putative nationwide consumer class action, securities fraud, and shareholder derivative litigation cases concerning an alleged practice of reselling used beauty products that have been returned by customers. In 2022, partners Kristina Littman and Adam Aderton joined the Washington DC office from the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.