Louis David Bernstein

Lou began his practice of law in New York in 1984 prior to moving to Chicago, where he became an equity partner at Gould & Ratner in 1992. He also held the same position at Neal, Gerber, & Eisenberg and Much Shelist, prior to forming Bernstein Law Firm in 2009. During those formative years, Lou garnered experience representing clients throughout the United States, in complex civil litigation matters before trial courts, arbitration panels, mediators, and numerous state and federal appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court. Lou also served as chairman of the litigation department and governing bodies of several of those firms. However, large firm politics and adherence to the bottom line took its toll. As Lou liked to joke, “I could not wait to get out of the office and into court for some peace and quiet.” Lou then decided to build upon his experience and open his own law firm to better represent his clients and provide a work environment more conducive to relationship building and fostering collegiality among the attorneys and staff of the firm.

Over the years Lou has primarily focused his area of expertise on complex civil litigation matters. The breadth of these representations has run from a multitude of real estate developers in the Chicagoland area, the Crown family, class action defense for Bumble Bee Foods and JPMorgan Chase, franchise litigation on behalf of Pepperidge Farm and in the fashion industry, most prominently, Tom Ford, AG Jeans and Carine Roitfeld. Some highlights include:

• Successful resolution on behalf of developers of Block 37 in $300 million lawsuit, including appellate practice in both the Illinois Appellate Court and Illinois Supreme Court.
• Obtaining dismissal with prejudice on all counts in putative class action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, which included a successful defense of the appeal before the Illinois Appellate Court.
• Obtaining dismissal of putative class action lawsuit in Federal Court against Bumble Bee Foods.
• Successful resolution of franchise litigation on behalf of Pepperidge Farm, including appellate practice before the Illinois Appellate Court.
• Obtaining entry of court order, in excess of $30 million, authorizing the sale of defendants’ interests in over 50 different companies.
• Representation of several Chicago business institutions, and Chevron Energy, in delicate trade secret violation litigation matters.
• Aside from the pro bono services that Bernstein Law Firm takes pride in, and being appointed guardian ad litem for abused children through Chicago Volunteer Services, Lou has served on the board of directors for the Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra and the Mankind Project Chicago, where he is Chairman Emeritus.

Lou is Chairman Emeritus of The Mankind Project International and a member of The Executives' Club of Chicago.  He is a featured speaker and regular panelist on timely issues of business, banking, real estate, and finance law at legal and business conferences around the country and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Northwestern University School of Law.