Profile
John M. Fitzgerald is a trial and appellate lawyer who represents businesses, executives, professionals, and organizations in high-stakes commercial and governmental disputes. For more than two decades, John has helped clients navigate litigation when the financial, operational, or reputational consequences of getting the result wrong can be substantial.
John represents clients in complex business disputes involving contracts, partnerships and shareholder rights, professional liability, construction, real estate, fraud, trade secrets, unfair competition, and employment matters. He handles disputes from the initial assessment and pre-suit negotiations through trial, arbitration, mediation, and appeal, giving clients a single strategic perspective throughout the life of a case.
John is also a highly experienced appellate advocate. He has briefed and argued significant appeals in Illinois and courts across the country, including cases involving complex commercial, constitutional, statutory, and procedural issues. His appellate experience allows him to identify and preserve the issues that can determine the ultimate outcome of a case—not only after trial, but from the earliest stages of litigation.
John has particular experience representing businesses and industry associations in disputes involving governmental entities. He has represented clients in constitutional litigation, administrative appeals, and other governmental matters, including litigation concerning the use of transportation funds under the Illinois Constitution.
John also represents executives and professionals in sensitive disputes where confidentiality, reputation, and career consequences are critical. His experience includes executive compensation and severance negotiations, employment disputes, restrictive-covenant and trade-secret matters, and disputes involving professional liability.
A significant part of John’s practice is representing lawyers and law firms in partnership disputes, law-firm transitions, professional responsibility matters, and fee disputes. His understanding of the legal profession enables him to provide particularly sophisticated counsel when the dispute involves both legal and business considerations.
John served as the 53rd President of the Appellate Lawyers Association of Illinois and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Amicus Committee of Illinois Defense Counsel. He is a frequent author and commentator on litigation and appellate practice and has written extensively on Illinois law, including serving as author of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Guide to the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
John has been selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer from 2019 through the present and was previously named one of the Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s “40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch.”
John earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and his B.A. with Honors in Political Science from the College of the University of Chicago. He is admitted to practice in Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court, as well as pro hac vice in other jurisdictions.