Robert Palmersheim is a litigation attorney who concentrates his practice on antitrust and competition matters, as well as complex commercial litigation. With nearly 30 years of experience, he has served as lead counsel in numerous high-profile antitrust cases, successfully representing clients in the real estate, consumer products, financial services, and manufacturing sectors. Robert is adept at representing clients on both sides of the "V," including securing a substantial settlement for two of North America’s largest aluminum purchasers in a price-fixing lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Glencore (In Re Aluminum Warehouse Litigation, SDNY 2022).
In addition to his antitrust work, Robert represents companies in competitor disputes involving the Lanham Act, patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation and tortious interference claims. His commitment to superior client service has earned him recognition as a BTI Client Service All-Star in antitrust counseling and litigation. He has also been consistently named an Illinois Super Lawyer and ranked among the top 100 lawyers in Illinois.
Robert’s practice extends to general commercial litigation, handling high-stakes M&A disputes, breach of contract claims, and professional liability matters. Known as a “lawyer’s lawyer,” he has represented some of the world’s largest law firms in their most sensitive professional liability disputes. He also advises trustees and high-net-worth individuals in trust and estate litigation.
A skilled trial attorney, Robert has tried cases to verdict in federal and state courts, led numerous arbitration hearings, and successfully argued before numerous appellate courts. Robert has represented his clients in several multidistrict litigation matters and has argued before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. His appellate victories include significant wins before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on the issue of antitrust standing, and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in multiple appeals involving bad faith litigation claims between competitors, in which Robert prevailed under both the pre- and post-Octane Fitness standard for an exceptional case finding.
Recently, Robert argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on the application of the Colorado River and Rooker Feldman doctrines, as well as whether Noerr Pennington antitrust immunity extends to post-petitioning conduct.