Robert J. Palmersheim

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.

Practice Areas

Representative Matters

Antitrust Litigation

• Representing several major U.S. retailers in a lawsuit alleging violation of the U.S. antitrust laws by Visa and Mastercard.
• Representing a developer of commercial warehouse space in a market foreclosure lawsuit against an incumbent rival alleging monopolization of commercial warehouse space in and around the Joliet Intermodal Zone through which approximately 4% of the country’s GDP passes.
• Representing real estate brokerage firm and its affiliates in several nationwide and state class actions asserting price fixing in the offering of cooperative commissions.
• Representing software company in trade secret theft and employee raiding claims against rival company.
• Represented leading global consumer products manufacturers with respect to claims that several multinational banks and metal trading companies conspired to fix the price of primary aluminum sold in North America. After the district court granted summary judgment against the putative class and opt-out plaintiffs, the defendants settled with our clients.  
• Represented a technology company against monopolization and attempted monopolization claims brought by a competitor. Favorably resolved the claims hours before oral argument on our clients’ motion for summary judgment.
• Defended a technology company against monopolization claims involving electronic article surveillance products and successfully resolved the lawsuit for a fraction of the original demand. Conducted a multi-day Daubert hearing involving the examination of several economists, which resulted in the exclusion of plaintiff’s expert opinions on a majority of the claimed damages.
• Defended medical device manufacturer against bid-rigging claims.
• Defended telecommunications provider against claims for illegal tying in the market for high-speed data transmission.
• Defended battery manufacturer against monopolization claims brought by start-up competitor in the market for industrial batteries and defeated claims on summary judgment.

M&A Disputes

• Representing seller of sporting goods company in breach of representation and warranties claims brought by buyer in the Delaware Chancery Court.
• Representing buyer of sporting goods company in breach of representations and warranties claim brought by seller in United States District Court, for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.  
• Represented multinational corporation in Delaware Chancery Court on claims that defendants defrauded client in connection with a $20 million sale of a manufacturing business; case was successfully settled.
• Defended sellers of a privately held corporation against claims of securities fraud with purported damages in excess of $70 million; case was successfully settled prior to trial.
• Representing seller of a for profit college in arbitration involving claims by buyers that seller breached representations and warranties in the asset purchase agreement.
• Representing sellers of sporting goods distributor in lawsuit alleging that sellers committed fraud and breached representations and warranties in the asset purchase agreement. 

Intellectual Property Litigation

• Represented a technology company as appellate counsel before the Federal Circuit in multiple appeals of a district court’s “exceptional case” finding under Section 285 of the Patent Act. Prevailed in the Federal Circuit under the Brooks standard, and following reversal by the U.S. Supreme Court, prevailed again in the Federal Circuit under the Octane Fitness standard –resulting in the complete reversal of the District Court’s $10.2 million fee award. This is believed to be the first case since Octane Fitness in which the Federal Circuit has reversed a district court’s Section 285 fee award.
• Representing software provider in trade secret misappropriation and corporate raiding lawsuit against rival software provider.
• Represented numerous manufacturers in design patent infringement claims and lawsuits.
• Represented technology company in patent infringement lawsuit against domestic and Chinese infringers that resulted in a substantial settlement.
• Represented technology company in lawsuit alleging the company violated the Lanham Act by publishing product comparison data that was false and misleading.
• Represented technology company in lawsuit alleging the company violated the Lanham Act by making false and disparaging statements about the origin of the competitor’s product and its performance.   
• Represented multiple corporations and individuals in restrictive covenant and trade secret disputes, including disputes under the California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York Trade Secrets Acts.

Professional Liability, Fiduciary, and Fraud Litigation

• Representing Am Law 100 law firm in connection with malpractice claims arising from bankruptcy litigation.
• Defended Am Law 50 law firm on claims brought by former client relating to False Claims Act litigation; obtained summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims and settled law firm’s counterclaim for unpaid fees at start of trial.
• Defended Am Law 10 firm in lawsuit alleging patent litigation malpractice and successfully resolved the lawsuit prior to trial.
• Defended Am Law 200 firm against claims brought by prominent Illinois sports physician alleging that firm failed to timely file patent application for a medical device. Settled the case on favorable terms after filing motion for summary judgment on grounds that plaintiff could not demonstrate commercial success of the medical device.
• Defended Am Law 20 firm against claims that the firm’s attorneys were negligent in estate planning for multimillion-dollar estate and obtained dismissal of all claims, which was affirmed on appeal.
• Defended Am Law 10 firm against claims by former partner of the firm who sought indemnification for malpractice claims brought against him (dismissal of malpractice and third-party claims was affirmed on appeal).
• Represented Spanish and U.S. steel companies in litigation against former trade lawyer claiming that lawyer’s negligence resulted in Department of Commerce imposing a substantial tariff on steel imports; case settled on highly favorable terms for client.
• Represented national association of postal supervisors and its outside counsel in a professional liability lawsuit. Obtained summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims and obtained affirmance of the decision  on appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
• Represented Am Law 10 law firm in claims by client that the firm was negligent in $25 million loan transaction (matter was resolved before the firm’s client filed suit).
• Defended Am Law 50 firm in lawsuit alleging that the firm was negligent in the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement.
• Represented trustees as plaintiffs in breach of fiduciary lawsuit relating to the ownership of a commercial farming company. Case settled on favorable terms after our claims survived summary judgment.
• Represented auditing firm in several suits arising from alleged Ponzi scheme orchestrated by a Tom Petters.
• Obtained complete dismissal of lawsuit brought by a regional bank against accounting firm, which alleged that the accounting firm had conspired to defraud the bank in connection with loans totaling in excess of $25 million.
• Obtained complete dismissal of lawsuit brought by golf equipment manufacturer against accounting firm, alleging that the accounting firm negligently audited company’s financial statements and conspired with corporate directors to hide losses exceeding $20 million.
• Obtained verdict for defendants on claims brought by trustee over the ownership of commercial farm land.
• Represented metals trading company in fraud, fiduciary duty, and conspiracy trial; obtained a multimillion-dollar jury verdict, including substantial punitive damages.
• Represented multinational corporation in several arbitrations, including hearing and asserting securities fraud against financial and banking institutions; resulting recoveries totaling in excess of $50 million.
• Obtained $1.7 million judgment for an energy services company in a breach of contract case, including more than $500,000 in interest and attorneys’ fees. Successfully pursued fraudulent transfer and successor liability claims against the judgment debtor’s principals, resulting in a judgment against them for approximately $2.8 million, which included additional interest and attorneys’ fees (this case was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit).
• Defended franchisees against fraud and racketeering claims and obtained summary judgment on plaintiff’s claims.
• Defended Cayman Island real estate company and its principals in lawsuit claiming racketeering, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty.

Prior Experience

• Palmersheim & Mathew, Partner, 2018-2023
• Honigman LLP, Partner, 2015-2018
• Schopf & Weiss, Partner, 1999-2015
• Winston & Strawn LLP, 1998-1999

Education

Admissions

Court Admissions

Awards

• Illinois Super Lawyers, 2005-2006 and 2013-2025
  • Named as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers, 2014-2015
• Law Bulletin Media
  • Leading Lawyers, Antitrust Law, 2012-2025
  • Leading Lawyers, Commercial Litigation, 2012-2025
  • Leading Lawyers, Professional Malpractice Defense Law: Including Legal/Technical/Financial, 2012-2025
  • Leading Lawyers, Trade Secrets/Unfair Competition Law, 2012-2025

• Honored by The BTI Consulting Group as a 2016 Client Service All-Star in antitrust counseling and litigation

Professional & Community Involvement

American Bar Association

Chicago Bar Association

• Young Lawyer’s Section
  • Careers Committee, Co-chair

• Federal Trial Bar Training Course, Instructor
• Committee on Attorney Malpractice

News

Press Releases

Events

Publications