Philip Berenz, Member of Philip J. Berenz, CPA, JD Of Counsel

PASSION - INTEGRITY - TRUST

Philip Berenz is a Chicago trial attorney truly committed to assisting individuals and businesses with securing all available remedies and compensation for injuries and disputes and defending them when necessary. His passion for his beliefs of aggressive and zealous representation and empathy for his clients' situations, circumstances, life-altering events and suffering shines through at trial time before a jury, in everyday conversations with the opposing attorneys and insurance companies and in every aspect of every single case. He listens. He does the "right" thing when nobody is looking. Integrity. His trust in unequivocally paramount. And the passion, integrity, and trust end in results (and being the utmost ethical attorney, he must say that results can never be guaranteed by the rules that govern attorneys but he sure does his best to accomplish the goals, intentions-and sometimes dreams-of his clients).

Some Recent Results:

In not even the first half of 2011, Philip has already settled numerous personal injury and commercial litigation matters both pre and post filing of lawsuits. He actually reads the medical records and analyzes the bills in personal injury matters and, in business litigation, his CPA and finance skills allow him to quickly read, analyze and comprehend the "numbers" issues present in every business dispute in order to get right to the heart of the matters.

In February and March 2010, Philip settled claims of nursing home abuse and neglect in the six figures against a Chicago area nursing home after his client died due in part to insulin oversight issues.

In December 2009, Philip settled claims of legal malpractice and fraud against one of the largest law firms in the United States and one of its former senior partners.

In December 2009, after stepping in on a 2002 construction defect case, Philip worked with another attorney and settled a matter against the main developer and obtained a default judgment after prove up against other contractors involved in the matter for over $1,300,000.

In November 2009, Philip obtained a judgment against a real estate developer after numerous years of litigation for $653,959.12 for construction defects in a townhome association.

In October 2009, Philip obtained a binding American Arbitration Award of over $238,000 on behalf of a sales representative, including punitive damages and attorneys' fees.

In July 2009, after a 4 day, 12-person jury trial, Philip obtained a jury verdict in excess of $122,000 against the City of Chicago (reduced for comparative negligence) when his client fell into a hole on City property. The initial offer on the matter: $500.00 the first day of trial.

In the Spring of 2009, as co-chair trial attorney, Philip successfully defended a real estate investor being sued for in excess of $4,000,000. The verdict after a week of trial in the law division of Cook County? $0. And the client was granted his attorneys' fees in excess of $350,000.00 pursuant to an agreement.

Philip has obtained other numerous settlements and verdicts in numerous other matters and all types of matters. He has successfully "turned cases around" for defendants when sued and obtained judgments and decisions against plaintiffs suing his clients far in excess of the amounts some plaintiffs originally sought.

Philip has first-chaired numerous bench and jury trials and has practiced extensively in Illinois State and Federal Courts. He has also been admitted pro hac vice to litigate in the Western District of Federal Court in Virginia and was recently admitted pro hac vice in the State of Florida in pending litigation. His clients span the United States, Canada, Ukraine and the Sultanate of Oman. He currently litigates throughout the United States through a network of local counsel and personally.

Prior to law school, Philip spent five years in the securities and derivatives trading division of one of the largest banks in the world. There, he served as a financial analyst and an Assistant Vice-President for U.S. financial operations and foreign financial operations in Hong Kong, England, Germany, Asia and Japan.

Practice Areas

• Business Litigation
  • Breach of Oral and Written Contracts
  • Fraud and Related Issues
  • Collection Matters
  • Building Defects
  • Sales Representatives Commission Disputes
  • Real Estate Disputes
  • Shareholder and Partnership Disputes
  • Qui tam litigation (False Claims Act / Whistleblower Lawsuits on Behalf of the U.S. Government)
• Personal Injury
  • Nursing Home Malpractice and Abuse
  • Automobile and Trucking Accidents
  • Medical Malpractice
  • Slips and Falls
  • Clergy / Priest Sexual Abuse Matters
  • Pharmaceutical Injuries
  • Class Actions
  • Workers Compensation

Education

• Indiana University School of Law—Bloomington: JD, 2000
• Purdue University: B.S. in Finance & Accounting, 1992
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA): 1993

Bar Admissions

• Illinois (2000)
• Federal Court, Northern District of Illinois (2000)

Memberships / Associations

• Taxpayers Against Fraud
• International Network of Social-Eco Entrepreneurs

Publications

• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE), Co-Author, Chapter 4, Recent Federal Legislation—HIPAA Update, ISSUES IN LONG TERM CARE Practice Handbook, 2002 (a 40+ page chapter on healthcare privacy rules)
• Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), Lead Article Co-Author, Arbitration in 1997-1998, The Year in Review in the ISBA’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Publication, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, November 1998 (Volume 5, Number 1) (Survey of ‘97-’98 national case law)