Keenan J. Saulter earned his law degree from Howard University in 2000 and has been a litigator in the Chicagoland area his entire career. Keenan leads the firm's litigation practice. He has served as the Chair of the Associate Board of the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms and as the Secretary for the Cook County Bar Association Foundation.  Keenan focuses his practice in the areas of commercial litigation, construction litigation, injury litigation and white collar criminal defense litigation.  He regularly appears in Federal and State Courts throughout the Midwest.

Select Representative Matters

 

 

• Member of the trial team for a high profile white collar criminal case pending against the former Governor of Illinois. United States v. Rod R. Blagojevich, Case No. 2008 CR 888 (N.D. Ill. 2008) (the case ended in an unprecedented federal court hung jury on 23 of 24 counts, August 17, 2010).

 

 

• Member of the litigation team in multiple product liability and mass tort lawsuits pending in federal and state courts arising out of an alleged outbreak of a food-borne illness. Favorable settlement reached for the client.

 

 

• Member of the litigation team for a warehouse fire that resulted in the largest loss of first responders since September 11, 2001. Favorable settlement obtained for the client.  Champaign v. Sofa Super Store, et al., Case No. 2007-CP-10-3186 (S.C. Ct. C.P. 2007).

 

 

• Member of the litigation team in a chancery matter involving a corporate opportunity usurpation and breach of employee restrictive covenants. Favorable settlement was reached on behalf of the client. Midwest NeoPed Assoc. Ltd. v. Renaissance Med. Group, Inc., Case No. 00 CH 11236 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Cook County 2000).

 

 

• Prosecuted breach of fiduciary duty and employee jumping ship federal injunctive action involving several novel issues of law. Led negotiations with the foreign manufacturer on behalf of the client and obtained a favorable outcome. The court issued the requested permanent injunction. Wright Packaging, Inc. v. McLaughlin, Case No. 4:06-cv-00462 (S.D. Iowa 2006).

 

 

• Managed several international white collar internal investigations for Fortune 500 companies. Conducted substantive interviews of witnesses and targets and managed the evidence and information-gathering stages of the investigations. Negotiated with domestic and foreign prosecutors and law-enforcement agencies. Assisted in drafting investigation summary reports to the boards of directors of many of these companies.

 

 

• Member of trial team for two matters which were tried to verdict, with favorable results.  People v. Walsh, Case No. M976581 (Cal. Super. Ct. 2006); People v. Sedej, Case No. CD 207881 (Cal. Super. Ct. 2008).

 

 

• Member of trial team obtained a not guilty jury verdict in aggravated battery case. People v. Watkins, Case No. 03 CR 13216-03 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Cook County 2004).

 

 

• Briefed and argued an appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. United States v Butler, Case No. 07-2526 (7th Cir. 2008).

 

 

Publications and Articles

Co-authored New Standards for Brady and Giglio Disclosures, 14(12) Bus. Crimes Bull. (Aug. 2007).

Co-editor of Baker & McKenzie Investigations and Business Crimes Newsletter for North America.

Contributing author to Baker & McKenzie North America International Litigation & Arbitration Newsletter.

Community Involvement, Pro Bono and Leadership Experience

Serves as Secretary for the Cook County Bar Association Foundation (2008-Present).

Life Member of the National Bar Association and a member of the American Bar Association (2008-Present).

Serves as the Head Football Coach at The Cambridge School Chicago (2009-present).

International General Counsel for Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. a social service fraternal organization. (2009-Present).

Represented clients on behalf of the Center for Disability and Elder Law and clients referred through the Northwestern University Juvenile Law Clinic (2006-2009).

Served as the inaugural Chair of the Associate Board of the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms (2007-2009).

Has served as a sponsor and mentor to a student in affiliation with the LINK Unlimited Program (2006-2009).

Regularly performs community service and mentoring activates with various civic organizations and he has participated in the Lawyers in the Classroom Program at McCutcheon Elementary School in Chicago (2006-2009).

Education

Bachelor of Science from Illinois State University in Political Science.

Juris Doctor, Cum Laude from Howard University School of Law (Top 20% of Class).

While attending Howard University School of Law, Keenan was a member of the Huver I. Brown Trial Advocacy Moot Court Team. He was a Second Place Finalist in the Association of Trial Lawyers of America National Trial Advocacy Tournament. He also served as class president.

Licenses

Admitted to practice law in Illinois, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.