For over 50 years, Bruce Sperling has been winning record-breaking and game-changing jury verdicts, court judgments, and arbitration awards for plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes litigation.
Experienced in virtually every area of the law, Mr. Sperling has favorably resolved wide-ranging commercial disputes for Fortune 500 companies, privately held enterprises, and individuals. His cases have included securities, antitrust, patents, trade secrets, corporate governance, real estate development and construction, bankruptcy, foreclosure and reorganization, mass torts, insurance coverage, environmental, and ERISA matters.
Renowned for his litigation skills and successes, Mr. Sperling is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Mensa International member.
Mr. Sperling began his career at an old-line Manhattan law firm, where after just three years, he was made the youngest partner in that firm’s history. In 1976, he co-founded Sperling & Slater, which later merged with Kenny Nachwalter, expanding the firm’s footprint and its powerful litigation capabilities.
Honors & Awards
Chambers USA, Band 3, Antitrust, 2013-2024
Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent™ 5.0/5.0 Peer Rated for Highest Level of Professional Excellence
Representative Matters
Achieved the largest recovery in the entire Enron debacle on behalf of a foreign distressed bond fund.
Won the largest award in the Kidder-Peabody “inverse floater” controversies for a large hospital system.
Obtained what is believed to be the largest recovery in the WorldCom/Jack Grubman analyst cases for a family office.
Won what at the time was the largest antitrust jury verdict in Illinois federal court for a startup equipment leasing enterprise.
Represented the most prolific inventor and patent holder at the time in securing a dismissal with prejudice of a Fortune 500 company’s claim to claw back over a billion dollars of royalties based on an invention disclosure employment agreement. The dismissal was affirmed initially and then again on reconsideration by the Nevada Supreme Court.
Won a “no liability” jury verdict for a large hospital enterprise after a six-week trial claiming that a real estate developer had been defrauded out of over $100 million in attempting to develop an adjacent medical office complex.
Obtained $100 million in recoveries for a bankrupt estate’s creditors’ committee for post-filing breaches of fiduciary duty by members of the debtor-in-possession’s board of directors.
Secured the largest recovery at the time for an investor group for interference with the group’s effort to acquire a professional basketball franchise. The award was granted by the Chicago Federal Court and affirmed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Helped a national law firm successfully structure the extremely complex multiparty settlement of more than a billion dollars in claims, known and unknown, filed and unfiled, individual and class, all arising out of the collapse of a large residential tower. Claims included wrongful death, other personal injuries, property damage, and business interruption against a receiver, board members, and professional advisors, for direct injuries, subrogation claims and existing and potential claims for contribution.
Professional Activities
Community Involvement
Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
Mensa International
Professional Memberships
American College of Trial Lawyers
Education
J.D., Northwestern University School of Law, 1970
B.S., Northwestern University School of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, 1967
Bar Admissions
- Illinois (1976)
- New York (1971)
