Paul Slater, Sperling Kenny Nachwalter Photo
Founding Partner and Chair of the Firm

Paul E. Slater

A firm founder, visionary leader, and skilled litigator, Paul Slater handles high-stakes antitrust cases for private and public enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies. He pioneered the opt-out practice, representing companies as individual plaintiffs in industry-wide multidistrict antitrust litigation. This practice enables clients to tailor their claims and maximize their recoveries outside of class action proceedings, which often fail to meet individual client needs.

Mr. Slater represents clients in wide-ranging industries, including national drugstore, grocery store, and restaurant chains; domestic and international airlines; the leading air freight service provider; national car rental companies; and major shopping, internet, and media marketing companies. He has successfully resolved price-fixing, monopolies, customer allocation, anticompetitive vertical agreements, and other restraint-on-trade cases.

Among his many successes are first-of-their-kind antitrust cases, including ones against credit card companies, and industry-impacting actions against pharma giants for drug overcharging. Clients appreciate Mr. Slater’s ability to optimize their recoveries while working out resolutions that improve the parties’ relationship and results in better business terms for the future.

Before founding the firm, Mr. Slater taught at the University of California School of Law at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) and then at Northwestern University School of Law, where he was a professor of antitrust law and then an adjunct professor teaching an advanced antitrust law course for 35 years. Highly respected for his legal acumen and insight, he has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court on several occasions. His exceptional knowledge of antitrust laws is rare, if not unrivaled.

Honors & Awards

Honoree for the Antitrust Enforcement Award for Outstanding Antitrust Achievement in Private Law Practice (American Antitrust Institute, 2022)

Professional Activities

Professional Memberships

Chicago Bar Association (Antitrust & Patent Committees)

Illinois State Bar Association (Antitrust Council)

American Antitrust Institute (Advisory Board)

Loyola Antitrust Institute (Advisory Board)

University of California School of Law (Boalt Hall) (Faculty), 1970-1971

University of Connecticut Law School (Assistant Professor), 1971-1972

Northwestern University School of Law (Professor and Adjunct Professor), 1972-2007

Practice Areas

Education

J.D., Northwestern University School of Law, magna cum laude, 1970

  • Order of the Coif
  • Editorial Board, Northwestern University Law Review
  • Class Valedictorian

B.A., Columbia University, with honors, Economics, 1967

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois (1970)

Connect with Paul

Jump to Page

Necessary Cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage. We access and process information from these cookies at an aggregate level.