Daniel Schlessinger has 30 years of experience in business litigation and has handled a wide variety of lawsuits and arbitrations involving many types of business and insurance disputes. He has tried over 30 cases to verdict or judicial ruling and has obtained summary relief in hundreds of others, including matters involving contractual disputes, unfair trade and Lanham Act claims, insurance and reinsurance disputes, mass torts and class actions.
Mr. Schlessinger has served as national counsel for an insurer, actively defending over 100 suits and coordinating with local counsel positions taken in dozens of other suits to assure consistency. He has worked closely with claims adjusters and in-house counsel on issues such as attorney-client privilege, deposition strategy and avoiding and defending bad faith claims.
Mr. Schlessinger served the firm as Managing Partner and Chairman from 2001 through 2004, helping elevate the firm’s commitment to diversity and pro bono service. Mr. Schlessinger represents pro bono clients through the National Immigrant Justice Center and Chicago Volunteer Legal Service, which twice has given him its Volunteer of the Year Award. He currently serves the firm as Co-Chairman of the Litigation Department and a member of the Executive Committee.
Mr. Schlessinger is a member of the Board of Overseers for the Institute for Civil Justice (ICJ), an independent research program within RAND Corporation that facilitates change in the civil justice system by analyzing trends and outcomes, identifying and evaluating policy options, and bringing together representatives of different interests to debate alternative solutions to policy problems. He is President-Elect of the Chicago Chapter of the American Friends of Hebrew University, a former President of K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Congregation and a member of the Board of the University of Chicago Newberger Hillel Center.
Education
- J.D., cum laude, University of Illinois College of Law, 1978
- B.A., Brandeis University, 1975
- Hebrew University
One Year Program, 1973-1974
Bar Admissions
Admitted To Practice
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 1978
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 1987
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 1987
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 1989
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, 1994
Professional History
Partner in the law firm of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP
Managing Partner, Lord, Bissell & Brook, 2001-2004
Professional Affiliations
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Member, American Bar Association
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Member, Chicago Bar Association
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Former Trustee; Chairman, Finance Committee, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
- ICJ Board of Overseers, Rand Corporation
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Trustee and Past President, KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation
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Former Vice-President, Jewish Community Centers of Chicago
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University of Chicago Newberger Hillel Center Board
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President Elect, American Friends of Hebrew University (Chicago Chapter)
Community Leadership
University of Chicago Lab Schools, Former Trustee; Chairman,
Finance Committee
Rand Corporation, Board of Overseers
Uhlich Children’s Advantage Network, President’s Board
KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation, Trustee and Immediate Past President
Jewish Community Centers of Chicago, Former Vice President