Rights of First Refusal: Bankruptcy “Infotapes” Titan Wins Michigan Avenue Penthouse Dispute – IL 1st Dist.

In today’s installment of High Class Problems, I feature Peter Francis Geraci, the Chicago bankruptcy lawyer whose pervasive television presence is doubtlessly familiar to weekday afternoon viewers.  Geraci and his wife recently won their real estate dispute with a company controlled by a foreign investor over rights to a 40th floor penthouse (“Penthouse”) in Chicago’s tony Michigan Avenue (“Magnificent Mile”) shopping district. Reversing the trial court – who sided with …

Illinois Lawyer’s Practice Management Software Qualifies for Trade Secret Protection

Geraci v. Amidon, 2013 IL App (2d) 120023-U, exhaustively analyzes Illinois trade secrets law in the context of a pitched battle between two competing law firms and their respective practice management software programs.  The plaintiff, a bankruptcy attorney whose ubiquitous television presence is likely familiar to most Chicagoland viewers, sued a former employee and competing bankruptcy firm under the Illinois Trade …