APRIL A. OTTERBERG Partner APRIL A. OTTERBERG
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APRIL A. OTTERBERG, Partner April A. Otterberg concentrates on professional liability litigation, with more than a decade of experience litigating complex professional liability disputes. She defends lawyers and law firms in pending or threatened legal malpractice and related claims, including aiding and abetting claims, claims from non-clients, and claims brought by receivers, and she defends other types of professionals targeted for alleged errors or defects in the services they provide. Ms. Otterberg has substantial experience investigating professional liability claims and developing and mounting effective and practical defense strategies, whether pre-complaint or through the litigation process. She also represents corporate clients in breach of fiduciary duty and related claims under ERISA, and she has experience representing corporations and employees in trade secret and restrictive covenant cases. APRIL A. OTTERBERG Ms. Otterberg has represented clients in a range of civil litigation matters, Partner including putative class actions, appellate matters, cases litigated successfully CHICAGO at trial, and several matters involving pre-suit counseling, mediation, and Office: 312 840-8646 settlement negotiations. She is a member of the firm’s Professional Fax: 312 840-8746 Responsibility, ERISA Litigation, and Trade Secret and Restrictive Covenant Email: [email protected] Litigation and Counseling practices. PRACTICE GROUPS Ms. Otterberg has focused her pro bono efforts on criminal defense matters, Energy ERISA Litigation including her longtime representation of a client on federal death row in Intellectual Property connection with his appeal and post-conviction proceedings. She is co-author of Litigation the Illinois portion of the American Bar Association’s The Law of Lawyers’ Professional Responsibility Liability and of the firm’s outline of Illinois trade secrets law. Ms. Otterberg also Trade Secrets and Restrictive Covenants regularly speaks and writes on professional responsibility topics. EDUCATION Boston College Law School, J.D., 2006; Ms. Otterberg has represented a number of clients in a range of professional summa cum laude; Order of the Coif; responsibility matters, including the following: Salutatorian; Managing Editor, Boston College Law Review Obtained dismissal with prejudice, and then settled on appeal, malpractice Loyola University Chicago, B.A., 2003; claims asserted against an international law firm concerning its handling of summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa a litigation matter and seeking in excess of $20 million ADMISSIONS Illinois, 2006 Obtained dismissal with prejudice of malpractice and related claims COURT ADMISSIONS asserted against an international law firm and several of its lawyers US Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, 2010 concerning the firm’s handling of certain transactional matters US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Member of the team that successfully settled through pre-litigation 2006 counseling, mediation, and negotiations a matter against an international US District Court, Western District of law firm in which the plaintiff sought in excess of $500 million arising out of Michigan, 2007 alleged improper tax advice US Court of Federal Claims, 2008 Provided litigation counseling on matters of U.S. legal malpractice law in US Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 2012 relation to claims asserted abroad against an international law firm US District Court, Eastern District of Represented an in-house patent attorney before the Illinois Attorney Wisconsin, 2014 Registration and Disciplinary Commission and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for alleged “inequitable conduct” before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. ©Copyright 2021 Jenner & Block LLP. Jenner & Block is an Illinois Limited Liability Partnership including professional corporations. Ms. Otterberg also has experience in all phases of other complex litigation matters and in developing trial strategy, as shown by the following representative matters: Member of the trial team that represented the plaintiff, a nuclear utility, in a three-week bench trial in federal court on a breach of contract matter related to the U.S. Department of Energy’s failure to dispose of spent nuclear fuel from the utility’s reactor. This case resulted in a $56.8 million judgment for her client, the majority of which was upheld on appeal. Member of the trial team that successfully prosecuted a patent infringement claim brought by a refrigerator shelf manufacturer in a one-week jury trial Obtained dismissal with prejudice of ERISA claims seeking to impose non-fiduciary liability against third-party plan service provider Member of the team that successfully settled a complaint against a non-profit organization for alleged trade disparagement and related claims Ms. Otterberg also has developed experience on appellate matters and has drafted and filed a number of appellate briefs in federal and state court, including the following representative matters: Primary drafter of the brief in the appeal of a class action suit by Blue Island, Illinois residents that reinstated a $120 million verdict in favor of the Firm’s clients against a refinery Argued to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and drafted appellate briefs seeking the reversal of a criminal conviction in a pro bono bank robbery matter Primary drafter of a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court in a pro bono criminal matter, seeking review of questions related to the denial of expert assistance to indigent defendants and the use of a defendant’s silence to establish the death penalty aggravating factor of lack of remorse Awards Illinois Super Lawyers "Rising Star," Professional Liability: Defense - 2012-2020 Law Bulletin Publishing Company - Leading Lawyers Network "Emerging Lawyer," Criminal Defense Law: Felonies & Misdemeanors; Criminal Defense Law: White Collar; Professional Malpractice Defense Law: Including Legal/Technical/Financial - 2015, 2019 Community Involvement Juvenile Justice Initiative Member, Board of Directors - 2013-2018 Mental Health America of Illinois Secretary and Member, Junior Board - 2012-2013 Women Everywhere: Partners in Service Project Member, Planning Committee - 2007, 2008 2 Service to the Bar American Bar Association Member, Standing Committee on Professional Liability, 2017-2020 Illinois State Bar Association Standing Committee on Professional Conduct - 2012-present Secretary, 2019-2020; Vice Chair, 2020-2021; Chair, 2021-2022 Chicago Bar Association Chair, Committee on Attorney Malpractice, 2015-2016 Vice Chair, Committee on Attorney Malpractice, 2014-2015 Publications Co-Author, Client Alert: SCOTUS Limits the Reach of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, with Implications for Cybersecurity, Trade Secrets Litigation, and Beyond, June 9, 2021 Co-Author, Understanding and Litigating Trade Secrets, Jenner & Block Practice Series, June 15, 2017 Co-Author, Client Alert: "The New Federal Trade Secrets Law: Additional Protections, Additional Complexity", May 13, 2016 “Ethical Traps for Young Lawyers,” Daily Journal, January 2, 2015 Co-Author, Client Alert: “Supreme Court Adopts New Prudence Pleading Requirements for ERISA Stock-Drop Cases in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer”, July 1, 2014 Co-author, “Analysis of Cross-Border Conflicts of Interest,” Practising Law Institute, Spring 2014 Co-author, “Ethical Issues in Representing the Former Employees of a Corporate Client,” Practising Law Institute, Spring 2014 Client Alert: Illinois Supreme Court Applies Time Limits for Malpractice Suits to All Other Professional Claims Against Lawyers, March 5, 2014 Co-Author, Understanding and Litigating Trade Secrets: An Outline for Analyzing the Statutory and Common Law of Trade Secrets in Illinois, Jenner & Block, January 21, 2014 “Defending Against Joint Defense Agreement Pitfalls: Ethical & Related Issues Arising In the Joint Defense Context,” part of “PLI Ethics Programs: Chicago 2013,” Practising Law Institute, Spring 2013 Co-author, “Loss Prevention for Associates: Good Habits You Can Establish Now (And Reminders for Everyone Else),” ALAS Loss Prevention Journal, Winter 2013 Co-author, “State of Illinois,” The Law of Lawyers’ Liability, American Bar Association, June 2012 Co-author, "(Possible) Good News For ERISA Fiduciaries," Law360, May 3, 2011 Co-author, “Ethical Issues Regarding Lateral-Entry Attorneys,” Practising Law Institute, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 Co-author, Client Advisory: Supreme Court Broadens Interpretation Of ERISA Attorney Fees Provision To Reject "Prevailing Party" Standard, Concluding That Only "Some Success On The Merits" Is Required, May 25, 2010 Co-author, "Legal Malpractice Law: State of Illinois," 50-State Survey of Legal Malpractice Law, American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Professional Liability Litigation Committee, 2010 3 Co-author, Understanding and Litigating Trade Secrets Under Illinois Law: An Outline For Analyzing The Statutory And Common Law Of Trade Secrets In Illinois, Jenner & Block Practice Series 2009, October 2009 "GPS Tracking Technology: The Case for Revisiting Knotts and Shifting the Supreme Court's Theory of the Public Space Under the Fourth Amendment," Boston College Law Review, May 2005, Vol.46, No. 3, pages 661-704, May 2005 Speaking Engagements Moderator, “Assessing the Future to Protect It: Conducing and Using Early Case Assessments to Resolve Claims Pre-Suit," ABA National Legal Malpractice Conference, April 26, 2018 Panelist, "Ethics