As a partner in the firm's Litigation Practice Group, Joseph Collins focuses his practice in the areas of complex commercial litigation, class actions, securities litigation, white-collar investigations, consumer fraud litigation and insurance coverage litigation. Mr. Collins has represented a broad range of clients, from start-up ventures to Fortune 100 Companies, in matters pending across the country.

Current Representations

• Defending REIT and certain of its directions and officers in class action alleging direct and derivative claims for breach of fiduciary duty and violations of the federal securities laws.
• Defending former director and officer of a publicly-traded technology company in securities fraud class action, breach of fiduciary duty claims and governmental investigations.
• Representing former executive of a publicly-traded software company in an options backdating scandal.
• Defending publicly-traded healthcare company in a class action alleging breach of contract and vexatious and unreasonable refusal to pay benefits.
• Defending of global shipping company in a class action alleging consumer fraud and deceptive business practices.

Recent Published Decisions

• In In re Enivid, --- B.R. ---, 2007 WL 806627 (D. Mass. Bankr. 2007), Mr. Collins successfully intervened in a bankruptcy proceeding on behalf of a debtor's former executive, and persuaded the bankruptcy court to deny a motion by the bankruptcy trustees to enjoin the use of the insurance proceeds by the debtor's former directors and officers to settle a securities fraud class action lawsuit until the trustees' own lawsuits against the former directors and officers are settled or otherwise adjudicated. In its decision, the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts held that the bankruptcy trustees failed to establish any legitimate reason why their claims against the former directors and officers should be elevated to a higher priority than the claims of the shareholder class.
• In City of Chicago v. Beretta U.S.A. Corporation et al., 213 Ill.2d 555, 821 N.E.2d 322 (2004), Mr. Collins obtained the dismissal of a highly publicized lawsuit brought by the City of Chicago and Cook County against the handgun industry, for alleged unlawful distribution of firearms. In a unanimous decision, the Illinois Supreme Court found that the firm's client, a handgun manufacturer, could not be held liable for the costs incurred by the plaintiffs in providing emergency medical services, law enforcement efforts, and other related expenses resulting from crimes involving handguns.
• In In re marchFIRST, 288 B.R. 526 (N.D. Ill. 2003), Mr. Collins successfully intervened in a bankruptcy proceeding on behalf of the firm's client, a large insurance carrier, and persuaded the bankruptcy court to hold that the insurance proceeds of a debtor's directors and officers liability insurance policy are not "property of the estate." In its decision, the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois held that the marchFIRST Chapter 7 Trustee could not enjoin the use of the insurance proceeds by the debtor's former directors and officers. This type of injunction is now widely referred to in bankruptcy law as the "marchFIRST Injunction."

Community Activity
Mr. Collins dedicates a substantial portion of his practice to pro bono representation for various community groups in the Chicagoland area, including Lawyers For The Creative Arts, Feeding America (formerly known as America's Second Harvest), The Community Economic Development Law Project, and The Asian-American Legal Services Clinic.

Recent Awards
Mr. Collins was awarded the firm's Harry L. Rudnick Business Scholarship, and recently received a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg Executive MBA Program.

許可

• Illinois

專業資格

• American Bar Association
• Chicago Bar Association