Ken L. Schmetterer

• Secured a judgment and attorneys fee award after trial on behalf of a commercial property owner against a contractor’s defective installation of construction and fireproofing at Chicago’s Union Station
• Successfully defended lawsuit against City of Evanston and Northwestern University challenging ordinances authorizing the construction of a new football stadium and allowing concerts to be held in the newly built stadium
• Successfully defended lawsuit against Amazon, including defeating a request to enjoin Amazon’s operation of a storage and shipment facility in Chicago
• Won a successful jury verdict and a subsequent appeal after a 3-week jury trial on a steel supply contract dispute
• Secured state and federal court dismissals in putative class actions asserting violations of the Illinois biometric privacy act
• Successfully secured or defended against requests for injunctions on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of industries based on allegations of contractual and fiduciary breaches, misuse of confidential information, and alleged violations of non-compete or non-solicitation agreements
• Successfully defended an international bakery against claims for breach of contract, fraud, and alter ego in connection with business activities of an eastern European subsidiary. Secured the dismissal of all claims by the trial court, affirmed by the appellate court
• Secured Preliminary Injunction and successfully prosecuted lawsuit on behalf of Sonic Franchising against franchisor for breach of license agreements and improper franchisee operations
• Secured preliminary and permanent injunctions to protect a global agricultural industry manufacturer’ trade secrets involving the launch of a new product line
• Secured injunctions on behalf of a management and executive search firm protecting against a former franchisee’s and competitor’s misuse of proprietary software
• Secured injunctions on behalf of national restaurant franchisor against the defendants’ misuse of trademarks and trade names
• Successfully defended against a condominium association’s efforts to halt implementation of a county rezoning ordinance to allow a 137-unit housing, duplex, and town home development
• Successfully defended reporters from efforts to compel production of sources to support civil and criminal litigation
• Successfully defended against constitutional challenges to municipal ordinances
• Successfully defended and resolved North Michigan Avenue commercial property owner in a lawsuit filed by condominium association over operations and management of retail center
• Successfully secured or defended against restraining orders and injunctions in a variety of industries for claims of contractual and fiduciary breaches, misuse of confidential information, and alleged violations of non-compete or non-solicitation agreements
• Amicus Brief for the American Bar Association before the United States Supreme Court in Montgomery v. Louisiana (2015)
• Amicus Brief for the American Bar Association before the United States Supreme Court in Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs (2012)
• Amicus Brief for the American Bar Association before the United States Supreme Court in J.D.B. v. North Carolina (2010)
• Amicus Brief for the American Bar Association before the United States Supreme Court in Florida and Sullivan v. Florida (2009)

 Ken is extensively involved in pro bono and non-profit work and invested in the community where he lives and works. He has served as pro bono counsel and director for several organizations focused on youth justice and development, mentorship, re-entry support, and education equity. His pro bono work has included individual and class federal civil rights claims, youth and adult justice, clemency, mental health support, enhancing education opportunities for children released from detention, and support to end the death penalty and life without the possibility of parole sentences for youth.

Ken also served as a leader of DLA Piper's large-scale, long-term, innovative signature Juvenile Justice Project. As part of this effort, he served as the senior editor of From Juvenile Court to the Classroom: The Need for Effective Child Advocacy, a substantial policy study assessing and working to improve the process by which children transition from the juvenile court system back to school. The project was honored by the Illinois State Bar Association in 2005 and again in 2007 with the John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award. In 2008, the success of this project also contributed strongly to the ABA's decision to award DLA Piper its Pro Bono Publico Award.

• “Police in Schools: Developments, Issues and Best Practices,” developed for the Children’s Rights Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, 2021
• Author, "Patch Reporter Wins Appeal to Protect Confidential Source," MediaLawLetter, Media Law Resource Center, April 2015
• Author, "Reporter's Privilege," Editor and Publisher, March 16, 2015
• Author, “Successfully Challenging Jurisdiction When Foreign Companies are Sued in US Courts,” For The Defense magazine, 2010
• “From Juvenile Court to the Classroom: The Need for Effective Child Advocacy”, policy analysis and report, 2010

• Director and pro bono counsel, The Gault Center (The Gault Center – Promoting justice for all youth)
• Director and pro bono counsel, Home Away From Home Youth Development & Reentry (Home | Home Away From Home)
• Pro Bono Counsel and past director of New Root (NewRoot | Home)
• Co-counselled and collaborated on civil rights efforts with Uptown Peoples Law Center, Equip for Equality, and the Illinois Prison Project
• Member, American Bar Association Juvenile Collateral Consequences Project, (2009)
• Co-Leader, DLA Piper Signature Project in Juvenile Justice, (2004 – 2008)
• Member, Village of Deerfield Youth Commission and Human Relations Commission, (2001 – 2006)
• Coach, Youth Baseball, Soccer, (2002 – 2007)