Andrew F. Merrick is a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department and Complex Commercial Litigation Practice, as well as a member of its Class Action and International Arbitration Practices.  Mr. Merrick represents corporations and individuals in a variety of complex commercial litigation disputes in state and federal courts and arbitration forums across the United States and abroad.  He has significant experience representing Fortune 500 and other major companies at the trial and appellate level in a wide range of cases, including breach of contract, unfair competition, deceptive trade practices, restrictive covenants, trade secrets, securities fraud, products liability, and intellectual property matters.  Mr. Merrick’s experience spans a broad spectrum of industries, including defense and aerospace, pharmaceutical, energy, food and beverage, automotive and transportation, financial services, education, hospitality, and technology, among others.

Mr. Merrick has significant first- and second-chair trial experience.  He is a member of  the Trial Bar for the Northern District of Illinois and has represented clients in numerous trials in federal and state courts and arbitration forums across the United States, including serving as lead counsel in multiple federal jury trials.  Representative cases include defending a business jet manufacturer in a supplier dispute involving competing claims of several hundred million dollars; representing an automotive supplier in a multimillion dollar royalty dispute; and representing an aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility in a dispute with one of its suppliers.  In addition to his extensive trial experience, Mr. Merrick regularly defends corporate clients from allegations of consumer fraud and unfair and deceptive trade practices in putative class actions in state and federal courts.  Mr. Merrick also regularly represents clients on appeal before federal and state courts and has argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Mr. Merrick has been recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” in the area of business litigation for the past three years.  He is active in the Chicago Bar Association, serving as the former chairman of the Securities Law Committee and the current vice chairman of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee.  In addition to his trial and appellate practice, Mr. Merrick regularly represents indigent clients on a pro bono basis.  He has successfully defended a client charged with first-degree murder, obtained asylum for an individual who was a victim of gender violence in Tanzania, and represented numerous other indigent clients in a variety of criminal and civil matters.  Mr. Merrick also devotes time to recruiting and mentoring new associates and is a recipient of the firm’s Mentorship Award.  He is also active in the community, currently serving as the president of the board of directors of Compass to Care, a childhood cancer foundation.  In 2016, Mr. Merrick received the prestigious Maurice Weigle Exceptional Young Lawyer Award from the Chicago Bar Foundation for his commitment to pro bono, community service and the organized bar.