Kristine Rinella Argentine

Chair of the Commercial Class Action Defense Practice Group 

Kristine is a partner in the Litigation Department in the Chicago office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. She is Chair of the national Commercial Class Action Defense Practice Group.  She focuses her practice on complex commercial disputes, including those which involve trade secrets, breach of contract, unfair competition, and business torts, as well as franchisor/franchisee disputes. In addition, Kristine has defended several consumer class actions filed in both state and federal courts around the country related to consumer fraud.

Esther Slater McDonald

Editor of Seyfarth’s Consumer Class Defense Blog

Esther is the editor of the blog and a partner in the Commercial Litigation Practice Group of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. She represents clients in complex litigation matters and has extensive experience in litigating dispositive motions and appeals, with special emphasis on complex procedural matters. Esther’s practice includes litigation on business torts, contractual disputes, and insurance coverage issues. Her insurance practice focuses on bad faith and general liability. Esther has represented clients before the United States Supreme Court, the federal appeals and district courts, and various state and local courts.

Aaron Belzer
Co-Editor of Seyfarth’s Consumer Class Defense Blog

Aaron is co-editor of the blog and a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department and a member of the Commercial Litigation Practice Group. His practice focuses on counseling and defending public and private companies in general and complex commercial disputes in both state and federal courts. Aaron handles individual and class-action lawsuits spanning a wide range of substantive legal areas, including cases involving claims for breach of contract, business torts, securities and healthcare fraud, false advertising, unfair competition and deceptive businesses practices, products liability, breach of fiduciary duties, and violations of various federal and state statutes and regulations.

Paul J. Yovanic, Jr.
Co-Editor of Seyfarth’s Consumer Class Defense Blog

Paul is an associate in the Commercial Litigation Department of Seyfarth Shaw’s Chicago office. His practice includes a variety of complex commercial litigation disputes, including those which involve restrictive covenants, non-compete and solicitation agreements, trade secrets, contract disputes, creditor rights, fraudulent transfer litigation, and business torts. Paul is also a member of the White Collar, Internal Investigations, and False Claims Team. Paul represents and counsels clients through all phases and forms of litigation, including pre-litigation resolution, alternative dispute resolution, emergency injunctions, jury trials, and appeals.

Renee B. Appel

Renee is an associate in the Litigation Department of Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s Washington, D.C. office. Clients seeking an attorney who offers tailored counseling on Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) compliance, risk management, and representation in financial fraud litigation and arbitration turn to Renee for guidance. Additionally, clients engaged in complex civil litigation in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia go to Renee for creative strategies and solutions. Clients and colleagues alike enjoy working with Renee because of the passion and high energy she invests into each matter.

David M. Bizar

David is a partner in the Boston office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. David co-chairs the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Litigation practice group and represents consumer banks and financial services companies in high-stakes disputes in the courts and before government authorities challenging the legality of their products and services, corporate practices and regulatory adherence. David has defended numerous class actions, government investigations and enforcement proceedings, and individual cases with systemic exposure for national banks and federal thrifts, mortgage lenders and servicers, manufacturer and third party automotive finance companies, credit card issuers, short-term lenders, and large national retailers. Financial institutions frequently select David to litigate to judgment and through appeal important issues of first impression.

Alexandra V. Drury

Alexandra is an associate in the San Francisco office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Alexandra has experience advising clients on a variety of litigation matters, including contracts, financial services, securities, and intellectual property disputes. Her representation involves managing all phases of a dispute, including pre-litigation consulting, discovery, settlement, and trial.

Darren W. Dummit

Darren is a counsel in the Los Angeles – Century City office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Darren’s practice focuses on the defense of claims in a wide variety of areas, including commercial, real estate, healthcare, and employment litigation, in addition to representing and advising start-ups and growth companies in the entertainment, tech, and cannabis space. Whether it be advise and counsel on day-to-day matters or the handling of class action litigation, clients trust Darren to provide legal analysis and advice that focuses on achieving the business’ goals inside or outside of traditional legal frameworks.

Tonya M. Esposito

Tonya is a partner in the Litigation Department at Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s Washington, D.C. office.  She is an experienced antitrust, advertising, and financial services lawyer who has represented numerous clients in private litigation, as well as in several government investigations brought by the state Attorneys General, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Bessie Fakhri

Bessie is a counsel in the Chicago office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Bessie’s practice includes complex commercial litigation disputes, including those which involve business torts, non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, trade secrets, requests for injunctive relief, unfair competition, and product liability.

Giovanna A. Ferrari

Gina is a partner in the Litigation Department of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Gina is experienced in state and federal class action defense, Multi-District Litigation, business and commercial contract disputes, consumer class actions (including those involving credit cards, debit cards, gift cards and loyalty programs), financial services and securities litigation, construction litigation and arbitration, NASD/FINRA arbitrations, and insurance litigation. Gina is an active member of the Litigation Group Class Action, Securities and Financial Services, and FINRA Arbitration Committees.

J. Patrick Kennedy

Based in Boston, Patrick is a counsel in the Litigation Department of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Patrick’s clients are often viewed as a “deep pocket” target for claims by borrowers or customers who have encountered difficulties in paying their loan obligations. He has defended several cases that were filed as class action lawsuits challenging the legality of a bank’s products or services having substantial impact due to the scope and amount of relief sought by the plaintiffs. He has also counseled and represented banks and other types of entities in responding to data breach intrusions.

Emily C. Kesler

Emily is an associate in the Commercial Litigation group of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Emily’s practice includes a variety of complex commercial litigation disputes, including those which involve business torts, noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements, trade secrets, requests for injunctive relief, unfair competition, product liability, and alleged violations of state and federal consumer protection statutes.

Emily works with clients to take the necessary steps to protect that information, both by setting up necessary safeguards to ensure trade secret classification and by assisting our clients to implement enforceable restrictive covenants to provide a remedy for our clients if its confidential information and/or trade secrets are threatened by its current and/or former employees.

Kevin J. Mahoney

Kevin is a partner in Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s Chicago office. Kevin’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, including cases involving restrictive covenants, misappropriation of trade secrets and intellectual property, unfair competition, contract disputes, and business torts. He has represented clients at each phase of litigation, including alternative dispute resolution, emergency injunctions, jury and bench trials, and appeals in multiple jurisdictions in the US.

Gregory A. Markel

Based in the New York office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Greg is a partner. Greg is a nationally-known trial lawyer with extensive experience in securities litigation, corporate governance litigation, mergers and acquisition litigation, directors and officers defense, antitrust litigation, and other complex commercial litigation, particularly in bet-your-company cases. He is chair of the New York Litigation group, co-chair of the firm’s National Commercial and Securities Litigation practice, co-chair of the Securities and Fiduciary Duty Litigation group, and a member of the National Litigation Leadership Team.

Robyn E. Marsh

Robyn is an associate in the Chicago office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Robyn’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, including cases involving restrictive covenants, misappropriation of trade secrets and intellectual property, unfair competition, contract disputes, and business-related torts. She represents a wide range of clients, including medical device manufacturers, automotive manufacturers, commercial and consumer product manufacturers, insurance companies, and a variety of private business owners.

Katelyn R. Miller

Kate is a partner in Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s Chicago office. Kate’s practice focuses on litigating various complex commercial and business tort litigation. She has devoted significant amounts of time to matters involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, unfair competition, and interference with contract and business expectancy. Kate’s breadth of experience also includes handling cases involving restrictive covenants and misappropriation of trade secrets. She has successfully tried a number of bench and jury trials, and has experience handling appeals, arbitrations, mediations, preliminary and permanent injunctions, and declaratory judgment actions. Kate has represented a wide range of clients, including retailers, construction companies, commercial and consumer product manufacturers, insurance companies, medical device manufactures, and a wide range of private business owners.

Robert B. Milligan

Robert is a partner in the Los Angeles offices of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. His practice encompasses a wide variety of commercial litigation and employment matters, including general business disputes, unfair competition, trade secret misappropriation and other intellectual property theft, real estate litigation, insurance bad faith, invasion of privacy, products liability, wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment claims, wage and hour disputes, ADA and OSHA compliance, whistleblower cases, bankruptcy and other business torts. Robert has represented clients in state and federal courts in complex commercial litigation and employment litigation. His experience includes trials, binding arbitrations and administrative hearings, mediations, and appellate proceedings. He has handled numerous class action matters, including false advertising, TCPA, FCRA, Penal Code 632 and 632.7 claims.

Joseph J. Orzano

Joe is a partner in the Boston office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Joe’s practice focuses on complex business and commercial litigation, defense of consumer fraud/unfair competition claims, product liability/complex tort litigation, and contract disputes.  He has experience defending individual and multi-plaintiff lawsuits, including state and national class actions and multi-district litigation. Joe has represented clients in a variety of industries, including food & beverage, supplement, financial services, aviation, pharmaceutical, technology, construction, and insurance.

Christopher F. Robertson

Chris is a partner in the Boston office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.  His clients include banks and broker-dealers, investment advisors, public and private companies, and their officers and directors. He has handled government investigations, securities class action litigation, merger litigation, regulatory proceedings, arbitrations, and federal and state administrative matters. Chris has handled cases and investigations across all industries, working with clients on the investigative, regulatory, employment, and litigation aspects of whistleblower claims. As a former senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chris has unique experience investigating and litigating cases with the government, followed by years of experience defending those investigations and cases.

Dallin R. Wilson

Dallin is a associate in the Litigation Department of the firm. Dallin has experience working with nearly every litigation practice group at Seyfarth, including trade secrets and noncompete litigation, securities and financial litigation, franchise and distribution litigation, and real estate litigation. His work in diverse matters with different levels of responsibilities has provided him with many opportunities early in his career to develop valuable skills and experience to handle matters both large and small.