The 100 Most Influential Lawyers

Fred H. Bartlit Jr.
64, of Chicago's Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP

LEFT CHICAGO'S Kirkland & Ellis in 1993 to form what is now the nation's hottest defense boutique, with a roster of litigation stars; the attorneys at Bartlit Beck try cases all over the country, often of the bet-your-company variety, with an unparalleled record of success; nearly every year one or more Bartlit Beck cases makes the list of the top defense wins of the year; is considered an innovator for changing the way defense trial lawyers bill out work, establishing set rates with contingency fees for success instead of hourly billing; is personally one of the most successful corporate defense litigators ever, with a long history of big wins; was lead counsel in 1996 in an antitrust case against United Technologies Corp. that resulted in the jury's assessing his client no damages (the plaintiff had spent more than $50 million pursuing the action); in 1994, won a patent infringement lawsuit against Miles Inc., in which the damages claimed, before trebling, were more than $150 million; active cases include representing NL Industries Inc. in multistate litigation involving claimed injury to children from lead paint chips; representing Pratt & Whitney Canada Inc. in Philadelphia and San Diego litigation involving gas turbine engines; defending United Technologies in antitrust monopoly litigation; representing Marriott International Inc. against AMR Corp. in $1 billion software development dispute and General Motors Corp. against inventor Jerome H. Lemelson in bar code reading patent dispute. Other clients include Hughes Aircraft Co., Shell Oil Co. and Peter Kiewit Sons Inc.