David J. Chizewer

David Chizewer is a principal in the firm's Litigation Group. He is a nationally recognized trial lawyer and was recently featured in the National Law Journal’s list of 10 of the nation’s top litigators. He has been named Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Public Justice Foundation and was separately a runner-up for that same award.  He has also been named Lawyer of the Year by the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund.

Mr. Chizewer served as co-lead trial counsel in two widely acclaimed cases. He was co-lead trial counsel for Plaintiffs, and obtained the largest verdict and judgment in the history of the federal False Claim Act ($334 million), in the case captioned, United States of America ex. rel. Cleveland A. Tyson, et al. v. Amerigroup Corporation, et al. Mr. Chizewer was also co-lead trial counsel for a class of 600,000 children on Medicaid against the State of Illinois in the federal case captioned, Memisovski, et al. v. Patla, obtaining some of the most sweeping reforms ever to a state Medicaid program.

On the defense side, Mr. Chizewer has been entrusted to try and defend bet-the-company cases, including trying a case in a rural, plaintiff-friendly district, where he obtained a remarkable result, even in the face of extreme jury bias.  He has been repeatedly named a Super Lawyer by a publication bearing that name.

He currently serves as lead counsel to one of the principal defendants in the Multi-District Class Action Litigation captioned, In Re Ocwen Federal Bank Mortgage Servicing Litigation, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and was elected to represent more than 200 Third-Party Defendants in the Multi-District Litigation captioned, In Re Ameriquest.

Mr. Chizewer  has served as an expert witness on issues of federal civil procedure and is a frequent author and speaker, including a presentation at the National Advocacy Center on strategies for trying a health care fraud case.

In a civic capacity, Mr. Chizewer is at the forefront of the legal issues affecting the education reform movement.  He is one of the founders and Board President of the Chicago International Charter School, the nation's largest charter school and also founded the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.  He has been a member of the Education Policy Group for the Barack Obama U.S. Senate and Presidential Campaigns.  In May 2005, he argued a seminal charter school case before the Illinois Supreme Court.  

As a result of Mr. Chizewer's civic leadership, he was selected a Leadership Fellow for the 2003-2004 Leadership Greater Chicago Program. Past fellows include Michelle Obama, John W. Rogers, Jr. and Valerie Jarrett. 

Mr. Chizewer is admitted to practice in the state courts of Illinois, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the United States Court of Federal Claims, and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Chizewer received his law degree from the University of Chicago in 1991 and his B.A. in economics, magna cum laude, from Pomona College in 1988.  He was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa.