Roger A. Lewis

Roger Lewis is a Principal in the firm’s Litigation Group. He focuses his practice on False Claims Act litigation, representing whistleblowers of all kinds in investigating, evaluating and filing claims against persons or entities that defraud the United States government, state government, or other public and private entities. Since Mr. Lewis joined Goldberg Kohn's False Claims Act practice, the firm's cases have returned more than half a billion dollars to state and federal treasuries.

Mr. Lewis also litigates complex commercial litigation in the state and federal courts and before administrative agencies. He has handled cases in Illinois, Ohio, New York, California, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Missouri and Kansas. In addition to general commercial contract and tort matters, his cases have involved lending and financial institution litigation, consumer and property tax litigation, and partnership and shareholder issues. He has extensive experience in protecting the rights of secured creditors in bankruptcy and insolvency litigation in courts nationwide. As lenders increasingly use all of the tools in their toolbox to exercise their rights in collateral, Mr. Lewis' practice has been on the cutting edge of validating and securing those rights in court.

He aggressively pursues litigation objectives within the framework of the client's broader goals, counseling clients thoughtfully and rigorously through their most complex, high-stakes matters.

Mr. Lewis is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association. He also serves as Chair of the Board of the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice, a non-profit organization devoted to fairness in courts.

Mr. Lewis joined Goldberg Kohn in October 1996. He proudly serves as Chair of the firm's Pro Bono Committee, which oversees and coordinates pro bono activities across the firm. He also Chairs the Professional Responsibility Committee and is Associate Counsel for the firm. 

Mr. Lewis earned his law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1995, and his B.A., with honors, in Political Science and Psychology from Stanford University in 1992. From 1995 to 1996, he served as a law clerk to the late Hon. James B. Moran of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Mr. Lewis is admitted to practice in Illinois, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Representative Matters

• Defending a national bank against UCC and tort claims arising from a $50 million-plus fraud perpetrated on the bank's municipal account holder by its fiduciary.
• Prosecuting and successfully resolving complex intercreditor claims on behalf of a national bank against co-lenders in a multi-tranche, commercial real estate loan facility. 
• Representing the owner of nuclear power plants in property tax hearings before the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board and in several collar counties near Chicago.
• Securing emergency injunctions against deposed board member after lender client exercised its stock pledge and proxy rights in defaulted borrowers, ultimately resulting in payment in full to the client. 
• Defending numerous consumer class actions, including class actions asserting violations arising out of banking activities, to successful resolutions, including outright dismissal, summary judgment and nominal, individual settlements.
• Prosecuting commercial foreclosure matters, including suits against guarantors, to judgment and sale.
• Defending a large commercial lending client against multimillion-dollar lender liability claims, and achieving a substantial judgment against the guarantor plaintiff.
• Achieving judgment in various contested intercreditor disputes involving substantial borrower assets.
• Protecting successful trial court ruling in bank vs. bank litigation involving check fraud through argument and decision from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.