Thomas G. Gardiner

Role: Co-counsel for Illinois municipalities, with Stag Liuzza

Result: Part of the national 3M and DuPont water-system settlements; Illinois municipalities joining Phase 2.

Read more: shawlocal.com | pfaswatersettlement.com

Role: Counsel for plaintiffs-appellants (with Catherine M. Keenan, GKWW)

Seventh Circuit appeal challenging the location of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago’s Jackson Park. Thomas G. Gardiner represented the plaintiffs-appellants in what the court described as the latest challenge to the planned center.

Read more: caselaw.findlaw.com

Role: Counsel for defendant-appellant Engerman Contracting (briefs with Richard C. Gleason at the Court of Appeals)

GKWW handled the most significant insurance coverage case in the last 15 years in Wisconsin, 5 Walworth, LLC v. Engerman Contracting, Inc., 2023 WI 51. In that case, an insurance carrier for a prominent lakefront home builder denied coverage for a claim related to the construction of a home. The Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the insurer had to cover the general contractor. This decision helps all general contractors in the State of Wisconsin.

Result: The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed (2023 WI 51): damage caused by a subcontractor’s work can constitute a covered “occurrence” under a CGL policy.

Read more: law.justia.com | wicourts.gov

Role: Counsel for plaintiff (with Richard C. Gleason, Michelle LaGrotta)

When Wal-Mart announced plans to close its East Dundee store and open a Supercenter in neighboring Carpentersville using $4.3 million in TIF funds, GKWW sued on behalf of East Dundee challenging Carpentersville’s approval under the TIF Act’s 10-mile relocation provision. The trial court dismissed for lack of standing, but the appellate court vacated that dismissal, finding East Dundee had been improperly denied its right to a substitution of judge. The case was remanded for further proceedings before a different judge.

Role: Counsel for defendant (with Richard C. Gleason, Michelle M. LaGrotta)

A property owner within a tax-increment-financing district challenged the City of Bloomington’s actions in levying, collecting, and spending incremental tax revenue after the district’s estimated completion date of December 21, 2009. GKWW successfully argued that the estimated date of completion was just that — an estimate — and not an absolute termination date, and that the city’s actions were lawful under the Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act. The appellate court affirmed summary judgment for the city on all counts and upheld the denial of the plaintiff’s repeated attempts to amend its complaint.

Role: Counsel for defendant/counter-plaintiff (with Barry C. Owen, Micah Jon Hughes)

GKWW represented Solar Wind Energy Tower, a publicly traded alternative energy company, in a dispute with investor Typenex over a $500,000 convertible note. After Typenex failed to follow the promised payment schedule and sought to convert the debt into equity, GKWW filed counterclaims alleging Typenex committed securities fraud and common law fraud by quietly removing the agreed-upon payment terms from the final documents. The court allowed the fraud counterclaims to proceed, finding a strong inference of scienter and that SWET’s reliance on Typenex’s assurances was not unreasonable.

Role: Counsel for defendant (with Barry C. Owen, Kyle P. Carson)

After a heavy rainstorm in April 2006 caused raw sewage to flood the basements of approximately 5% of Chicago Heights residents, a group of homeowners sued the city for negligence. GKWW successfully argued that the city was entitled to discretionary immunity under the Tort Immunity Act, as the city council’s decisions about how to allocate limited funds among competing sewer rehabilitation priorities were discretionary policy judgments — not ministerial duties performed in a prescribed manner. The appellate court affirmed summary judgment for the city, also rejecting the plaintiffs’ res ipsa loquitur claim because the city did not have exclusive control over the sewer system.

Role: Counsel for defendant Kenneth Hoffman

Foreclosure action arising from a defaulted $9 million loan for a development project. Thomas G. Gardiner represented guarantor Kenneth Hoffman, who argued he had been released from liability through a prior settlement agreement with the FDIC. The court found the release language ambiguous and denied Hoffman’s motion for summary judgment, preserving the issue for trial.

Role: Counsel for petitioner-appellant (with Michelle M. LaGrotta)

GKWW represented a Ukrainian woman claiming to be the great-niece and paternal heir of a decedent who died in Cook County with no known paternal heirs. Her claim rested on apostille-certified birth and marriage certificates from Ukrainian archives. The public administrator countered with a genealogist and a Ukrainian National Archives official who testified that the archival records had been falsified — pages glued into registry books with mismatched ink, altered numbering, and incorrect source codes. The appellate court affirmed the denial of the heirship petition, finding no error in qualifying the genealogy expert, refusing comity to an ex parte Ukrainian court order, or crediting the respondent’s witnesses.

Role: Counsel for petitioner Daniel Hudson

GKWW sought a writ of mandamus on behalf of Daniel Hudson, a former federal prisoner who sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act after medical personnel at a Kansas prison allegedly failed to diagnose a blood clot in his leg. After the district court transferred the case from Illinois to Kansas, Hudson petitioned the Seventh Circuit to reverse the transfer, arguing that he, his treating physicians, and family witnesses were all in Illinois. Judge Posner acknowledged the case was close but denied the petition, finding that more than two-thirds of potential witnesses were in or near Kansas and that the petitioner had not met the demanding standard required for mandamus relief.

Role: Counsel for defendants James Connors and Richard Malmin (with James B. Koch, John R. Wrona and others)

Represented defendants James Connors and Richard Malmin in a federal civil rights and tortious interference dispute. Mirbeau alleged that the defendants conspired with city officials to derail its zoning amendment application and interfere with its contract to purchase 54.5 acres for a mixed-use development in Lake Geneva. The court granted defendants’ motions to dismiss, finding that Mirbeau failed to allege the defendants shared a goal of violating the plaintiff’s constitutional rights and that the tortious interference claim was time-barred under Wisconsin’s two-year statute of limitations.

Role: Counsel for defendant (summary judgment affirmed)

Alienation of affections suit in which the plaintiff sued the defendant for destroying her marriage through a year-long affair with her husband. The appellate court affirmed summary judgment for the defendant, holding that her liability had been discharged in a prior Chapter 7 bankruptcy because the plaintiff failed to show the defendant subjectively intended to cause injury.

Role: Counsel for defendant Form House, Inc.

Hispanic workers filed a class action alleging wage theft and overtime violations against a staffing company and its principals. One of the individual defendants filed a counterclaim against lead plaintiff Acosta for intrusion upon seclusion, alleging Acosta secretly videotaped the office and the footage aired on the local news. The court dismissed the counterclaim, holding that the employer failed to allege any private facts or a reasonable expectation of privacy in a shared office area, and that workplace videotaping to document misconduct does not constitute an invasion of privacy as a matter of law.

Role: Counsel for defendant Kaplan and Layne Financial Services (with John R. Wrona)

Represented defendant Kaplan and Layne Financial Services in a bankruptcy adversary proceeding. The debtor alleged she was deceived into signing over her home through a fraudulent mortgage scheme involving excessive loan fees and a deed in lieu of foreclosure obtained under false pretenses. The court denied the plaintiff’s motion for default judgment against co-defendant Century Mortgage, finding unresolved issues including potential res judicata from the prior dismissal of GKWW’s client and possible federal preemption of the state law claims.

Role: Counsel for defendant-appellant (predecessor firm Gardiner, Koch & Hines)

Following a bench trial conviction for arson and a sentence of 30 months’ probation, GKWW’s predecessor firm appealed on the ground that the defendant never signed a written jury waiver as required by the Code of Criminal Procedure — an issue on which Illinois appellate districts were split. The defense argued that the absence of a written waiver entitled the defendant to automatic reversal, citing decisions from the Second and Third Districts. The First District affirmed the conviction, siding with the Fourth District’s view that the failure to obtain a written waiver was harmless error where the defendant had knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to a jury trial in open court through counsel, without objection, reasoning that the written-waiver requirement is a statutory right rather than a constitutional one.

Role: Counsel for plaintiff (with John L. Hines Jr.)

Represented the plaintiff in a licensing dispute over water-filled vinyl placemats called “Splashies.” The plaintiff alleged the defendant broke an oral exclusive licensing agreement by secretly negotiating and signing a written license with a competitor. The court dismissed the trademark infringement and breach of contract claims but allowed the promissory estoppel claim to proceed, finding the defendant’s conduct fell within the equitable estoppel standard under Illinois law.

Role: Counsel for respondents (with John L. Hines Jr., James B. Koch)

Represented respondents in a federal enforcement action where the Commodity Futures Trading Commission subpoenaed copies of their personal income tax returns during an investigation into suspected off-exchange commodities trading. The Seventh Circuit reversed the district court’s order enforcing the subpoenas, holding it was an abuse of discretion to compel production without any showing that the Commission actually needed the tax returns for its investigation.

Role: Counsel for defendants and third-party defendants

Represented defendants State Street Venture, One North State Street Limited Partnership, BA Mortgage and International Realty Corp., and third-party defendants Boulevard Bank and Bennett & Kahnweiler in complex litigation arising from the leveraged buyout of Wieboldt Stores. The bankruptcy trustee alleged the LBO constituted a fraudulent conveyance of the retailer’s assets. The court denied all pending motions for summary judgment and dismissal, finding genuine issues of material fact on claims including legal malpractice, fraudulent conveyance, and agency liability.

Role: Counsel for defendants incl. Chicago Police Superintendent and City of Chicago

Represented the defendants, including the Chicago Police Superintendent and the City of Chicago, in a civil rights case brought by a probationary officer who was discharged after testing positive for morphine and codeine during random drug screening. The officer claimed his liberty interest in reputation was violated. The Seventh Circuit affirmed dismissal, holding that stigmatizing information retained in a personnel file but never publicly disclosed does not constitute the “public disclosure” required to support a constitutional defamation claim.

Role: Member of the trial team for plaintiff Juan Johnson (with Loevy & Loevy)

Civil rights case brought by Juan Johnson, who served more than eleven years in prison for a 1989 murder before being acquitted at retrial. Johnson’s suit alleged that a Chicago police detective had framed him. In June 2009, a federal jury found in Johnson’s favor on claims of due process violations, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and awarded him $21 million.