SWEETNAM LLC
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Chicago Civil Litigation Boutique Law Firm
(847) 498-7500 info@sweetnamllc.com
William M. Sweetnam
Managing Member
847-498-7500
847-919-4399 (Fax)
wms@sweetnamllc.com
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Sweetnam LLC’s Managing Member, William M. Sweetnam, has spent the past sixteen years as a litigator, often concentrating in the area of class action and complex litigation, prosecuting hundreds of consumer, shareholder and antitrust class action in federal and state courts across the country. In addition to representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of cases involving both economic and non-economic injuries, Mr. Sweetnam and his firm has acted as lead counsel, co-lead counsel and has been a member of the executive and steering committees in consumer, antitrust and other class action, complex and multidistrict litigation matters.
In 2011, Mr. Sweetnam received an AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating™ from Martindale-Hubbell®, a 140-year-old legal directory, based on anonymous peer assessments of members of the Bar and the Judiciary. The AV® Preeminent® rating Mr. Sweetnam received is an indicator of very high general ethical standards and legal ability.
Prior to founding Sweetnam LLC in 2008, Mr. Sweetnam was a partner at a Chicago class action litigation boutique, where he perfected his skills representing victims of consumer fraud and deceptive and anti-competitive practices. Mr. Sweetnam has extensive litigation experience in a variety of nationwide class actions in state and federal courts alleging violations of consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices statutes, breach of warranty and violations of federal securities laws, shareholder derivative suits and appeals.
Mr. Sweetnam began his career as a class action and complex litigation practitioner with Schiffrin & Craig, Ltd. (now Barroway Topaz Kessler Meltzer & Check, LLP), one of the largest class action law firms in the United States, where he was part of a team of lawyers involved in prosecuting class actions challenging abusive marketing practices in several areas involving life insurance and annuities. These cases led to class settlements valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, and sometimes even billions of dollars, with such major life insurance companies as Prudential, Met Life, John Hancock, New York Life, State Farm, American Express/IDS, Transamerica, and many others, as well as to numerous changes in industry sales practices.
Mr. Sweetnam continued his career at one of Chicago's oldest and most respected class action litigation firms, Krislov & Associates, Ltd., where he represented consumers and investors engaged in an array of nationwide class actions in state and federal courts involving everything from consumer fraud to breach of warranty and securities and shareholder derivative lawsuits and appeals.
Mr. Sweetnam began his career as a lawyer representing plaintiffs in catastrophic injury cases in 1994. In 1995, he began defending corporate, insurance industry and insurance policyholder clients.
Mr. Sweetnam is a graduate of The University of Michigan and the De Paul University College of Law where he received the American Jurisprudence Award in Constitutional Law and was a member of the Journal of Art and Entertainment Law. He has written and lectured on class actions and class action litigation reform. He is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.
Mr. Sweetnam was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is married with three children, and resides in Lake Forest, Illinois.
For additional information about Mr. Sweetnam, you may download a copy of the Sweetnam LLC Firm Resume.
Eric C. Brunick
Of Counsel
847-498-7500
847-919-4399 (Fax)
ecb@sweetnamllc.com
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Eric C. Brunick, Of Counsel to Sweetnam LLC, has spent the past six years as a litigator, concentrating in the areas of class action and complex litigation, consumer fraud, and breach of contract.
Prior
to his association with Sweetnam LLC in 2011, Mr. Brunick was an associate at a
Chicago class action litigation boutique, where he perfected his
skills representing victims of consumer fraud and deceptive and
anti-competitive practices. Mr. Brunick has extensive litigation experience
in a variety of nationwide class actions in state and federal courts alleging
violations of consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices statutes, breach of contract
and breach of warranty. Mr. Brunick’s
experience includes not only litigating class actions, but negotiating and
administering their settlements.
Prior
to joining the bar, Mr. Brunick spent eight years in the technology industry,
designing software for UNIX and Windows computers, as well as Internet
applications. Mr. Brunick has an
in-depth knowledge of technology and the software design process, and is an
expert in usability, user experience and software design
Mr.
Brunick is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the
Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he received the CALI Award for highest grade
in Legal Writing II and Consumer Health Benefits Seminar. Mr. Brunick completed Kent’s Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Program,
and was a semifinalist in the Charles Evans Hughes Moot Court Competition.
Mr. Brunick was born and raised in Dixon, Illinois.
He is engaged and resides in Chicago, Illinois, where he regularly writes on
Chicago’s finest restaurants.
EDUCATION
The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (B.S. Computer Engineering, 1995)
Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, Illinois (J.D., 2005)
AREAS OF PRACTICE
Litigation and Appeals
Class
Actions
Arbitrations
Consumer
Fraud and Deceptive Trade Practices
Breach
of Warranty
Breach of Contract
Antitrust
BAR ADMISSIONS
Illinois Supreme Court
United
States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Of Counsel, Sweetnam LLC, Chicago, Illinois (2011 – Present)
Associate, Freed & Weiss, LLC, Chicago, Illinois (2005-2011)
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Thomas v. SouthernLINC, No. 11-494-01518-08 (American Arbitration Association June 24, 2010) (granting class certification)
In re Nationsrent Rental Fee Litigation, No. 06-60924-Civ-Brown (S.D. Fla. February 24, 2009) (granting class certification)
Pro v. Hertz Equipment Rental Corp., No 06-3830 (D.N.J. December 10, 2008) (granting class certification)
Milliron v. T-Mobile, No 084149 (JLL) (ES) (D.N.J. September 10, 2009) (approving class settlement)
Torres-Hernandez and Ramirez v. STi Prepaid LLC, et al., No. 08-1089 (MCA) (D.N.J. July 12, 2010) (approving class settlement)
Ramirez v. The Lycatel Group d/b/a Lycatel LLC, No. 07-5533 (PS) (D. N.J. 2010) (approving class settlement)
Ramirez and Bukzam v. Epana Networks, Inc., No 08-4040 (PGS) (D.N.J. 2010) (approving class settlement)
Monday
v Locus Communications, No. 02659 (PGS) (ES) (D.N.J. November 14, 2008) (approving class settlement)
AV® Preeminent is a certification mark of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies.