Michael C. Bruck is a partner at Williams Montgomery & John. Mr. Bruck's practice focuses in litigation and dispute resolution. He has defended numerous multi-million dollar lawsuits involving complex commercial disputes, professional and financial malpractice, intellectual property, franchise law, employment issues, personal injury, toxic torts and insurance coverage. Mr. Bruck has appeared as a guest speaker on nationally televised news programs and has written multiple articles and is a frequent speaker on commercial litigation, professional malpractice and insurance issues.
Additional Bar Admissions:
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1994)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2007)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2008)
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (including Trial Bar) (1988)
U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois(1999)
Publications:
Michael C. Bruck, "Understanding and Making the Most of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in Illinois," IDC Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2.
Michael C. Bruck, "A Long-Awaited First Interpretation of Section 1201(a) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act," IDC Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 4.
Michael C. Bruck, " 'May' is Sounding More Like 'Shall' When Awarding Fees in Certain Copyright Cases," IDC Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 2.
Michael C. Bruck, "The Supreme Court Uncorks E-Commerce in Internet Wine Sales Decision", IDC Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 3.
Michael C. Bruck, "Teaching Old Tricks to a New Dog: The Supreme Court's Application of Common Law Doctrines to New Technology in MGM v. Grokster," IDC Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 4.
Michael C. Bruck, "Consumers v. Patent Holders - Will the Supreme Court Uphold the Market Power Presumption," IDC Quarterly.
Michael C. Bruck, "Long Live the Tie-In! The Supreme Court's Decision in Illinois Tool Works, Inc. v. Independent Ink Inc.," IDC Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 2.
Michael C. Bruck, "Jerry Falwell's Ears Are Burning - Gripe Sites, Domain Names, and Rejecting the Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine," IDC Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 3.
Michael C. Bruck, "Supreme Court Puts the Brakes on Patent Infringement: The Relaxed Obviousness Standard in KSR v. Teleflex," IDC Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 3.
Michael C. Bruck, "Seagate May Bring Sea of Change to Patent Cases," IDC Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 2.
Michael C. Bruck, "Patent Exhaustion - The Limits to Post-Sale Restrictions Following Quanta," IDC Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 4.
Michael C. Bruck, "eBay, Inc., et al. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., Three Years Later: Patent Trolls Remain Alive and Active Under the "Bridge" of Patent Infringement Prosecution," IDC Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 2.
"Defending Claims Against Accountants," Co-Author, DRI Symposium on Litigation Involving Accountants, Directors and Officers and Failed Financial Institutions, April, 1992.
Michael C. Bruck, "Understanding and Making the Most of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in Illinois," IDC Quarterly, Second Quarter 2004, at 57.
Michael C. Bruck, "Nanotechnology - It's Small, But It May Be the Next Big Thing," IDC Quarterly, Third Quarter 2004, at 44, Vol. 14, No. 3.
Michael C. Bruck, "A Long-Awaited First Interpretation of Section 1201(a) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act," IDC Quarterly, Fourth Quarter 2004, at 37.
Michael C. Bruck, "Betamax Revisited, Again," IDC Quarterly, First Quarter 2005, Vol. 15, No. 1.
"Reservation of Rights Letters," Chapter 8, IICLE Illinois Insurance Law, March 2009
Speeches and Presentations:
"The Do's and Don'ts of Corporate Documentation," Illinois CPA Society & Foundation 1996 Fraud Conference.
"Proving Damages in a Commercial Case," Chicago Bar Association, November, 1996.
"Managing Your Accounting Firm in the Year 2000 and Beyond," Quinlan& Crisham, Ltd. Symposium.
"Avoiding Malpractice for Tax Services," Presentation to over 300 accountants at Illinois CPA Society Business & Technology Solutions Show, August 2004.
"Evidence Update," Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, 2005 Fall Seminar.
"Ethical Considerations for Collection, Retention, Preservation of Evidence," Seminar Presented by Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Education Fund, May 2007.
"Perspectives on Legal Malpractice," Chicago Bar Association, June 2008.
"Current Insurance Coverage Issues and Trends in Advertising Injury and Construction Defect Actions," Lohman Seminar, June 2008.
"Evidentiary Issues in the Trial of a Personal Injury Case," Illinois State Bar Association, Sharpen Your Trial Skills Seminar, February 2009.
"Evidentiary Issues Commonly Faced at Trial," ISBA Law Ed, February 2009.
"Professional Liability for Spoliation of Evidence," Defense Research Institute Annual Meeting, October 2009.
Guest on Fox News' On the Record With Greta Van Susteren.
Guest on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes.
Representative Cases:
Dozens of Bench Trials, Contested Hearings, Arbitrations and Mediations.
Mitchell Bros. v. Warady & Davis, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. Defended accounting firm and its partners in two week jury trial in failure to detect and report defalcation case. Pretrial offer of $275,000 declined, plaintiff asked jury for over $800,000 in damages, and verdict of $133,000 returned.
Artline v. Universal Statuary, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. Defended trade libel and prosecuted copyright infringement claims between manufacturers of naturalistic animal statuary in two week jury trial.
Belleville Toyota v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., St. Clair County, Illinois. Defended auto manufacturer and distributor in three week jury trial for franchise act and breach of contract claims by dealer over allocation of vehicles.
Cho v. Environmental Management Group, Cook County, Illinois. Defended environmental auditor in two week jury trial in connection with Phase I environmental site assessment on property containing asbestos. $3 million lost profit claim dismissed at time of trial.
Fuller v. Decatur School District No. 61, et al., U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois. Defended School Board against civil rights claims by six students expelled for gang fight at football game. Claims prosecuted by Operation PUSH and Rev. Jessie Jackson and gained national attention over Board's so-called zero tolerance policy. Not guilty decision reported at 78 F.Supp.2d 812 (C.D. Ill. 2000) affirmed, 251 F.3d 662 (7th Cir. 2001).
Appellate Decisions:
Midwest Imports v. Coval, 71 F.3d 1311 (7th Cir. 1995) (argued) (Accountant's Malpractice -affirmed summary judgment for auditor finding no breach of duty of care).
Wolf & Company v. Cevin (Ill. App. 2nd Dist. 1997) (Accountant's Malpractice - summary judgment affirmed for auditor finding that parent cooperation had no standing to assert claims for failed subsidiaries. Plaintiff claimed $21 million in damages.)
Belleville Toyota v. Toyota Motor Sales, et al., 316 Ill. App. 3d 227 (5th Dist. 2000), reversed in part, 2002 WL 418140 (I1l.Sup.Ct.)(Illinois Motor Vehicle Franchise Act and Breach of Contract claims -case of first impression finding that UCC statute of limitations applies to franchise agreements and that statute of limitations is not tolled by continuing breaches of contract or continuing violations of Franchise Act).
Liberty Mutual v. Ross & Hardies (Ill. App. 1st Dist. 2001) (Attorney Malpractice - case of first impression in Illinois finding insurer had no right of subrogation against its insured's defense counsel).
Fuller v. Decatur School Dist. No. 61, et al., 78 F. Supp. 2d 812 (C.D. Ill 2000) affirmed, 251 F.3d 662 (7th Cir. 2001) (argued) (Civil Rights - zero tolerance school disciplinary policy and racial discrimination at issue).
Northern Illinois Emergency Physicians v. Sands, et. al., 2005 WL 2298171 (Ill.) (argued) (Attorney malpractice - indemnity judgment did not constitute proximately cause damages in legal malpractice action).
See Extended Biography
