Susan G. Feibus

Major Federal Court Appointments

In February 2016, the federal district court appointed Susan the compliance monitor for the Cook County Assessor under the Shakman decrees, which prohibit elected officials in Cook County from hiring, firing, promoting, demoting and taking other employment actions based on political patronage. In March 2019, the federal district court appointed to Susan the Shakman compliance monitor for the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Court. Susan’s responsibilities as compliance monitor included training supervisors and employees on unlawful political discrimination; monitoring and reporting on the offices’ employment actions; input into an employment plan; and the creation and implementation of policies and procedures to prevent unlawful political discrimination in the offices. Susan was required to provide the court with periodic public reports describing the Assessor and the Clerk’s  progress toward being released from federal oversite – which occurred in November 2022.

Trial and Appellate Advocacy

Susan tried many state and federal court cases, including jury trials, to verdict. Notable cases include representing defendants in three federal public corruption cases. She obtained an acquittal for her client in the “Greylord” investigation into judicial corruption in the Circuit Court of Cook County. She also participated in a multi-month Fair Housing Act/eminent domain action in the federal court where she defended the owner of a low-income housing project that a municipality sought to condemn.

Susan has written at least 90 civil and criminal appeals in the state and federal courts involving a wide range of issues—including cases of first impression. Notable appeals include arguing (and winning) a case involving important First Amendment issues before the Illinois Supreme Court and defending an artist seeking to protect his rights under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA).

Commercial Litigation

Susan represents clients across a diverse range of highly regulated industries (including finance, health care, and technology) and non-regulated industries (including real estate, manufacturing, and retail) in “high dollar” disputes at trial, arbitration and mediation. Notable cases include the dismissal of multi-million dollar consumer fraud class action cases brought against public utilities for their charging and deposit practices; a favorable settlement for a broker-dealer sued for earn-out claims against the company; and defending an Italian manufacturer before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution in an arbitration that involved novel questions about the limits of the contractual duty of good faith and fair dealing.

Professional Liability

Susan has extensive experience representing federal regulatory agencies in investigations and prosecutions arising out of the failure of financial institutions. This includes high-profile civil actions alleging gross negligence and breach of fiduciary duty by officers and directors implicated in the institution’s failure. These cases require serious investigations and discovery; the ability to manage large amounts of electronically stored data; and competent and creative motion practice.

Health Care Litigation

Susan represents hospitals, federally qualified health centers, nursing homes, insurers and physicians in regulatory and compliance matters, commercial disputes and employment matters. Notable cases including representing a major health care insurer in antitrust litigation against a large provider of hospital and physician serves.  Susan also represents hospitals and physicians in medical staff issues, including litigating the propriety of actions taken under hospitals’ medical staff by-laws.

Bankruptcy Litigation

Susan has spent a lot of time in the bankruptcy courts representing trustees, receivers, debtors and creditors in complex bankruptcy cases. Notable cases include representing the receiver for a group of affiliated companies in one of the largest telemarketing fraud cases in history. Susan has written many appeals from the bankruptcy courts to the federal district courts and courts of appeal.

Employment Counseling and Litigation

Susan represents clients in state and federal administrative and judicial proceedings involving claims under Title VII, ERISA, state court wrongful discharge claims and defending and enforcing restrictive covenants. She counsels clients in a wide array of employment matters, drafts employee handbooks and corporate compliance plans and assists with implementation by providing employee training. Her certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) gives her a unique insight into employment issue.

E-discovery

Susan has been on the forefront of negotiating e-discovery protocols in cases with enormous amounts of ESI (electronically stored information). The result-oriented production strategies that she develops informs her ability to address ESI production creatively and pragmatically. Notable cases include developing a plan for the production of ESI and non-ESI data by a federal agency that was endorsed by the federal court and became the model for the agency’s litigation across the country.

Teaching

Susan has taught writing, litigation skills and appellate advocacy beginning when she was a third-year legal writing instructor in law school. After graduating, she taught legal writing at Chicago area law schools for many years. She was an adjunct professor at Northwestern Law School for decades teaching trial advocacy.  Susan has been a believer in the National Institute of Trial Advocacy’s (NITA) “learning by doing” method since she participated in its (then) three-week national session as a fourth-year lawyer. As a NITA instructor herself, Susan teaches trial advocacy, deposition skills, investigation practices and teacher training.  Susan also created and implemented an in-house training program for associates at her prior law firm.