Mitch Morinec concentrates his practice on commercial, intellectual property, products liability and warranty litigation and consulting. With experience representing clients in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Colorado, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Massachusetts and New York, he also represents nursing home and long-term care facilities in personal injury and wrongful death matters.

He serves as chair of the firm’s Life Sciences practice group as well as a Cook County Arbitrator.

Mitch was named to the Chicago Lawyer Magazine 40 Under 40 attorneys to watch in Illinois in 2017, selected from more than 1,300 submissions for this prestigious award.

For more than a decade he has served as pro bono counsel for Lawyers for the Creative Arts, a nonprofit organization that provides legal services to artists in the Chicagoland area.

Prior to joining the firm, Mitch was a reporter and journalist for the Chicago Tribune City News Bureau, where he covered and reported on crime in Chicago for numerous television, radio and print media outlets locally and nationwide.

He attended law school at DePaul University College of law and is an alum of Washington University in St. Louis where he received a B.A. in economics and was a four-year letter winner on the university’s football team.

Honors

  • Chicago Lawyer – Forty Under 40, 2017
  • Selected to Illinois Leading Lawyer, 2019 –  present
  • Selected to Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2011 – 2019

Professional & Civic Involvement

  • Lawyers for the Creative Arts, pro bono counsel
  • Chicago Public Schools, Real Men Read program, volunteer
  • St. Luke Academy (Lakeview, Chicago), board member
  • Hamlin Park Baseball Association, sponsorship committee member

Practice Highlights

Representative Matters

  • Obtained a complete defense verdict in a federal trade secret misappropriation trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas where the Plaintiff also alleged that the Defendants breached provisions of their non-competition/non-disclosure agreements, intentionally interfered with the contractual relationship of over a dozen of Plaintiff’s clients, intentionally sought to interfere with 15 of Plaintiff’s employment contracts, and breached their fiduciary duty to the Plaintiff.
  • Successfully defended a client in a breach of contract trial in the Circuit Court of Dane County, Wisconsin. The plaintiff, a major real estate developer, sued its former employee for breach of contract alleging, among other things, that he committed fraud against the developer’s company. After a bench trial, the judge ruled that no such fraud occurred, ruled in favor of Segal McCambridge’s client and awarded the plaintiff no damages. The contract at issue included an attorney’s fees clause, which allowed for the prevailing party at trial to recover its attorney’s fees related to the litigation and trial.
  • Achieved a trial verdict in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, in a lawsuit for injunctive relief on behalf of a client who had signed a publishing agreement to convert her Ph.D. thesis into a mainstream book. The client sought representation after her publisher repeatedly neglected its duties under the publishing agreement and threatened to assert a percentage interest in any book deal the client would sign with another publishing house. In filing suit, Mitch sought an order declaring the contract null and void. At the conclusion of the trial, the judge found in favor of the client and issued an order declaring the publishing agreement null and void. The client is now free to pursue publishing her thesis with another publisher.
  • After two years of litigation, successfully obtained complete dismissal of a lawsuit on behalf of a condominium building management client in a lawsuit claiming more than $1 million in damages by a plaintiff alleging toxic mold exposure. 
  • Obtained dismissal outright on behalf of a multinational prescription drug manufacturer in a product liability lawsuit alleging permanent neurological injury based on a recent United States Supreme Court ruling on the doctrine of federal preemption.
  • Successfully defended an appeal in the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, after prevailing on summary judgment on behalf of a privately held national company in a premises liability matter in the face of a $300,000 demand.
  • Secured dismissal outright on behalf of Fortune 500 client in a commercial construction lawsuit claiming more than $12.5 million in total damages and $4.5 million against Segal McCambridge’s client alone.
  • Won summary judgment on behalf of a privately held product manufacturer in a serious construction injury case where the plaintiff alleged strict liability.
  • Obtained dismissal on summary judgment on behalf of multi-national client in six-figure construction-related claim resulting in dismissal of lawsuit in its entirety.
  • Served as first-chair trial counsel on behalf of a Fortune 500 engineering firm in a commercial litigation trial where a $60+ million claim was being asserted solely at Mitch’s client. The case was resolved after three weeks of trial.

News & Events

Publications

Executive Editor

  • “LexisNexis Practice Guide: Illinois Personal Injury Litigation,” 2019
  • “LexisNexis Practice Guide: Illinois Personal Injury Litigation,” 2018
  • “LexisNexis Practice Guide: Illinois Personal Injury Litigation,” 2017
  • “LexisNexis Practice Guide: Illinois Personal Injury Litigation,” 2020

Contributing Editor

  • “LexisNexis Practice Guide: Illinois Personal Injury Litigation,” 2015
  • “LexisNexis Practice Guide: Illinois Personal Injury Litigation,” 2014

Speaking Engagements

  • “Remedies in the Real World of Litigation,” Panelist: DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, IL, 2011-2014
  • “Challenging a Trial Court Discovery Order via Civil Contempt,” Speaker: Chicago Bar Association Section of Commercial Litigation, 2012