Eimer Stahl represents companies in high-stakes commercial disputes with significant financial and operational consequences. Our clients include Fortune 500 corporations, large privately held businesses, and sovereign-owned entities across industries including insurance, oil and gas, technology, healthcare, chemicals, and consumer products. We handle matters spanning contract disputes, consumer fraud and product liability, insurance coverage, RICO, and other complex commercial litigation in federal and state courts, on appeal, and in domestic and international arbitration forums. A litigation boutique headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in California, Wisconsin, and Tennessee, the firm litigates in courts across the country with lean, senior-led teams that scale efficiently and draw on subject-matter experience from across the practice. Our commercial litigation practice is consistently recognized by Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 for our work in complex disputes.
The matters we handle are often multi-jurisdictional, expert-intensive, and accompanied by parallel proceedings, including regulatory investigations, related arbitrations, judgment enforcement actions, and follow-on class claims. Many require command of technical subject matter, and we invest the time to understand our clients' businesses, markets, and regulatory environment, not just the legal claims at issue. At the outset of each engagement, we work with our clients to define what success looks like in light of their business objectives and risk tolerance. Our strategy is then calibrated to that definition. In some matters, success means an early dismissal that avoids disruption and cost. In others, drawing on the firm's substantial trial experience, it requires building a record through discovery and taking a case to trial to resolve a critical issue or deter future claims. In still others, it means achieving a settlement that protects confidential information or preserves a commercial relationship. Our representative matters reflect this approach of combining rigorous legal analysis with practical judgment, efficient execution, and a clear understanding of what matters most to our clients’ businesses.
Experience
Girard Street v. PDV Holding – Obtained summary judgment for PDV Holding, Inc. (PDVH), the U.S.-based subsidiary of the national oil company of Venezuela, against alter ego and veil-piercing claims seeking to hold PDVH liable for the judgment debts of the foreign parent.
Crystallex International Corp. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela – Defending CITGO and its parent companies against billions of dollars in claims held by numerous judgment creditors of the Republic of Venezuela and its national oil company.
Kennedy, et al. v. Lyft, Inc. – Representing Lyft in a high-profile class action alleging that its Women+ Connect feature violates California anti-discrimination law; obtained an order compelling arbitration.
ExxonMobil Oil Corporation et al. v. Mars Oil Pipeline Company LLC, et al. – Representing TotalEnergies', U.S. subsidiary of the French Oil major, Total) in ExxonMobil's lawsuit alleging contamination of crude oil produced at an offshore well.
Confidential Arbitration – Trial counsel to captive insurance subsidiaries of Fortune 100 company in coverage dispute arising from spinoff transaction.
The Board of Regents of The University of Wisconsin System, et al. v. The University of Miami – Representing the University of Miami in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's suit alleging tortious interference with Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) agreements covering a football player.
State of Tennessee ex rel. Skrmetti v. Meta Platforms, Inc. – Appointed by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee as discovery counsel to the State, a leading participant in a 41-state coordinated action alleging that Meta designed Instagram to be addictive and harmful to youth.
National Climate Change Litigation – Representing CITGO in thirteen climate change tort actions brought by states and municipalities across the United States claiming that defendant oil, natural gas, and coal companies are responsible for infrastructure damages caused by sea level rise and other adverse weather phenomena attributable to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Faith Technologies, Inc. v. Interlake Steamship Co. – Intervened on behalf of Fincantieri Marine Group in a subcontractor's action seeking to attach a vessel as leverage in a payment dispute; secured intervention, dismissal of the complaint, and denial of the writ of attachment, leaving the vessel free of arrest.
COVID-19-Related Business Interruption Litigation – Secured dismissal of more than two dozen class action and individual lawsuits filed against CNA and its affiliates alleging that insurers breached their insurance policies by failing to pay for lost business income incurred due to COVID-19 induced closure orders; successfully defended all dismissals on appeal.
Palos Community Hospital v. Humana Inc. et al. – As lead trial counsel for Humana, secured a unanimous defense verdict after one hour of jury deliberation in a two-week jury trial brought by a Chicago-area not-for-profit hospital alleging systematic underpayments in excess of $40 million.
Edgerton Hospital and Health Services v. Dean Health Systems and SSM Health Care of WI – Represented a leading non-profit Midwestern healthcare system in a breach-of-contract lawsuit brought by an affiliated hospital involving issues of corporate ownership and control; reached a favorable settlement after extensive discovery and motion practice.
Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America et al. v. California Air Resources Board et al. – Discovery counsel to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the California Chamber of Commerce, the Western Growers Association, and the Farm Bureau in their constitutional challenge to California's corporate climate disclosure laws, coordinating discovery for all plaintiffs in the consolidated action.
Humana Inc. v. Lundbeck, Inc. et al. – Representing Humana in an action to recover overcharges paid for a pharmaceutical, alleging that defendants inflated demand and prices through a fraudulent kickback scheme and asserting claims for fraud, insurance fraud, unjust enrichment, and negligence per se.
Accolades
Chambers & Partners
Chambers USA has top-ranked Eimer Stahl for Complex Commercial Litigation since 2003. Chambers describes the firm as "an impressive litigation boutique" offering representation across consumer fraud, product liability, and competition litigation, with "nationwide capability in trying cases in state and federal courts."
Client and peer feedback collected by Chambers in 2026 describes the team as providing "practical and business-oriented advice" reflecting an understanding of clients' "risk tolerance and internal dynamics," and bringing "an excellent strategic perspective" that keeps clients' "goals front of mind."
the legal 500 united states
- The firm's commercial litigation practice is recognized in the General Commercial Disputes category of these exclusive rankings, with several of the firm's litigators also highlighted individually for the depth of their commercial litigation experience.
best law firms and Best Lawyers
- Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" has ranked the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice among the best in Chicago since 2011.
- Eimer Stahl attorneys are consistently endorsed by Best Lawyers as some of the top lawyers in the nation for commercial litigation, ranking our attorneys as The Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America™.
benchmark litigation
- Based on in-depth interviews with clients and peers, Benchmark Litigation identifies the top practitioners and firms in the country and has recommended Eimer Stahl in their Dispute Resolution rankings.
