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ROBERT BYMAN

Arbitrator and Mediator

PRACTICE AREAS
picture of Robert Byman

 Bob Byman brings substantial real-world experience in the resolution of complex matters to help parties arbitrate and mediate their disputes to a timely, efficient and cost-effective solution  

OUR VISION

ABOUT ROBERT BYMAN

Robert L. Byman is a retired partner of Jenner & Block LLP, a former President of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and an Adjunct Professor at the Notre Dame University College of Law.  Bob serves as Editor of the Journal of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

 

Bob has had extensive experience in various alternative dispute resolution forums, as an advocate, as a mediator, and as a decision maker.  As a member of the Employment and Commercial Panels of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association, Bob has acted as an arbitrator in dozens of complex commercial disputes; he has also served as a public arbitrator for FINRA, the National Futures Association, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

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Bob earned his B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Illinois, where he was Student Body President and Notes and Comments Editor of the Illinois Law Forum.  Bob has tried dozens of cases to jury or bench verdict in a gamut of substantive areas, including patents and intellectual property, commodities and securities, trade practices, environmental, employment, land use, professional liability, civil rights, and a wide variety of complex contractual disputes with issues such as insurance, construction, franchising, licensing, and corporate acquisitions and reorganizations.  Bob was lead counsel for General Electric Capital Corporation in a six week jury trial in a complex contractual dispute against General Motors Corp. and its subsidiary DirecTV, Inc., resulting in the largest jury verdict ever in the State of Connecticut – $133,000,000 (The award was later increased to $181,000,000 as a result of offer-of-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees.)  

 

In 2009-10, Bob served as lead counsel to Tony Valukas, in his role as the Court-appointed Examiner in the Lehman Bankruptcy.  Bob supervised more than 100 lawyers and consultants in the preparation of the Examiner’s 2200 page Report, which was characterized by the Judge who commissioned it as “the most outstanding piece of work product ever produced by an examiner.”      

 

Bob has devoted a substantial amount of his practice to pro bono work, and has represented clients in a number of cases which have attracted national media attention:  he secured reversal and the release of David Dowaliby after his conviction for the murder of his daughter; the case is the subject of a book and movie, Gone In The Night, starring Shannon Doherty. Bob secured the release of Dennis Williams, one of The “Ford Heights Four,” after he had served 18 years on death row as a result of a wrongful conviction; the case is the subject of the book, A  Promise of Justice.  Bob represented the adoptive parents of the child known in the media as “Baby Richard,” a case featured in multiple national media.  Bob represented Patrick Sykes, the defendant in the infamous “Girl X” case, and Silvonus Shannon, one of the defendants in the highly publicized beating death captured on cell-phone video of a Fenger High School student. 

Representative Publications

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  • White Paper, "Judicial Independence: a Cornerstone of Democracy Which Must Be Defended," American College of Trial Lawyers, 2006

  • White Paper, “Judicial Compensation: Our Judges Must Be Fairly Paid,” American College of Trial Lawyers, 2007  

  • Co-author, "Illinois Civil Litigation Guide," West Publishing Co., 1999, 2004, 2006, 2008

  • Co-author, "Illinois Evidence Courtroom Manual," LEXIS-NEXIS, 2005, 2008, 2015-16

  • Chapter author, Your Witness: Lessons on Cross-Examination and Life from Great Chicago Trial Lawyers, Law Bulletin Publishing Company, 2008

  • Co-author, International Arbitration Guide 2008, 2010 

  • Chapter Author, "The Expert-Lawyer Relationship," Litigation Services Handbook, John Wiley & Sons, 2004

  • Chapter Author, "Handling Witnesses," Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education Handbook on Illinois Civil Trial Practice, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2012, 2018, 2022

  • Chapter Author, "Initial Evaluation Of the Case," Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education Handbook on Business and Commercial Litigation, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2012, 2018. 2022

  • Chapter Author, "The Trial Advocate: Purpose, Talent and Philosophy," Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education Handbook on Business and Commercial Litigation, 2018, 2022

  • Chapter Author, "Expert Witnesses," PLI Winning Strategies and Techniques, 1992

  • Chapter Author, "Opening Statements," Matthew Bender Federal Evidence Guide, 1990

  • Chapter Author, "Circumstantial Evidence, Matthew Bender Federal Evidence Guide, 1990

  • Chapter Author, "Direct Examination," PLI Civil Trial Practice, 1986

  • "A New Boundary for the Zone of Peril," Illinois Law Forum 125, 1969

  • Chapter Author, Protecting Confidential Legal Information: a Handbook for Analyzing Issues under the Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work-Product Doctrine, November 2005

  • Chapter Author, “The Rise and Fall of Lehman Brothers,” Bank Failure – Lessons From Lehman Brothers, Oxford University Press 2017

  • “Bubba the Love Sponge Wipes Out Gawker,” Journal of the American College of Trail Lawyers, Fall 2016

  • “The Null Before The Storm,” Journal of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Fall 2017

  • Regular Columnist for the National Law Journal on discovery issues (82 articles published between 1998 – 2016):

    • It’s a Privilege to Refresh - 09/21/98

    • Rule 30(b)(6) - 10/26/98

    • Evidence Destruction - 11/16/98

    • Inadvertent Production - 12/21/98

    • The Utility of RFAs - 01/18/99

    • 1999 Rule Amendments - 02/15/99

    • Designating Testifying Experts - 03/15/99

    • Measuring A Subpoena’s Reach - 04/12/99

    • Supplementing Responses - 05/10/99

    • Fight The Compulsion To Compel - 06/07/99

    • Legal Limits On Interrogatories - 07/05/99

    • What’s Wrong With Coaching? - 08/02/99

    • Witness Coaching: A Good Thing - 09/13/99

    • Expert Reports - 10/11/99

    • Witness Compensation - 11/08/99

    • Digital Discovery - 12/27/99

    • Views on Video - 02/14/00

    • Ex Parte, Brutus? - 03/27/00

    • You’re On Un-Candid Camera - 05/01/00

    • Prepare Yourself - 06/12/00

    • Falling Off A Privilege Log - 07/24/00

    • Pay To Play - 10/16/00

    • Opponent Deponents - 01/08/01

    • An Ounce of Protection - 03/19/01

    • Common Interest Agreements - 05/28/01

    • Do You Sign Here? - 08/06/01

    • Rambo Redux - 11/12/01

    • Many Happy Returns - 01/28/02

    • If Rules Only Ruled - 04/01/02

    • Tips For Good Service - 06/17/02

    • Too Much Discovery - 09/23/02

    • Control Freaks - 11/25/02

    • There Ought To Be A Law - 01/27/03

    • Contempt Contretemps - 03/31/03

    • Do You Feel A Draft? - 06/09/03

    • Arbitration Discovery - 09/08/03

    • Cost-Shifting - 11/10/03

    • A Deadline Is A Fine Line - 01/12/04

    • Inadvertent E-Discovery - 03/15/04

    • Deposition By Committee - 05/17/04

    • Mulligans - 07/19/04

    • Lowest Common Privilege - 09/20/04

    • The Vestigial Rule - 11/22/04

    • Admit It - 01/31/05

    • UnWaiver - 04/04/05

    • Blanket Objections - 06/06/05

    • Rule 31 Depositions - 08/08/05

    • Acid Test - 10/10/05

    • Pooh on Self-Help - 12/12/05

    • 30(b)(6) - Time To Fix It? - 02/20/06

    • Grant Us Serenity - 04/24/06

    • Made To Order - 06/26/06

    • Native Simplicity - 08/28/06

    • The Myth of the Seven Hour Limit - 10/30/06

    • Efficient Definitions - 01/15/07

    • Adding Injury to Insult - 03/27/07

    • E-Admissibility - 06/04/07

    • Co-Client Privilege - 08/20/07

    • Inadvertently Ethical - 11/05/07

    • E-Discovery Tremors - 01/28/08

    • Thy Client’s Keeper - 04/07/08

    • Crackberry - 06/16/08

    • Whacky Rules - 08/25/08

    • Baying at the Rule - 11/03/08

    • Mistakes Happen - 01/19/09

    • Let’s Fix It - 03/30/09

    • Consequences - 07/20/09

    • Discover Yourself - 11/30/09

    • You Can't Hide Those Lyin’ Ayes - 05/17/10

    • Certifiable - 10/04/10

    • The Paper Rule - 03/07/11

    • Give Me A Break - 08/01/11

    • How To Invite A Party To Your Party - 01/09/12

    • The Unwritten Rule - 06/04/12

    • You Get What You Pay For - 10/29/12

    • Predictions on Predictive Coding - 04/08/13

    • Facing Facebook - 09/02/13

    • What A Privilege - 01/20/14

    • Shared Experts - 05/12/14

    • Objectionable Objections - 08/25/14

    • Topical Objections - 12/22/14

    • Take Home Exams - 04/06/15

    • Boilerplate - 07/20/15

    • Scripts - 10/26/15

    • Contend With This - 02/08/16

    • Keep It In Proportion - 06/06/16

    • Hold That Litigation Hold Dear - 09/16/16

CONTACT

CONTACT ROBERT BYMAN

845 Highview Terrace

Lake Forest IL 60045

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312-375-2821

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bymanrobert@gmail.com

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