Craig M. White

Craig White is a partner and the chair of the firm’s Litigation Department at Wildman Harrold. With significant experience in the banking, real estate, and private equity sectors, Craig has been recognized by his peers as one of the top business and commercial litigators in Illinois. Since beginning his practice at Wildman Harrold in 1977, Craig has tried to verdict dozens of cases involving complex and high-stakes issues. His breadth and depth of knowledge spans a wide range of general business litigation issues including securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and bad faith as well as consumer fraud and unfair competition. With a national commercial litigation practice, Craig has tried cases in both state and federal courts throughout the country. A respected counselor to many industry leaders, Craig excels at balancing aggressive representation with meeting the business objectives of his clients. He not only brings to each case experience and business understanding but also a unique ability to break down complex issues and connect with juries and witnesses.

Representative Experience:

Successfully defended publicly-traded bank holding company and inside directors against shareholder class action alleging securities fraud and breach of fiduciary duties arising from merger with another multi-bank holding company; preliminary injunction denied and summary judgment granted to all clients, James Badger, et al. v. Boulevard Bancorp, Inc., et al.
Successfully represented three outside directors in statutory oppression and breach of fiduciary duty suit brought by minority shareholder in privately-held manufacturer of navigational devices against claims alleging excessive officer compensation payments in lieu of dividends and stock redemptions; summary judgment granted to clients, Henry Reget v. Astronautics, Inc., et al.
Obtained favorable defense verdict in a 12-month trial on behalf of trustees of a spendthrift trust against beneficiary’s claims of breach of fiduciary duty and waste arising from construction of a $4.5 million personal residence that was later converted to a church, Brooks McCormick, Jr. v. Brooks McCormick, et al.
Achieved favorable jury verdict on behalf of First Midwest Bank after three-week trial on claims of bad faith violations of Illinois Fiduciary Obligations Act arising from an embezzlement scheme of $5.2 million by customer/title insurance agent who deposited funds in account for real estate escrow closings, Lawyers Title Ins. Corp. v. First Midwest Bank, et al.
Won verdict on behalf of directors in public company, since taken private, in shareholder derivative suit in Utah claiming waste and mismanagement for failure to maximize value from company’s real estate holdings through development, Jones v. Utah Resources International, Inc., et al.
Settled case for defendant, The Northern Trust Company, after opening statements in trial; the $17.5 million suit alleged forgery by a bank officer of loan documentation for a U.K. company formed by an American lawyer and the Welsh government to manufacture floppy disks which later failed and gave rise to criminal prosecution in the U.K. of the American lawyer, Frank Peters, Jr. v. The Northern Trust Company
Following a six-week arbitration, obtained a successful outcome plus fees and costs on behalf of defendant, a Swedish manufacturer of equipment, in a suit brought by a plant developer alleging $40 million in losses due to fraud and breach of warranties regarding the production capacity and asepticity for one-of-a-kind use of equipment, Britz, Inc. v. Alfa-Laval, Inc.
Obtained a reversal and a judgment for the client from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in a contract dispute on behalf of a shopping center owner against a former owner for interpretation of the 99-year ground lease’s purchase option and pricing formula which ex-owner claimed was incorrectly drafted because of mutual mistake in early 1970’s, North Grand Mall Associates, L.P. v. Grand Center, Inc.
In a multi-party case, settled breach of license claims against client, a licensee of news footage of Princess Diana’s funeral, and also settled client’s claims for unfair competition and interference with contract against BBC in dispute over copyright rights for “news” footage by competing television networks, ABC News, Inc. v. MPI Media Group v. BBC
Obtained favorable defense verdict in a consumer fraud trial brought by a certified class of Florida tenants against the nation’s largest apartment owner to invalidate early termination fees charged when apartment leases were prematurely terminated, Yates v. Equity Residential

Reported Decisions:

James Badger, et al. v. Boulevard Bancorp, Inc., et al., 970 F.2d 410 (7th Cir. 1992)
Henry Reget v. Astronautics, Inc., et al., 242 Wis. 2d 278, 626 N.W.2d 302 (Wis. Ct. App. 2001)
Brooks McCormick, Jr. v. Brooks McCormick, et al., 536 N.E.2d 419, 1st Dist. Ill. 1988 & 455 N.E.2d 103 (1st Dist. Ill. 1983)
Lawyers Title Ins. Corp. v. First Midwest Bank, et al., Illinois Jury Verdicts 2000-2001, Law Bulletin Publishing Co., p. 27
Frank Peters, Jr. v. The Northern Trust Company, 69 F.3d 123 (7th Cir. 1995)
Britz, Inc. v. Alfa-Laval, Inc., 40 Cal. Rptr. 2d 700 (5th Dist. Cal. 1995)
North Grand Mall Associates, L.P. v. Grand Center, Inc., 278 F.3d 854 (8th Cir. 2002)
ABC News, Inc. v. MPI Media Group v. BBC, 34 F. Supp. 2d 665 (N.D. Ill. 1998)

Professional Associations:

American Bar Association (Litigation and Business Law Sections)

The National Multi Housing Council

The Lawyers Club of Chicago

Real Estate Investment Association

Dartmouth Lawyers Association

The Executives’ Club of Chicago

Chicagoland Apartment Association

Midwest Bankers Study Council

Institute of Real Estate Management

Order of the Coif

Phi Beta Kappa

2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 Illinois Super Lawyers (Business Litigation) [Chicago magazine]

2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 Illinois Leading Lawyers (Commercial Litigation) [Law Bulletin Publishing Company]

Martindale-Hubbell, AV Peer Review Rated

Bar Admissions:

Illinois, 1977

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

U.S. Supreme Court

Personal Information:

Craig and his wife, Nancy, have two daughters and reside in Highland Park, Illinois. Craig was born in Phoenixville, PA and raised in Dunlap, IL—both small towns that do not appear on many maps. He blames these rural beginnings for his failure to yet master a single hobby in spite of years of experimenting... Nancy claims he has mastered watching The Golf Channel.

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