Kirkland Partners Andrew McGaan and Mark Filip Inducted Into the American College of Trial Lawyers
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is pleased to announce that Chicago partners Andrew McGaan and Mark Filip have become Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations of America.
The induction ceremony occurred Friday, Sept. 16 during the College’s 2016 annual meeting in Philadelphia.
Mr. McGaan has tried and won jury and non-jury cases throughout the United States in product liability, restructuring and other commercial cases. He has scored notable product liability victories, including defeating multi-million and multi-billion dollar injury and death claims against clients such as Dow Chemical, Dow Corning, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, American Tobacco and others. Recently, he was lead trial counsel in a series of trial victories for Energy Future Holdings ($49 billion in liabilities) in its Chapter 11 proceedings. In 2011, he was identified by The National Law Journal as one of the nation’s best litigators.
Mr. Filip, a member of Kirkland’s Management Committee, leads the Firm’s government enforcement defense and internal investigations group, and helps lead its litigation practice. Prior to joining Kirkland, Mr. Filip was Deputy U.S. Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice and oversaw all of its criminal and civil enforcement efforts. He also served as a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and, earlier in his career, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, where his trials included the high-profile prosecution of the so-called “Austin Seven,” a group of renegade Chicago police officers, who were convicted of various acts of racketeering, drug trafficking, firearms offenses, and extortion.
Founded in 1950, the College is composed of the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada. Fellowship in the College is extended by invitation only -- and only after careful investigation -- to those experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality.
Lawyers must have a minimum of 15 years trial experience before they can be considered for Fellowship. Membership in the College cannot exceed one percent of the total lawyer population of any state or province. There are approximately 5,700 members in the United States and Canada. The College strives to improve and elevate the standards of trial practice, the administration of justice and the ethics of the trial profession. Qualified lawyers are called to Fellowship in the College from all branches of trial practice. They are carefully selected from among those who customarily represent plaintiffs in civil cases and those who customarily represent defendants, those who prosecute accused of crime and those who defend them. The College is thus able to speak with a balanced voice on important issues affecting the legal profession and the administration of justice.
