Bilal Zaheer

Bilal is a trial attorney with nearly two decades of experience representing clients in high-stakes, complex commercial disputes, often stemming from failed deals, broken partnerships, and governance breakdowns. He is frequently called to advise on “corporate divorces,” where once-promising business relationships have turned adversarial and the financial and reputational risks are highest. His clients span a range of industries, including technology, life sciences, health care, financial services, industrial, and private equity and include early-stage companies, Fortune 500 companies, private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, executives, and boards.

Bilal advises clients nationwide on disputes involving breach of commercial contracts and related business torts, including fraud, trade secret misappropriation, enforcement of non-solicitation and non-competition agreements, unfair competition, deceptive trade practices, and breach of fiduciary duty.

His corporate litigation matters have involved disputes arising from mergers, acquisitions, going-private transactions, partnerships, joint ventures, LLC operating agreements and have included representing clients in books and records demands, and various post-closing disputes, such as earn-out disputes and claims for breaches of representations and warranties. Bilal has also advised and represented technology vendors and purchasers of technology platforms and services in  disputes involving “software as a service” (SaaS) and related technology agreements, including disputes arising from implementation failures, service level obligations and shortfalls, and disputes over AI-enabled functionality in software platforms.

As an experienced trial attorney and member of the Trial Bar for the Northern District of Illinois, Bilal has first-chaired trials and arbitrations across the U.S. and served as lead counsel in bet-the-company disputes. He helps clients efficiently navigate complex issues and delivers legal strategies that align with the client’s business objectives. Bilal brings a focus on outcomes — whether that means resolving disputes before litigation or taking them all the way through trial. What sets him apart is his ability to understand both the legal and human dynamics involved in high-pressure commercial disputes. Bilal serves as a steadying force in times of turbulence, helping to manage risk and protect the business relationships that matter most.

Bilal serves as a professional development partner for the firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group and co-chairs the firm’s AAPI Affinity Group.

• Represented a health care technology startup in federal court litigation with more than $200 million in a dispute concerning the rights to cutting-edge health care technology; litigated claims for trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, commercial disparagement, computer fraud, tortious interference, defamation, and breach of six different commercial contracts, including non-competition, non-solicitation, and earnout provisions in a merger agreement.
• Defended a specialty generic pharmaceutical manufacturer in federal court litigation against claims for trade secret misappropriation under federal and state law and a breach of a business-to-business no-hire agreement; asserted counterclaims for breach of contract and tortious interference.
• Defended a Chinese manufacturer and its U.S. subsidiary in a federal jury trial involving claims of trade secret misappropriation and damages claims of more than $100 million.
• Defended an insurance broker against claims brought by a court-appointed corporate receiver for aiding and abetting in the alleged diversion of millions of dollars in insurance commissions; secured a defense judgment on behalf of the client after a five-day bench trial that was affirmed on appeal involving issues of first impression under Illinois law.
• Represented a bankruptcy court-appointed litigation trustee in a series of federal and state court cases, including trial and appeal, against the corporation’s former executives to enforce more than $70 million in promissory notes executed in connection with funding an employee stock option program; litigated claims and defenses under federal securities laws and Federal Reserve Board regulations.
• Defended a group of former directors and officers of an insolvent medical device company against a $50 million claim for breach of fiduciary duty and related claims asserted by a post-confirmation litigation trustee.
• Represented a group of shareholders, including the company’s former CEO, in a shareholder derivative lawsuit asserting breach of fiduciary duty claims against the corporation’s officers and directors for waste of corporate funds and improper related party transactions; secured appellate reversal of the trial court order dismissing the case in an appeal involving issues of first impression under Illinois corporate governance law.

• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Best Under 40 Award
• Super Lawyers® Illinois Rising Star, Business Litigation
• Leading Lawyers®, Emerging Lawyers