Michael J. Summerhill

My focus

I have more than 20 years of experience litigating cases in federal and state courts. My services range from complex commercial disputes involving a variety of industries, to appellate work, to significant experience in the health tech, FinTech and GreenTech industries.

Complex Commercial Disputes

I represent clients in a variety of substantive areas including complex mass torts, securities fraud, shareholder derivative claims, fraudulent transfer claims, and complex commercial claims.

Appellate

I argue appellate matters and draft briefs for various appeals, in all appellate courts, including the U.S. and state Supreme Courts.

Fraudulent Transfer Litigation

I have significant experience litigating fraudulent transfer claims, particularly those brought by court-appointed receivers/trustees.

Representative experience

Mike has represented clients in many significant matters, including:

• A medical device manufacturer in product liability and negligence actions.
• An appeal of defendant-favorable jury verdict in a fraudulent transfer action brought by the receiver of a bank.
• A family-office in fraudulent transfer litigation arising out of the Stanford Bank Ponzi scheme litigation.
• An electric vehicle company in a breach of contract action brought by a municipality over performance of electrified fleet vehicles.
• Officer-director defendants in a shareholder derivative action alleging self-dealing, mismanagement, and corporate waste.
• Various companies in shareholder derivative litigation alleging breaches of fiduciary duty resulting from alleged failure of internal controls.
• A software developer in various commercial matters.
• A manufacturer of consumer appliances in product liability, breach of warranty, and consumer fraud actions.
• A heavy equipment manufacturer in a product liability action alleging a defect in the design of construction crane accessories.
• A health care IT company in fraudulent transfer action brought by the receiver of a bank related to a failed merger between two publicly traded corporations.
• An international manufacturer of food flavorings and food additives in toxic tort, exposure, and defective product litigation.
• An international biotechnology corporation in litigation arising out of the growth and distribution of genetically engineered food.
• Nonprofit hospitals in litigation alleging consumer fraud in the pricing of medical services to the uninsured.
• A West Coast hospital system on product liability avoidance issues.
• A food distribution chain in claims arising from tainted dairy products.
• A publisher of national newspapers in commercial litigation matters.

Reported Decisions

• Janvey v. G.M.A.G., LLC, et al., 592 S.W.3d 125 (Tex. 2019)
• Janvey v. G.M.A.G., LLC, et al., 925 F.2d 229 (5th Cir. 2019)
• Janvey v. Golf Channel, Inc., 487 SW 3d 560 (Tex. 2016) (amicus curiae)
• Mortimore v. Merge Technologies, Inc., 344 Wis. 2d 459 (Wis. App. 2012)
• Chicago State University v. Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., 900 N.E.2d 414 (Ill. Ct. App. 2008)
• Kennedy v. Medtronic, Inc., 851 N.E.2d 778 (Ill. Ct. App. 2006)
• Durgac v. Gonzales, 430 F.3d 849 (7th Cir. 2005)
• Johnson v. Rivera, 272 F.3d 519 (7th Cir. 2001)

Appointments

Adjunct faculty member, Legal Writing and Appellate Advocacy, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Law

Prior Experience

Before joining Nixon Peabody in August 2019, Mike was a partner at a leading midsize law firm in Chicago. Prior to that, Mike was a partner in the Chicago offices of an NLJ 500 firm as well as an Am Law 200 firm.

Looking ahead

Artificial intelligence will continue to improve, particularly in the health care space. With technological improvement comes new and emerging litigation risks, and I have been closely following developments and best practices toward helping clients manage these risks.

Economic disruptions and geo-political developments will continue to impact businesses. All disruptions, however, present opportunities, particularly for an innovation-based economy. We constantly monitor emerging technologies with an eye toward predicting risk as well as capital flows.

Consolidation in all industries continues to be a major contributor of company expansion as well as litigation risk, whether from shareholders, regulators or from unforeseen risks from acquired assets.

Insights

• “Exposing Fraud in Healthcare Industry: What You Need to Know on Healthcare Strike Force,” The Knowledge Group webinar series, March 10, 2015 (co-presenter)
• “When is a Resignation Actually a Termination? The Doctrine of Constructive Termination and Coerced Resignations,” Westlaw Employment Journal, Vol. 29, Issue 14 (February 2015) (co-author)
• “Take these Four Steps to Prepare for the Physician Payment Sunshine Act,” Med City News, May 28, 2013 (co-author)
• “The Five-Step Protocol to Prepare for the Physician Payment Sunshine Act,” Modern Aesthetics, May 2013 (co-author)
• “Point, Counterpoint: Will Mortimore v. Merge Healthcare Inc. have Lasting Effect on Wisconsin Arbitration?” Wisconsin Law Journal, ADR Section, Dec. 1, 2012