Gerald Haberkorn
Partner | 312-456-2701 | ghaberkorn@lgcounsel.com
As Chair of the firm, Gerald (Jerry) Haberkorn oversees the firm’s corporate practice. He focuses on general corporate work – the formation and maintenance of entities, contract negotiations, and the sale and acquisition of businesses and product lines. Earlier in his career, he maintained an active trial practice in state and federal courts throughout the U.S., including significant D&O litigation matters such as breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and violations of state, corporate and limited liability company laws.
He advises clients in the entirety of their businesses, which includes corporate governance, commercial transactions, insurance, trade secrets, intellectual asset infringement, finance, securities, and breach of representation. He represents and counsels publicly traded and privately held companies, banks, insurers, entrepreneurs, business partnerships and professional service limited liability corporations, and partnerships in transactions and professional liability. He also focuses on the dissolution of partnerships and the resolution of conflicting claims of malfeasance among the partners, as well as malpractice and negligence defense.
Mr. Haberkorn has both an active national and international practice, with a special focus in the UK. He has published a wide variety of articles in the U.S. and the UK and was selected as the first U.S. attorney to participate in the UK publication Acquisition Finance. Mr. Haberkorn and British finance experts respond monthly to readers’ inquiries regarding the commercial concerns and legal issues of international transactions.
Mr. Haberkorn’s full-circle practice grew as he uniquely served all his clients’ legal needs, allowing him to provide business clients and professional service partnerships the attention they deserved. He led clients in the origination, negotiation and execution of transactions, while maintaining a trial practice where he successfully attacked, defended, modified, or nullified transactions. Mr. Haberkorn contends that practicing in the transactional area vastly improved his skill in litigation.
Recognitions
- Lawyers of Distinction, Recognizing Excellence in the Practice of Law, 2020.
- Leading Lawyers, Advisory Board Member Peer Selected 2020
- “Top Rated Lawyers” by Corporate Counsel and The American Lawyer
- Peer-selected as one of the Illinois Bar’s “Leading Lawyers” in two practice areas, including Commercial Litigation.
- AV rated attorney and selected as one of Illinois’ Super Lawyers.
- Selected as Premier Corporate Lawyers as its exclusive representative attorney and firm in Chicago, Illinois.
- Appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve on the Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee.
- Successful litigation of complex domestic and international commercial transactions, and an entrepreneurial approach to his practice placed him as a finalist in Fast Company magazine’s 2005 “Fast 50” as one of the “high impact legal leaders” in the U.S.
- Selected as a Federal Trial Bar Instructor for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and appointed to its prestigious Local Rules Committee.
Admissions
United States Supreme Court
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
Supreme Court of Illinois
Supreme Court of Indiana
Supreme Court of Wisconsin
Professional and Civic Affiliations
- Cook County Health Foundation, Board of Directors
January 2020 – Present - DePauw University, Board of Visitors
2016 – 2019 - LaGrange Little League, Board of Directors
January 2008 – January 2010 - Ontario-based Energy Savings Income Fund for Five Subsidiaries, Board of Directors,
2006 – 2014 - Chicago Bar Association
Co-Chair – Federal Trial Bar Training Course
Vice-Chairman Executive Civil Practice Subcommittee
Judiciary Committee - Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Board of Directors,
Chambers Middle Market Forum Advisory Subcommittee,
2007 – Present - West Suburban Baseball League, Board of Directors,
January 2006 – January 2010 - Supreme Court Planning and Oversight Committee for a Judicial Performance
Evaluation Program,
1998 – 2006 - Girl Scouts of Chicagoland, Board of Directors,
January 1998 – January 2003 - Appellate Lawyer’s Association, Appellate Law Review
Editorial Board,
1989 – Present - The John Marshall Law School Alumni Association, Board of Directors,
1989 – 1996
Publications
Hoffman and Haberkorn, Void vs. Voidable: A Distinction Without Meaning?, 2 Appellate Law Review 1 (1990)
Haberkorn and Chejfec, Tort Reform in the United States: A State by State Review, 3 International Insurance Law Review 74 (1996)
Haberkorn, The Legal Standard of Care for Notaries and Their Employers, The John Marshall Law School Law Review Notary Symposium (Winter 1997)
Hoffman and Haberkorn, Does Vicarious Liability Still Mean What It Used To? Summer 2002)
Contributing author to Chapter 7, Privacy, in Employment Termination Rights & Remedies, 2nd Edition (1993) BNA, Holloway & Leech.
Legal Lectures
- Direct Examination of Expert Witnesses, Federal Trial Bar Training Course,
Chicago Bar Association - 18th Annual Conference of Notaries Public
- How Notaries Can Prevent Liability and Litigation
- Interstate Recognition of Notarial Acts
- 19th Annual Conference of Notaries Public
- How Notaries Can Prevent Liability and Litigation
- Employers’ Vicarious Liability for Notarial Acts of Their Employees
Education
John Marshall Law School, J.D., Chicago, Illinois
Law School Honors/Involvement: National Moot Court Competition and
Herzog Moot Court Competition semifinalist, scholarship recipient
Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
Kellogg Management Institute Program
DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government
