BRUCE BRAUN is a global co-leader of the firmwide 750 lawyer Litigation practice group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Bruce has been recognized as one of the top litigators in Chicago and in the nation. Chambers USA (2006–2023) describes him as “a very sophisticated and excellent trial lawyer” and “a very strategic thinker, he’s good in a courtroom and is very thoughtful” (2023) and “a ‘top-flight trial guy,’” whose “work ethic is unsurpassed, he is an excellent cross examiner and he is extremely intellectually nimble” (2020). Chambers separately noted that he has a “tremendous practice and reputation” (2020) and “is widely recognized for his handling of complex commercial disputes for clients in the accounting, auditing and financial services sectors, among others” (2022). The American Lawyer recently characterized him as “a star litigator.” Chicago Lawyer selected him, at age 36, for the first edition of its “Top 40 Attorneys Under 40.” Four years later, American Lawyer selected him as one of its “45 Under Forty-Five: the Rising Stars of the Private Bar.” Bruce has also been named one of Chicago magazine’s Illinois “Super Lawyers,” one of Chambers USA’s Band 1 lawyers for Litigation: General Commercial in Illinois, and one of BTI Consulting’s “Client Service All-Stars.” The American Lawyer selected him as its “Litigator In The Spotlight” for a series of high-profile victories. He was also selected as one of the Lawdragon 500 “Leading Lawyers in America,” most recently in its 2023 edition. Benchmark Litigation has consistently named him to its elite group of Illinois “Litigation Stars,” most recently in its 2024 edition. Crain’s Chicago Business named him to its 2023 “Notable Litigators and Trial Attorneys” list.
Before entering private practice, Bruce served as a law clerk for William H. Rehnquist, the Chief Justice of the United States, and Joel M. Flaum of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Bruce is a nationally acclaimed first chair trial lawyer and trusted advisor whose practice includes antitrust, professional liability, securities fraud, internal investigations, breach of contract, intellectual property, software litigation, insurance and consumer fraud matters. He also has significant experience representing organizations and individuals in regulatory matters before the DOJ, SEC, PCAOB and other federal and state regulators.
As one of the lead trial lawyers, Bruce defended Microsoft in its landmark three-month antitrust remedies trial in Washington, D.C., which resulted in a complete defense verdict. He subsequently represented Microsoft in a series of trade secret and Intellectual property disputes involving the first Windows Smartphone (Sendo v. Microsoft), the Windows trademark (Lindows v. Microsoft) and volume management software (Symantec/Veritas v. Microsoft). Bruce represented McDonald’s Corporation in the groundbreaking childhood obesity class action in the Southern District of New York (Pelman v. McDonald’s) and subsequently represented McDonald’s in class action consumer fraud litigation involving trans fat disclosures. Bruce has represented numerous accounting firms in class action MDL and other consolidated proceedings arising from the accounting frauds at FTX, Countrywide, Parmalat, Refco, HealthSouth, American Realty Capital Partners, Platinum Partners, Direct Lending, Infinity Q, and GPB, among others.
Among other matters, Bruce presently represents Smartmatic in its voting software defamation litigation against Fox Corporation, Fox News, NewsMax, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Mike Lindell, among others.
In addition, Bruce has extensive appellate experience, including arguing two landmark decisions before the Illinois Supreme Court. He argued and won the seminal asbestos conspiracy case of McClure v. Owens Corning, and he argued and won Mikolajczyk v. Ford, which set the legal standard for design defect cases in Illinois and which overturned one of the nation’s 75 largest verdicts. Bruce has argued in numerous federal appellate courts.
Bruce is the 2020 recipient of the prestigious Judge Learned Hand Human Relations Award given in recognition for his outstanding leadership in the legal profession and Chicago’s civil society. Prior recipients include former luminaries of the Chicago bar.