TAK ONO is a managing associate in the Commercial Litigation and Disputes group in the firm’s Chicago office. Tak represents corporations and individuals in a variety of high-stakes commercial disputes and enforcement actions, including complex investigations and litigation involving the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, Tak has extensive experience representing clients in investigations and litigation involving federal and state False Claims Acts. His broad dispute resolution experience includes arguing dispositive and discovery motions in court, taking and defending depositions of fact and expert witnesses, drafting major briefs in complex cases, and managing large e-discovery teams in fast-paced, data-intensive matters.
Prior to joining Sidley, Tak assisted the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission in prosecuting fraud allegations against large corporations. He worked with federal prosecutors to investigate companies by identifying and interviewing key witnesses, reviewing and assessing corporate documents, collecting and analyzing relevant data, and evaluating potential legal claims.
In a previous career, Tak served as a journalist after graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He conducted live, on-air reports and interviews for an award-winning television news station in Wisconsin. Tak frequently draws on his journalism background when conducting sensitive investigations, taking depositions of adverse witnesses, and managing time-critical projects. His reporting experience also helps him in effectively synthesizing complicated issues into digestible narratives that are easy to understand.
Tak was born in Japan and is fluent in Japanese. He is passionate about increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession and is actively involved in strategies and initiatives that promote those goals. Specifically, he serves in a leadership role on the Associate Diversity Council in Sidley’s Chicago office and also serves as Chair of the Associate Board for the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms. He is also the founder and co-chair of the Japanese American Bar Association’s Chicago Regional Committee, and a board member for the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago.