Wellman, Steven K.

Jon Loevy is an extremely accomplished trial lawyer, having won more than $100 million in jury verdicts for his clients, all in cases involving challenging fact patterns and difficult to prove allegations. Loevy has won 20 out of his last 22 jury trials, including his last eleven in a row.   For more, click here:  Recent Successes – Trials.

As lead counsel, Jon Loevy has won 13 separate million- or multi-million dollar jury verdicts.  This includes a $28 million jury verdict in Regalado v. Chicago in 1999, still the largest civil rights verdict in the City's history. Since that time, he has received million dollar-plus jury verdicts as lead counsel in eleven other "long shot" cases, including Jimenez v. Chicago in 2012 ($25 million for false arrest and wrongful imprisonment of 14 year old boy); Duran v. Chicago in 2008 ($4.2 million for interference with child custody); Johnson v. Guevara in 2009 ($21 million for 11 years of wrongful imprisonment); Borsellino v. Putnam in 2009 ($11 million for fraud by the former president of the NYSE); Newman v. Squire in 2010 ($6 million for wrongful death);   Coffie v. Chicago in 2007 ($4 million for police brutality); Dominguez v. Waukegan in 2006 ($9 million for 4 years of wrongful imprisonment); Manning v. United States FBI in 2005 ($6.6 million for wrongful conviction); Ware v. Chicago in 2007 ($5 million for fatal police shooting); Garcia v. Chicago in 2003 ($1 million); and Russell v. Chicago in 2003 ($1.5 million for fatal police shooting); and Waits v. Chicago in 2002 ($1.5 million for police brutality).

Loevy is also a highly successful appellate lawyer. Civil rights cases are notoriously difficult to win, but Loevy was won 13 out of the last 17 appeals he’s argued before the federal appellate courts (including wins in the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits), the majority of which were on behalf of the appellant seeking to overturn an adverse ruling.  For more, click here:  Recent Successes.

After one victory, the Honorable James F. Holderman, Chief Judge of the Northern District of Illinois summarized Loevy's trial skills in a written decision reported at Garcia v. Chicago, 2003 WL 22175620 (N.D.Ill. 2003):

Jon Loevy is an outstanding trial lawyer. His ability belies his years of experience, and he certainly should not be held in a lock-step position based on his law school graduation year with regard to his hourly rate. . . Not only did Jon Loevy display tremendous advocacy skills during the trial before the jury, he handled all the matters involved in this litigation with great aplomb. His case was well-organized. The evidentiary progression was easy to follow. His examinations of adverse witnesses [1], and his dealing with the sometimes improper tactics of his opposing counsel, were highly professional.
Jon Loevy's poise, analysis, and demeanor in front of the jury, as well as his rapier-like cross-examination style, are reminiscent of the trial skills displayed by some of the nationally recognized trial lawyers in this community when they were the age that Jon Loevy is now. [1] Among those nationally recognized trial lawyers whose trial skills the court is familiar with when they were Jon Loevy's age are: Royal B. Martin of Martin, Brown and Sullivan; Michael D. Monico of Monico, Spevack and Pavich; Thomas R. Mulroy of McGuire Woods; Anton J. Valukas of Jenner & Block; and Dan K. Webb of Winston & Strawn. Additionally, Jon Loevy's overall performance ranks among the finest displays of courtroom work by a plaintiff's lead trial counsel that this court has presided over in several years.

More recently, another federal judge recently described Loevy as "an attorney whose experience, skill, and record of success in representing plaintiffs in police misconduct cases place him at the apex of attorneys who practice in that field."  Wells v. City of Chicago, 2013 WL 622942 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 20, 2013).  In another case, a federal judge noted: “Loevy and his firm consistently produce written work that rivals that of any law firm in Chicago-not just those specializing in this particular field.”  Jimenez v. City of Chicago, 2012 WL 5512266 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 14, 2012) (“Loevy's outstanding trial advocacy skills put him in the top tier of civil trial attorneys in the Chicago area. He and his firm have an impressive record of success in plaintiff's civil rights litigation.”).  Another federal judge referred to Jon Loevy’s “now established reputation as a singularly formidable trial lawyer in civil rights cases.”  Robinson v. City of Harvey, 2008 WL 4534158 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 7, 2008).

Loevy graduated from Columbia Law School in 1993, where he served as a Senior Editor of the Columbia Law Review. At Columbia, he was a Kent Scholar (approximately top 1% of the academic class), as well the recipient of the Young B. Smith Prize given to the student with the top examination in torts, and the Paul R. Hayes Prize given to the student with the top exam in civil procedure.

Upon graduating, Loevy clerked for Judge Milton I. Shadur of the Northern District of Illinois for a year, after which he took a year off and travelled around the world. Upon returning home, he joined the firm then-known as Sidley & Austin, where he spent a year and a half before leaving to start his own firm, first as a solo practitioner, and then in partnership with his wife, Danielle Loevy.

The firm he formed, Loevy & Loevy, has since grown to 20 lawyers, and is now one of the largest firms devoted to civil rights in Chicago, if not the entire country.

Loevy is also a lecturer at law at the University of Chicago, where he co-teaches a clinic on wrongful conviction litigation with other members of his firm. Loevy also teaches Trial Advocacy to clinic students at the University of Chicago.

Loevy was previously named one of the Law Bulletin's prestigious "40 under 40" attorneys to watch in Chicago, as well as one of Chicago Lawyer's "Next Generation Rising Stars of the Trial Bar."

More recently, Loevy was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award from the Chicago Law Bulletin, putting him in the select group of 11 attorneys in the history of the State of Illinois with five or more jury verdicts in excess of $5 million (Loevy has seven).