SUSAN C. LEVY, Managing Partner Publications · Professional Activities Chicago Office Office: (312) 923-2772 Fax: (312) 840-7772 Email: slevy@jenner.com  Add to Outlook Contacts

Susan C. Levy is the Managing Partner of Jenner & Block.  Ms. Levy serves on the Firm’s Policy Committee and is the Past Chair of the Jenner & Block Women’s Forum.  She is a member of the Firm’s Litigation Department and its Complex Commercial Litigation and Government Contracts Practices.  Ms. Levy represents clients in complex business litigation, including fraud, breach of contract, trade secrets, securities, qui tam and government contract actions.  She has also first-chaired numerous matters seeking and obtaining insurance recoveries for her clients.  Ms. Levy is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell's highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability. 

Ms. Levy is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ravinia Festival of Chicago.  She serves on the Executive Committee of the Anti-Defamation League (Greater Chicago/Upper Midwest Region), as well as its Women of Achievement Committee.  Ms. Levy is a member of the BUILD (Broader Urban Development and Leadership Development) Development Committee and served as Co-Chair of the organization's major fundraising dinners in 2006, 2007 and 2008.  She serves on the Advisory Board for Harvard Law School's Center on Lawyers and the Professional Services Industry, and is a member of the Board of the Harvard Law Society of Illinois.

Ms. Levy was recognized by Crain’s magazine in 2009 as one of ten leading “Women to Watch” in Chicago’s business community, as well as in the publication’s “Who’s Who in Chicago Business” list in 2008 and 2009. Ms. Levy was selected in 2009 by Leading Lawyers magazine as one of the top ten leading women lawyers, women business lawyers and women litigators in Illinois. She has also been recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers in its Business Litigation category since 2005.

Ms. Levy graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University in 1979 and obtained her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1982.  She is a member of the Illinois Bar; the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, including the Trial Bar, the Central District of Illinois and the Western District of Michigan; and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, Eighth Circuit, and the Federal Circuit.

Recent Trials and Arbitrations

Ms. Levy served as lead trial counsel for respondent in an arbitration before the American Arbitration Association’s International Centre for Dispute Resolution, ("ICDR") in a $275 million dispute relating to an alleged breach of a “best efforts” clause of a contract.  Following a 12-day hearing, the ICDR ruled in favor of Ms. Levy's clients, denying all of the claimants' claims.

Ms. Levy has successfully first-chaired a matter before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals relating to the allowability of legal costs incurred in the defense of civil fraud claims. 

Ms. Levy served as lead trial counsel for the plaintiff in a trade secrets case brought in the Western District of Michigan.  During the jury trial, Ms. Levy obtained a successful settlement for her clients.

Ms. Levy served as trial counsel in a complex fraud and insurance coverage case.  Following a four-month bench trial, the Missouri state court awarded the defendant $35 million in damages on its counterclaim.

Other Matters

Ms. Levy has handled several appellate matters before the Federal Circuit, the Illinois Appellate Court, the Seventh Circuit and the Eighth Circuit. 

Published Decisions

United States ex rel. Yannacopoulos v. General Dynamics, 2009 WL 2147844 (N.D. Ill. July 16, 2009) (granting summary judgment in favor of Firm's client in major false claims act matter). 

Mofet Etzion Ltd. v. General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11362 (February 4, 2008) (confirming client’s arbitration award and denying petition to vacate).

Ventas, Inc. v. Health Care Property Investors, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. 93191 (December 19, 2007) (denying defendant’s motion to dismiss client’s tortious interference action).

United States ex. rel. Yannacopoulos v. General Dynamics Corp., 2007 U.S. Dist. WL 495257 (N.D. Ill. 2007) (February 13, 2007) (granting defendants' motion for partial summary judgement).

United States ex. rel. Yannacopoulos v. General Dynamics Corp., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76083 (N.D. Ill. 2006) (granting defendants' motion to unseal court file).

In re Marine Energy Systems Corp. v. General Dynamics Corp., 2006 Bankr. LEXIS 1660 (D. S.C. 2006) (granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment on fraud allegations).

In re:  Hovis v. General Dynamics Corp., 325 B.R. 158 (D.S.C. 2005) (granting in part motion for summary judgment in breach of contract, fraud, negligence action).

United States ex. rel. Yannacopoulos v. General Dynamics Corp., 213 F.R.D. 378 (N.D. Ill. 2005) (granting in part motion to compel production of disclosure statements).

United States ex. rel. Yannacopoulos v. General Dynamics Corp., 315 F. Supp. 2d 939 (N.D. Ill. 2004) (denying defendants’ motion to dismiss action brought by relator alleging violation of False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 939). 

Rumsfeld v. General Dynamics Corp., 365 F.3d 1380 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (successfully defending client before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in claims relating to allowability of legal costs; argued appeal before the Federal Circuit, which reversed in part).  

General Dynamics Corp. v. United States, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7260 (C.D. Cal. 1996) (granting judgment in favor of client after trial in Federal Tort Claims Act case against the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), finding negligence by government auditors). 

Yannacopoulos v. General Dynamics Corp., 75 F.3d 1298 (8th Cir. 1996)(successfully defended $100 million RICO, fraud and breach of contract case in federal court in St. Louis, Missouri; after defense verdict on all claims, successfully argued appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit). 

Jakobe v. Rawlings Sporting Goods Co., 943 F. Supp. 1143 (E.D. Mo. 1996) (granting in part defendants’ motion to dismiss class action complaint alleging violations of Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5).

Wapensky v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., 774 F. Supp. 1119 (N.D. Ill. 1991) (granting summary judgment in part on breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty claims). 

United States v. Davis, 724 F. Supp. 268 (SDNY 1989) (denying without prejudice motion to modify a final decree of forfeiture stemming from a related criminal action).

United States v. Davis, 666 F. Supp. 641 (S.D.N. Y. 1987) (denying motion to dismiss and cross motion for partial summary judgment on Government claims relating to fraud and breach of contract relating to client’s vicarious liability for actions of its former employees).

Bernstein v. IDT Corporation, 76 B.R. 275 (S.D.N.Y. 1987) (denying motion to dismiss clients’  counterclaims in bankruptcy seeking equitable relief and alleging breach of contract).

Recent Conferences, Presentations and Publications

Practicing Law Institute Law Firm Leadership and Management Institute 2010 — Speaker: Leadership Succession Planning, February 1-2, 2010

Conflict Prevention & Resolution Annual Meeting  — Speaker: Dispute Prevention and De-escalation: How to Draft and Deploy “Real Time” Resolution Tools, January 15, 2010

Harvard Law School – Speaker: Law Firm Leaders' Panel: Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Legal Services Industry, October, 2009

International Bar Association Annual Conference – Speaker: Women in Law Firm and Company Management, October, 2009

Practising Law Institute Corporate Counsel Institute 2009 — Speaker: The Future of Law Firms and Law Practice Infrastructure, September, 2009

ABA Annual Meeting — Speaker: Women in the Law: Past, Present and Future, August, 2009

Women in Law Empowerment Forum — Speaker: Different Approaches to Leadership for Women in Law Firms, June 2009

Co-Authored: “The Implied Certification Theory: When Should the False Claims Act Reach Statements Never Spoken or Communicated, But Only Implied," American Bar Association Public Contracts Law Journal, Fall 2008

Harvard Law School — Speaker: Celebration 55: The Women's Leadership Summit, September 2008

Co-Authored: "Proceed with caution when using 'best efforts' clauses," Midwest In-House, Vol. 5, No. 2, January 2008

Co-Authored: "Court Will Resolve a Clash of Fundamental Values," The National Law Journal, November 26, 2007

Co-Authored: “Freedom of Contract v. Efficient Dispute Resolution: The Supreme Court to Decide Primary Policy Underlying the Federal Arbitration Act,” Conflict Management Newsletter, ABA Section of Litigation ADR Committee, Vol. 12, No. 1, Fall 2007

Co-Authored: "Getting Sued for False Statements You Never Made: The Use of the Implied Certification Theory in FCA Cases," For The Defense, September 2007

Co-Authored: “Absolutely Not Total:  Limits of Pollution Exclusions,” The John Liner Review, Vol. 18, No. 1, Spring 2004

Co-Authored: “Trending Toward Coverage:  State Courts Continue to Limit Pollution Exclusion,” Mealey’s Litigation Report - Insurance, October 21, 2003

Co-Authored: “An ‘Absolute' Trend:  DC and New York Join the Majority of Other Courts Limiting the ‘Absolute Pollution Exclusion’,” riskVue Industry Watch - Environmental Liability, October 2003

Harvard Law School — Co-Presenter: Rules of the Game, Harvard Women’s Law Association, February 2006

Harvard Law School — Keynote Panelist:  Women’s Law Journal, Conference on Emotions and
the Law, March 2004