INSIGHTS

Promotion recognizes Kalli’s trial experience, client advocacy, and contributions to GLG’s growth Goodman Law Group | Chicago (GLG) is pleased to announce that Kalli Nies has been promoted to Partner. Kalli was recruited to GLG seven years ago at the firm’s founding, in part because of her broad experience successfully taking cases to trial. Since then, she has been a key member of the firm, focusing her practice on complex commercial litigation and insurance coverage disputes. Kalli represents policyholders in high-stakes insurance coverage matters, drawing on experience on

Former federal judicial clerk and government attorney brings deep trial, appellate, and regulatory experience to growing litigation practice Goodman Law Group | Chicago (GLG) is pleased to announce that Patrick Berning-O’Neill has joined the firm as a litigator. Patrick brings a distinctive combination of federal judicial, appellate, and government experience to his practice, strengthening the firm’s capabilities in complex litigation, regulatory matters, and high-stakes legal disputes. Before joining GLG, Patrick served as a law clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where he

We are pleased to announce that GLG has retained its prestigious band ranking from Chambers and Partners. Released June 4, the Chambers USA Legal Guide 2026 once again recognizes our boutique firm for excellence in the “Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Policyholder” category in Illinois. We are also thrilled to share that GLG Founder David Goodman (Band 3) and Senior Litigator Kalli Nies (Up and Coming) have been recognized as leading practitioners in this space. “We were thrilled to break into the Chambers rankings last year, and Kalli and I

Mike Hutcherson joined Goodman Law Group | Chicago in January 2025. A skilled litigator who has achieved favorable outcomes for clients as first and second chair in jury trials, Mike draws on his experience to evaluate claims, develop strategies, and implement those strategies proactively to advance his clients’ interests. Outside the courtroom, he is an avid runner who recognizes the similarities between the diligence required to train for a race and the preparation required for litigation. Read our Q&A below to learn more about Mike. What sparked your

A federal court recently delivered a significant victory for our client—a leading construction company that builds and repairs large-scale public infrastructure projects across the United States—in a high-stakes insurance coverage dispute involving millions of dollars in losses tied to a tunnel flooding event. Our client was retained to repair, improve, and expand a major water reclamation facility designed to manage overflow stormwater and sewage. During the construction of a tunnel intended to connect untreated sewage to a reservoir, a 20-foot-thick concrete barrier separating raw sewage from the tunnel

Recently, I had the opportunity to present to the Commercial Litigation Committee of the Chicago Bar Association on a topic that frequently arises in commercial disputes but is often misunderstood in practice: the distinction between material and partial breaches of contract. Titled “Materiality Matters: Material vs. Partial Breaches of Contract,” the presentation explored how courts distinguish between different types of contractual breaches and why that distinction is critical in commercial disputes and, more specifically, in insurance coverage disputes. You might reasonably ask what makes a breach “material” and why “materiality”

Walking into a courtroom for jury duty, I felt immediately out of place—in the best way possible. It was my first time sitting in a courtroom, and I was clearly the youngest person in the room. Many people complain about jury duty, but as a recent college graduate working at a law firm and planning to attend law school, I looked forward to it. I was not disappointed because serving on this jury was one of the most educational experiences I have had outside a classroom. The case

We often hear from frustrated businesses when they are pursuing insurance claims that are seemingly stuck in limbo or when a claim has been denied that they were sure was within the insurance coverage they purchased. We tell them that they are not alone in their experiences—that the insurer’s business model of “delay and deny” is designed to cause policyholders to abandon claims. Insurers recognize that many businesses do not have personnel devoted exclusively to handling insurance coverage issues when they arise. Further, most businesses never understood the

In South Capitol Bridgebuilders v. Lexington Insurance Company (SCB), Goodman Law Group | Chicago (GLG) secured a major win for policyholders in the first published decision in the world to address the meaning of the LEG3 endorsement to builders risk insurance policies. This 2023 decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia caused an earthquake in the world of builders risk insurance coverage that continues to cause aftershocks, including an October 2025 article published in Law360 describing the outcome of the case as “a nuclear