Chicago Roots. National Reach. Superior Results. This year, Tabet DiVito & Rothstein commemorates its 25th anniversary, celebrating a quarter century of achieving exceptional outcomes for our clients, growing and maintaining a thriving boutique litigation practice, and serving our community. Since its founding, the firm has built a reputation for delivering high-quality litigation work and always putting our clients first.
A Quarter Century of Excellence
Caesar A. Tabet, Gino L. DiVito, and Michael I Rothstein founded TDR in 2001 to create a firm dedicated to sophisticated trial and appellate work without the constraints of a large firm. While the firm has grown steadily over 25 years and is now home to 25 attorneys and expanded practice capabilities—including work in high-stakes commercial, intellectual property, employment, and appellate matters—TDR has intentionally remained boutique in structure. The firm has proven that it is possible to provide both elite, industry-respected counsel and a personalized, attentive approach.
Within this model, TDR has demonstrated trial readiness, discipline, and the ability to deliver outcomes while competing with dozens of larger regional and national firms. Some of the firm’s most successful victories include:
Taking high-stakes disputes to trial
- Leyshon Jury Trial. Obtained a jury verdict in excess of $13 million in compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of the former President and CEO of a North American subsidiary of a German conglomerate in a lawsuit involving breach of an executive employment agreement and defamation. The $13 million awarded by the jury was one of the largest jury verdicts of the year in Illinois, and it is be among the largest awards in this type of case in U.S. history. The trial court’s judgment was affirmed by the Illinois Appellate Court.
- Hospira / Pfizer Jury Victory. Prevailed in a jury verdict in favor of Pfizer in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. After a three-week trial, the jury found in favor of Pfizer on GSK’s $25 million claim that Pfizer breached a contract to manufacture flu vaccines and on Pfizer’s counterclaim for unjust enrichment/quantum meruit.
Winning significant appeals
- Nauman v. Hospira and Seventh Circuit Affirmation. Argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to affirm a verdict in an ERISA class action that TDR obtained for Hospira after a nine-day bench trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
- Center Partners v. Urban Illinois Supreme Court Appeal. Tackled an issue of first impression with enormous consequences for attorney-client privilege in Illinois. In a contentious national real estate venture case, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously ruled in TDR’s client’s favor, holding that pre-litigation disclosure of attorney-client privileged advice to a counterparty in a corporate negotiation did not waive the privilege in subsequent litigation.
- Fix v. Quantum Executive Compensation and Seventh Circuit Victory. Argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to affirm a multi-million-dollar judgment in an Executive Compensation case involving Change in Control payments in the context of a corporate restructuring and squeeze-out.
Delivering meaningful results for clients and the community
- PrimeCo Illinois Supreme Court Appeal. Argued before the Illinois Supreme Court that a taxation classification applied to cellular phone companies violated the Illinois State Constitution. Upon remand, TDR brought a defendant class action to provide state-wide tax refunds to all Illinois cellular phone users, secured class certification, and obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in refunds.
- Chicago Retired Teachers Pension Supreme Court Victory. Argued before the Illinois Supreme Court that legislation reducing the pension benefits of Illinois state pension system members violated the Pension Protection Clause of the Illinois State Constitution.
- The United States Conference of Mayors Litigation. Safeguarded the rights of thousands of U.S. cities to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in federal law enforcement grants without the unilateral imposition by the Attorney General of the United States of unauthorized federal immigration-related conditions. TDR succeeded in both the district court and Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in obtaining and protecting an injunction against those conditions.
- Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Ass’n., et al. v. County of Cook. Obtained a declaratory judgment in 2026 that Cook County unconstitutionally diverted over $243 million in transportation tax revenues in a single fiscal year. Representing a coalition of transportation infrastructure associations, this litigation also resulted in an opinion by the Illinois Supreme Court that Cook County’s home rule powers do not exempt it from its duty to comply with the Safe Roads Amendment to the Illinois Constitution.
- Pro Bono/Public Service. In 2022, three TDR lawyers received the Excellence in Pro Bono and Public Interest Service award from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for their work representing an inmate at Stateville Correctional Center in a claim under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.
Maintaining commitment to service
- Major 3PL Arbitration and Litigation. Defended a third-party logistics firm in a bet-the-company dispute against a prominent international manufacturer after lengthy evidentiary proceedings in arbitration and related court proceedings.
- Federal Trade Show Trial. Defended an international conglomerate in a dispute regarding ownership of one of the nation’s largest trade shows. The hard-fought battle involved more than 60 fact and expert depositions taken in Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and London, and a four-week federal jury trial that concluded with a favorable settlement during jury deliberations.
The firm’s successes have earned TDR recognition in prestigious rankings such as Chambers USA and Best Law Firms. TDR attorneys are regularly named to Super Lawyers lists, and their insights are also frequently featured in legal publications such as Law360, the Illinois Bar Journal, and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
“As one of the firm’s founding members, I am proud that TDR has remained a strong and thriving presence in the high-stakes litigation boutique space, particularly as the number of firms operating in this arena has declined over the years,” said Caesar A. Tabet. “We knew from the outset that this model would allow us to compete at the highest levels while maintaining the standards, discipline, and client attention that define a top boutique firm.”
TDR’s Contributions to the Legal and Local Community
Since the start of TDR, firm attorneys have held and continue to hold leadership roles across the profession, including service in the Illinois State Bar Association, the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, the Federal Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Appellate Lawyers Association of Illinois, judicial screening committees, the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee, and numerous other organizations at the local, state, and national levels.
Aside from providing insights in industry treatises, presentations, and publications, TDR’s lawyers have also lent their insights to organizations paving the way for the next generation of attorneys. They have served as adjunct faculty at the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law and the University of Illinois at Chicago, as faculty members for the Practicing Law Institute’s continuing legal education seminars, and as teachers for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.
In the local community, firm members support a range of philanthropic and civic initiatives. TDR partner Kyle A. Cooper currently serves as the President of the Chicago Police Board, which oversees disciplinary actions against Chicago police officers. Likewise, TDR partners have served on the board of directors and in leadership in many agencies and organizations, including Legal Aid Chicago, the largest provider of free, non-criminal legal services to those living in poverty in Cook County, and many others.
Positioning the Next Generation
As TDR progresses, leadership development and practice growth remain top priorities. The firm now includes eight equity partners, with five representing the next generation of firm leadership.
While much of the next generation joined the partnership within the last several years, each has been intentionally positioned to guide the firm into the next chapter.
“We are committed to continuing to guide our successors to take on the firm’s next phase under our founding principles,” said Michael I Rothstein, a firm founding partner. “They share the same rigor and commitment to excellence that have defined the firm for its first 25 years, and we are assured they will carry that legacy forward.”
We are excited to witness TDR’s continued progression with a new generation of leadership rising to the challenge.