Mr. Bax began his legal career working in the litigation departments of large law firms, including Phelan, Pope & John, Ltd. and Vedder Price. In 2000, he and David Williams co-founded the firm with the idea of providing the quality and sophistication of the legal work they performed at such firms but in a more cost effective manner.
Mr. Bax has extensive experience representing clients of all sizes, from Fortune 500 companies and their executives to family-owned small businesses, in pretrial, trial and appellate proceedings in state and federal courts throughout the United States. In the commercial arena, Mr. Bax has extensive experience both defending and prosecuting claims for trade secret misappropriation, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of restrictive covenants. He has prosecuted claims on behalf of employers to protect their confidential information and customer relationships from unfair competition by their former employees as well as defended executives in many different industries from overly broad post-employment restrictions. As part of his practice, Mr. Bax routinely participates in emergency injunctive proceedings in both state and federal courts. Mr. Bax’ practice in the commercial litigation arena also includes prosecuting and defending large and small businesses in a variety of complex commercial matters. Such matters include defending an international telecommunications manufacturer against claims for allegedly defective products, prosecuting claims for check fraud on behalf of a Canadian export financing agency, and defending an insurance company against claims of corporate espionage.
Mr. Bax also has substantial experience in litigating construction disputes on behalf of owners, general contractors and subcontractors in both the private and public sector. He has experience both prosecuting as well as defending mechanics lien claims and construction defect claims. Mr. Bax has represented companies ranging from an industrial electrical subcontractor, a masonry restoration contractor, a commercial general contractor to a national childcare facility company.
In addition to litigating such claims, Mr. Bax also counsels businesses and executives on a variety of matters. For example, he advises clients, including a national bank and national food service provider, on the enforceability of competition restrictions and develops hiring protocols to reduce the risk of liability for those companies when recruiting potential employees from competitors. He has advised condominium associations with respect to insurance coverage for property damage and developed action plans for repair or restoration of their buildings and recovering reimbursement for those costs via insurance and/or litigation. Mr. Bax has also negotiated and drafted contracts in the construction industry for owners, general contractors and subcontractors.
Admitted to Illinois bar, 1994. Undergraduate education, Augustana College (B.A., cum laude, 1990). Legal education, Loyola University of Chicago School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1994), Member of the Loyola Law Journal.