Liz Reutter focuses her practice on the areas of complex business litigation, securities and class action litigation, as well as partnership and shareholder disputes. Liz has managed the defense of several regional and nationwide "bet the company" class actions since 2004. She has also successfully represented clients in SEC enforcement proceedings. Liz currently serves as the Assistant Chair of the Litigation Division.

Prior to joining Leonard, Street and Deinard, Liz practiced in the area of business litigation at Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, and clerked for the Honorable Rudy Lozano of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.

Liz was selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers®-Rising Stars in 2007 and 2008. Most recently, she was recognized as a “future star” in business and commercial litigation by Benchmark Litigation in the 2012 edition of its annual rankings.

• Represented a major insurance company in a putative class action in West Virginia federal court involving underinsured motorist coverage. After extensive discovery, in 2011 the court denied the plaintiffs’ motion to certify the class and granted the insurer’s motion for summary judgment as to two of the class representatives.
• Represented former stockholders in an arbitration in which the stock purchaser sought indemnification for damages it allegedly sustained in defending a patent infringement case. After Liz successfully argued multiple motions to compel the stock purchaser to produce relevant documents, the parties settled the arbitration very favorably for her clients in 2011.
• Represented the CEO of the Irish subsidiary of a U.S. public company in a Rule 10b-5 action involving a financial restatement and accounting improprieties. Liz successfully argued for summary judgment in favor of her client. The SEC’s claims were dismissed in 2010.
• Represented a financial services company in a $2 billion class action involving allegations of fraudulent marketing practices in connection with the sale of annuities. In 2009, a jury in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota found that the class members had not sustained any damage as a result of those marketing practices, and the case was dismissed in 2010.
• Represented a financial services company in a National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) arbitration involving allegations of breach of contract and defamation. After the arbitration in Tennessee, arbitrators dismissed all claims against Liz’s client and ordered the opposing party to pay arbitration forum fees.

Education

• J.D., cum laude, Northwestern University School of Law, 1997
• B.S., with high honors, Business Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1994

Admissions

• State of Minnesota, 2002
• State of Illinois, 1997
• U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, 2002
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 1999
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, 2001