Joanne A. Sarasin

Joanne concentrates her practice on complex commercial litigation with a specific emphasis on appellate law, especially as it pertains to insurance coverage issues. She has successfully obtained not only insurance coverage, but also additional damages against insurers who have acted in bad faith towards their policyholders. Her successful representations include obtaining insurance coverage for policyholders sued for defamation, for architectural malpractice and for violations of federal statutes resulting in class actions under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits "blast faxing." Joanne's work on blast fax cases resulted in a victory for policyholders in the Illinois Supreme Court, which overturned a prior decision by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals denying coverage. 

Joanne's practice also involves the defense of employment discrimination lawsuits, with a focus on winning cases at the motion stage though effective legal writing. She recently created a seminar on effective appellate writing and argument, which she presented with the Honorable Dianne Wood of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and other counsel at an American Bar Association section conference. Joanne has also acted as an advisor to attorneys at other law firms seeking to obtain appeals before the Illinois Supreme Court.