Loeb & Loeb RICO Victory Listed Among the National Law Journal’s Top 100 Verdicts of 2014

Loeb & Loeb LLP has been recognized in The National Law Journal’s listing of the “Top 100 Verdicts” in 2014 for securing an $82 million judgment on behalf of the four highest-grossing Illinois casinos after a federal RICO jury trial late last year.

The civil racketeering suit accused an Illinois racetrack owner of conspiring to bribe then Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to sign legislation in 2008 that transferred 3 percent of the gross revenues of Illinois’ four highest- grossing casinos to the state’s horse racing tracks. After a little over two hours of deliberations, a federal jury found in favor of Loeb & Loeb’s clients, returning an $82 million verdict against the track owner and two tracks for damages stemming from this portion of the corruption scandal that toppled and jailed former Gov. Blagojevich.

Each year, The National Law Journal's VerdictSearch affiliate scours the nation’s court records and news reports to compile a listing of the nation's largest verdicts of the previous year based on the amount of the jury verdict award. According to the report published in the March 30 issue of the National Law Journal, Loeb & Loeb’s win on behalf of on behalf of the firm’s client casinos in Empress Casino Joliet Corp. et al. v. John Johnston et al. ranked as the 24th largest verdict in the country in 2014, and the No. 1 verdict in Illinois. The full report can be accessed here.

Loeb & Loeb partner Jeremy Margolis served as trial counsel for the casinos. Mr. Margolis focuses his practice on grand jury investigations, internal investigations, compliance issues, white collar trials and complex commercial litigation matters. He represents clients in connection with allegations of violation of RICO, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the False Claims Act, health care fraud, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, perjury and tax violations.