Sean M. Berkowitz

Sean Berkowitz, Global Chair of the Complex Commercial Litigation Practice, represents clients in complex litigation and regulatory investigations.

Mr. Berkowitz is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who regularly advises Fortune 500 companies and individual executives on their most important litigation matters in courts and venues throughout the United States. He also advises clients on government and regulatory investigations, and develops strategies to resolve those matters short of litigation.

He has an established track record of successfully resolving cases at trial or before trial in a variety of subject areas, including:

• Securities fraud
• Antitrust
• Deceptive business practices
• Complex commercial litigation

Mr. Berkowitz is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and has successfully tried more than 30 cases to verdict. His successful representation of Gary Winemaster, the former CEO and founder of Power Solutions International, Inc., in a criminal, four-week bench trial against the DOJ in the Northern District of Illinois in 2021 earned Mr. Berkowitz an Impact Case Award by Benchmark Litigation. The Legal 500 US recognizes Mr. Berkowitz as a Leading Lawyer for General Commercial Disputes, and Chambers USA ranks him Band 1 in three separate categories: General Commercial, Securities, and White Collar Crime & Government Investigations. Clients describe him as “a brilliant attorney” and “top flight trial lawyer” who “brings a wealth of experience” and is “impressive in both the courtroom and boardroom.” Mr. Berkowitz was named a 2022 Law360 MVP for Trials and a 2023 Crain’s Chicago Notable Litigator & Trial Attorney. He was included in the 2019-2022 editions of Lawdragon 500, an annual list of leading lawyers in America, and was named a Lawdragon Legend in 2022, a recognition earned by only 20 lawyers nationwide. In addition to being named a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in the 2021-2023 editions of Benchmark Litigation, a White Collar Crime/Investigations Litigator of the Year in 2022, and a Litigation Star in 2020-2023, Mr. Berkowitz is recognized by Best Lawyer for Bet-the-Company Litigation and Criminal Defense: White-Collar, and was named “Lawyer of the Year” for Bet-the-Company Litigation in 2022.

Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, Mr. Berkowitz served in several federal government positions including as:

• Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section for the United States Attorney’s office in the Northern District of Illinois
• Director of the special task force created to investigate the Enron corporate scandal, and lead prosecutor in the criminal case against Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling

Leadership

Mr. Berkowitz recently completed a five-year term as Global Chair of the firm’s Litigation & Trial Department. He is the former Illinois Chair of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is a past president of the Chicago Inn of Court. He serves on the boards of the Chicago Area Project and A Better Chicago, an innovative non-profit organization that invests in and supports a portfolio of educational charities.