Luke Beasley

Luke Beasley is a passionate and determined advocate for his clients. He has litigated an array of high-stakes matters, ranging from breach-of-contract and business torts to products liability defense and intellectual property disputes. Luke has helped secure wins for plaintiffs—including tens of millions in judgments and settlements—and for defendants—including complete dismissals of all claims, with the other side taking nothing. Luke has significant experience in all phases of litigation: developing legal strategy at the outset of a case, building a case through discovery, drafting and arguing motions, and examining witnesses at trial.

Before joining Bartlit Beck, Luke clerked for two different federal judges, first on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and then on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Luke graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he also served on the Board of Student Advisers and was a member of the winning team in the school’s moot court competition.

Prior to law school, Luke worked for three years with Teach For America in Jacksonville, Florida—two as a teacher and coach at William M. Raines High School, and a third helping lead a cohort of new teachers through their first year in the classroom. Luke remains committed to Teach For America’s mission to advance educational equality and serves on the Greater Chicago region’s Leadership Circle.

Luke also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law in the Federal Appellate Clinic at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. 

Representative Matters

Nigel John Eccles et al. v. Shamrock Capital Advisors, LLC, et al. (State Court, New York)
Trial counsel for FanDuel founders and more than 120 former employees and angel investors in lawsuit against late-stage private equity investors and six of the seven former members of the board of directors of FanDuel. The suit alleges that the private equity investors and former board members wiped out the founders', former employees', and angel investors' interests in the company by breaching their fiduciary duties and unjustly enriching themselves in the wake of a 2018 merger between FanDuel and European bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair.

General Access Solutions v. Verizon (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas)
Trial counsel for General Access in patent infringement action against Verizon. After a one-week trial and two hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict, finding that Verizon infringed General Access’s patents and awarded $847 million in damages. The Court subsequently set aside the verdict and ordered a new trial. The parties entered into a confidential settlement during the retrial. Law360 recognized the victory as one of the largest verdicts in patent history, and you can read more about the case here.

Lionra v. Cisco, Lionra v. Palo Alto Networks, Lionra v. Fortinet (E.D. Texas)
Trial counsel for plaintiff in three related cases asserting infringement of patents relating to computer network security. Argued each case at pretrial conference.  Each case settled before trial.

Pearson Family Foundation v. The University of Chicago (N.D. Okla.)
Trial counsel for The University of Chicago in dispute arising from $100 million grant agreement. Case pending.

Snow v. Align Technology (N.D. Cal.)
Representing Align Technology, Inc. in putative antitrust class action brought by a class of purchasers of aligners alleging anticompetitive agreements. Case pending.

Moore v. Nicholson (N.D. Ill.)
Pro bono trial counsel for inmate in a Section 1983 suit against prison and medical staff for unconstitutional conditions of confinement resulting in a cockroach infestation and for improper medical care leading to hearing loss. Case settled favorably during lead-up to trial after medical defendants’ summary judgment motion was denied.

SmileDirectClub v. Align Technology, Operating Agreement Arbitration
Before hiring Bartlit Beck, SDC won an arbitration against Align (maker of Invisalign®) that required Align to close numerous Invisalign® stores. In a follow-on Arbitration Bartlit Beck represented Align and obtained a complete defense victory for Align in claims SDC brought asserting that Align had further violated the Operating Agreement between the parties. As trial counsel for Align, conducted multiple witness examinations, including the cross of SDC’s damages expert.

Align Technology v. SmileDirectClub, Supply Agreement Arbitration I
Served as trial counsel and obtained a complete victory for Align in an arbitration related to Align’s affirmative claims against SmileDirectClub (“SDC”) and SDC’s first counterclaim against Align under the Supply Agreement. The arbitrator entered an award for $63 million in favor of Align, and the Superior Court for the County of Santa Clara confirmed that award. As trial counsel for Align, conducted multiple witness examinations, including a direct of Align’s damages expert and a cross of an SDC fact witness.

Align Technology v. SmileDirectClub, Supply Agreement Arbitration II
Served as trial counsel in Align’s successful defense of SDC’s second counterclaim against Align at an arbitration hearing. The Arbitrator issued an award in favor of Align and against SDC. At the hearing, conducted the examinations of each side’s liability experts.

Align Technology v. SmileDirectClub (ND Cal.)
Based on findings by the arbitrator in the Operating Agreement Arbitration, Bartlit Beck represents Align in a case asserting claims against SDC on the ground that SDC is lying to consumers about the level of supervision dentists and orthodontists provide to patients in SDC’s business. 

Sprint v. Cequel et al. (D. Del.) 
Trial counsel for defendant Cequel (Altice) in patent lawsuit brought by Sprint alleging that Cequel’s voice-over-IP networks infringe a number of Sprint’s patents. Case settled shortly before trial.

YAZ®/Yasmin® Product Liability Litigation
Represented Bayer as part of a nationwide product liability litigation alleging personal injuries caused by the oral contraceptives YAZ® and Yasmin®. MDL in the Southern District of Illinois and in individual cases in California, Oregon, and Georgia. Among other positive results, obtained complete dismissal of all claims against Bayer in a suit filed in Oregon federal court, and briefed a successful 11^th Circuit appeal upholding a summary judgment decision in Bayer’s favor.