Reid M. Bolton

Reid Bolton is a trial lawyer representing clients in high-stakes litigation and arbitration. His practice covers a variety of practice areas, including complex commercial disputes, patent infringement, unfair competition, and products liability litigation. Most recently, Reid was a member of a trial team that obtained a full defense verdict in a case alleging that Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Reid’s accomplishments have earned him a spot on Benchmark Litigation's “40 & Under Hot List" from 2018-2022 and Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America” list from 2022-2024.

Before joining the firm in 2011, he clerked for the Honorable Frank H. Easterbrook, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and worked as a business analyst and public sector fellow at McKinsey & Company. Reid earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School with High Honors and earned his AB degree from Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude.

Beyond his trial work, Reid is committed to strengthening his community through initiatives centered on youth education and mentorship. Reid currently serves as a trustee of Kieve Wavus Education and previously served on the Associate Board for the One Million Degrees Foundation.

Cases Tried or Otherwise Taken to Judgment

Roundup® Litigation (Nationwide, 2019-present)
Trial counsel for Monsanto and Bayer defending the Roundup® products liability litigation. Plaintiffs allege personal injuries, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, caused by Roundup® herbicide. The MDL is pending in the Northern District of California, with state-court proceedings pending in Missouri, California, and other states. Cases tried include:

• Evans v. Monsanto (City of St. Louis, 2022) — Plaintiff asserted claims for strict liability design defect, strict liability failure to warn, and negligence.  Case settled mid-trial after three days of testimony.
• Gordon v. Monsanto (St. Louis County, 2023) — Plaintiff asserted claims for strict liability design defect, strict liability failure to warn, and negligence. After a six-week trial, the jury found in favor of Monsanto on all three claims for a complete defense verdict.

Align v. 3Shape (D. Del., 2020-2022)
Counsel for Align in a patent suit brought by 3Shape for alleged infringement of three different patents related to 3D dental imaging technology. After one patent was dismissed from the case in 2020, summary judgment arguments were held in 2021, and the claims of the third patent were found unpatentable in an IPR, the parties entered a global settlement in early 2022.

Confidential AAA Arbitration (Seattle, 2020-2021)
Trial counsel for aerospace manufacturer in a two-week AAA arbitration before a panel of three arbitrators. The hearing involved opening statements, direct and cross-examinations, and closing arguments. The proceedings and outcome are confidential.

Spirit AeroSystems v. Boeing (Superior Court, King County, WA 2018-2022)
Trial counsel for Spirit AeroSystems in $365 million breach of contract dispute with Boeing relating to Boeing's underpayments and certain warranty claims associated with parts Spirit manufactured for Boeing aircraft. Shortly after Spirit defeated Boeing's motion to dismiss, the parties settled and resolved most of the claims, and agreed to dismiss the suit. 

Rauner v. Kirkpatrick (Confidential AAA Arbitration) and Kirkpatrick v. Rauner (Cook County Circuit Court 2018)
Trial counsel for Bruce Rauner (former Illinois Governor and former managing partner of private equity firm GTCR) in arbitration related to his investment as a limited partner in a private equity fund. The dispute centered on whether the general partner (Kirkpatrick) breached his fiduciary duties by deviating from the partnership agreement's waterfall provision. The case was tried to a final arbitral award, but the results are confidential. Kirkpatrick attempted to litigate a portion of the dispute in the Cook County Circuit Court, but we successfully moved to compel arbitration.

FortuNet Inc. v. Gaming Arts LLC (Clark County, NV 2017-2019)
Lead trial counsel for Gaming Arts in fraud, breach of contract, and unfair competition lawsuit related to sales agreement and bingo paper supply contract. Successfully defeated FortuNet's fraud claim after six-day bench trial in February 2018. Second phase of trial led to jury verdict against Gaming Arts. The court reversed the jury's verdict on Gaming Arts' claim for breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing due to manifest disregard of the court's instructions. Case settled.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Texas Roadhouse (D. Mass. 2017)
Trial counsel for landmark pattern or practice age discrimination claim brought by EEOC against national restaurant chain. After three-week jury trial in January 2017, case ended in a mistrial because jury was deadlocked after deliberating for one week. Law360 coverage here. Case settled very favorably before retrial.

Spirit AeroSystems v. Gulfstream (AAA/ICDR Arbitration, New York, NY 2014-2015)
Trial counsel for Spirit Aero against Gulfstream. Both parties alleged hundreds of millions of dollars of breach of contract damages. After a three-week arbitration hearing that included opening statements and testimony from dozens of witnesses, the case settled on favorable terms before the Panel issued a ruling.

Confidential AAA Arbitration (New York, N.Y. 2012-2013)
Trial counsel for "Big Four" accounting firm in AAA arbitrations against former executives of Fortune 100 company. Plaintiffs alleged our client's tax shelter advice led to hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

Chicago Loop Parking v. City of Chicago (AAA arbitration 2012)
Pro bono counsel for the City of Chicago in an arbitration that Chicago Loop Parking (Morgan Stanley) brought against the City in connection with the Millennium Park Garages. In 2006, Morgan Stanley paid the City $563 million in exchange for a 99-year concession to operate the garages under Millennium Park and Grant Park on the City's lakeshore. Morgan Stanley filed a claim in arbitration for $200 million related to the City's permitting the Aqua building (North of Millennium Park) to accept parkers whose destinations are outside of the Aqua building itself. After a week-long arbitration in October 2012 before a panel of three arbitrators, the Panel rejected Morgan Stanley's claim for $200 million, awarding only 25% of the amount sought.

Baycol False Claims Act Litigation (District of Minnesota)
Counsel for Bayer in qui tam litigation brought by a former employee relating to Baycol. On Bayer's motion, Court dismissed suit with prejudice in 2011. 

Schindler Elevator v. Otis Elevator (District of New Jersey)
Counsel for Otis in patent infringement lawsuit concerning elevator belts. Case was settled on favorable terms after the Markman hearing.

Professional Activities and Community Service

Trustee, Kieve Wavus Education

Associate Board, One Million Degrees Foundation