Conrad C. Nowak is a trial attorney with a diverse national practice, frequently representing clients in high profile, sensitive litigation as well as transactional matters. Mr. Nowak has successfully represented clients in a variety of practice areas, including commercial litigation, labor and employment, products liability, commercial transactions, alarm & security services, catastrophic occurrences and general litigation.

He has represented clients in matters pending throughout the country, including California, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri and others. Mr. Nowak’s representative matters include the following:

• Was part of a defense team that represented a corporate defendant in the world’s second largest property loss for the year 2001, a catastrophic fire in Iowa, with initial losses estimated at $290 million. Through aggressive discovery and motion practice, Mr. Nowak helped obtain a favorable settlement months before trial, amounting to less than the cost of defense. The remaining similarly situated defendant suffered a $40 million verdict, the largest in Iowa history.
• Obtained a defense verdict at trial representing a major health club in a negligence/products liability action. Plaintiff sought $15.6 million from the jury.
• Represents an alarm monitoring company in a catastrophic fire loss in the City of Chicago with multimillion dollar exposure.
• Obtained a directed finding in favor of a corporate client in a gender and religious discrimination matter before the Illinois Department of Human Rights.
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of a prominent Chicago hospital.

Mr. Nowak joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in September 2005, after completing a judicial clerkship for the Honorable William D. Maddux, Presiding Judge of the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. As part of his responsibilities, which included the preparation for review, argument and ruling on significant motions before the court, Mr. Nowak also assisted with the management of the Cook County Asbestos Litigation Docket, which maintained approximately 6,000 cases exclusively assigned to the Presiding Judge.

Mr. Nowak serves on the Chicago Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Committee, which offers evaluations on current judges and judicial candidates.

Illinois Super Lawyers Magazine has twice recognized Mr. Nowak in its annual Rising Stars list.

In addition to his other law school accomplishments, Mr. Nowak was the Assistant Features Editor of the Public Interest Law Reporter. He was a member of the Dean’s List and was Student Representative, Loyola Business Law Advisory Board.

While at DePaul University, Mr. Nowak was a starter on the Division I Men’s Varsity Tennis Team. Afterwards, he also competed on the ATP Professional Tour, where he obtained a world ranking. During his undergraduate studies, Mr. Nowak was member of the Dean’s List and the Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Alpha Theta fraternities.

Mr. Nowak also served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army and is the recipient of numerous awards and commendations.

He speaks Polish fluently and is familiar with Serbo-Croatian. Mr. Nowak has been quoted or mentioned in a variety of media for both his legal and non-legal accomplishments, including Fortune Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Lawyer, The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Polvision.

Mr. Nowak previously served as a discussion facilitator for the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Professionalism’s new law student program at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

His presentations include “Electronic Discovery,” for the National Council on Investigation & Security Services (NCISS) Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, April 2010.

He serves as a faculty member at Hinshaw University, the firm’s nationwide attorney training and education program where he teaches continuing legal education courses in local rules, practice and procedure, and a deposition workshop. Mr. Nowak was active with Catholic Charities Maternity & Adoption Guild, where he was one of the coordinators of their annual golf and tennis outing. He is also the organizer of a support network that gathers new and used tennis equipment that is given to underprivileged children.

He serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Polish American Association. Polish
Serbo-Croatian