Mr. Rammelt is a trial lawyer and has spent more than twenty years resolving complex commercial disputes for his clients. He has served as lead counsel in jury trials in state court, federal court, in permanent injunction and TRO hearings, and in domestic and international arbitrations. Mr. Rammelt focuses his practice on three principal practice areas:
On March 18, 2010, Mr. Rammelt was lead trial counsel and with his trial team obtained a directed verdict for his clients, including a Fortune 100 financial institution, after a seven-week jury trial before the Honorable Charles R. Norgle in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. In this case, plaintiff asserted securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy, and aiding & abetting claims against selected board directors of a high-tech company that filed for bankruptcy in 2002, arguing that the failed company should have sold for $2.2 billion or more. In a procedurally complex case that made its way through district court, bankruptcy court, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and four different federal judges over eight years, Mr. Rammelt, his team and co-defense counsel were successful in having many of the claims dismissed before trial. During the seven week trial, Mr. Rammelt was successful in having his opponent’s valuation expert barred under Daubert and its progeny from testifying at trial. After seven weeks of trial, over 100,000 pages of trial exhibits, and testimony from more than a dozen witnesses (of 40 deposed), all of plaintiff’s remaining claims were dismissed in their entirety and judgment entered for Mr. Rammelt’s clients on all counts.
In 2009, Mr. Rammelt and his team were appointed National Litigation Counsel for Brunswick Corporation and all of its operating companies – including Life Fitness, Mercury and Mercruiser marine engines, Sea Ray, Lund, Boston Whaler, Triton, Crestliner, Trophy, and Bayliner boats, Hatteras and Cabo Yachts, and other boat companies. In this role, Mr. Rammelt and his team supervise and/or serve as lead trial counsel in hundreds of cases throughout the United States. On January 26, 2010, Mr. Rammelt’s role as National Litigation Counsel and the alternative fee model he developed with Brunswick Corporation was the subject of an in-depth article in the Business Section of the Chicago Tribune by award-winning reporter Ameet Sachdev, “Firm Says Flat Fee Rises to the Occasion.” Kristin Coleman, Vice President & General Counsel of Brunswick Corporation, remarked that under the program “[t]he lawyers who provided the service did a great job.”
In September 2008, Mr. Rammelt and his team secured a complete defense verdict for Brunswick after a two-week jury trial in Cook County, Illinois. After having plaintiff’s punitive damages counts stricken and successfully barring one of plaintiff’s experts – a former Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission – they persuaded a Chicago jury to reject the plaintiff’s claim that the design of over 125,000 commercial treadmills was defective. The verdict was not appealed.
Mr. Rammelt represented American Blind & Wallpaper Factory in a ground-breaking case in the United States filed against Google for trademark infringement in connection with its keyword advertising policies. Mr. Rammelt and his team were successful in defeating Google’s motions to dismiss and for summary judgment and the case settled shortly before trial. This case was heralded as one of the “Cases to Watch in 2007” by IP Law & Business.
Mr. Rammelt has a vast national practice representing his clients before state and federal courts throughout the United States, including Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, and Wyoming, among others. Mr. Rammelt has also handled matters in international venues, or involving international law, in the Bahamas, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Great Britain, and Turkey.
Publications
Mr. Rammelt and his lead trial counsel experience have appeared in various publications and news outlets, including: USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The National Law Journal, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, Advertising Age, The Los Angeles Times, IP Law & Business, Patent Trademark & Copyright Journal and The IP Law Bulletin. In addition, he has appeared on CNBC and Celebrity Justice. Mr. Rammelt has been quoted in two books about his experiences litigating keyword advertising trademark infringement cases against Google.