PROFILE

Sean Berkowitz, a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and former Global Chair of the Complex Commercial Litigation Practice, represents clients in complex litigation and regulatory investigations.

Sean 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

Sean is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and has successfully tried more than 35 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 Sean an Impact Case Award by Benchmark Litigation. The Legal 500 US recognizes Sean 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.” Sean was named a 2022 Law360 MVP for Trials, a 2023 Crain’s Chicago Notable Litigator & Trial Attorney, and a 2024 Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Leaders in Accounting, Consulting & Law. In 2023, he was recognized by Who’s Who Legal for Commercial Litigation and in 2022 was named a Lawdragon Legend, a recognition earned by only 20 lawyers nationwide. Further, since 2019 he has regularly been listed as a Leading Lawyer by Lawdragon 500, an annual list of leading lawyers in America. In addition to being named a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in the 2021-2025 editions of Benchmark Litigation, a White Collar Crime/Investigations Litigator of the Year in 2022, and a Litigation Star in 2020-2025, he 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 and 2023.

Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, Sean 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

Sean 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.