RSHC Secures Acquittal for Chicago Attorney; Local and National Publications Followed Our Story

RSHC is pleased to announce its victory in federal court on behalf of a former partner at a prominent Chicago law firm in a case brought by the U.S. government involving allegations of financial fraud. RSHC partners Ronald S. Safer, Robert H. Riley, Eli Litoff, Abigail L. Peluso, associate Mary A. Laird, and counsel Jessie M. Mahr represented the defendant, attorney Edward Filer, in his acquittal in a wire fraud trial. The unanimous jury verdict, delivered on February 7, 2025, after only one hour of deliberation, reaffirms Filer’s commitment to the ethical practice of law.

“This verdict is a hard-fought testament to the integrity of Mr. Filer, who was unjustly accused in a case that should never have been brought against him,” said Safer. “We are grateful to the jury for its swift decision and celebrate with our client, who can finally put this ordeal to rest after years of litigation.” 

The decision garnered media attention from local and national outlets. Our team was honored to earn a spot on The Am Law Daily Litigator of the Week Shout-Outs list, and we spoke with reporters from the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Crain’s Chicago Business about the significance of the jury’s decision.

The case, U.S. v. Filer, was a case of no-good deed goes unpunished. Filer helped a neighbor, who was in danger of losing his small woodworking business, to attempt to satisfy creditors by moving assets to a company that could earn money. Creditors received hundreds of thousands of dollars more due to the “scheme” than they would have had Filer not gotten involved. Filer knew that his neighbor could not pay for legal services but still provided legal counsel. The late Judge Harry Leinenweber acquitted Filer of all but two counts in the initial trial before the case went to the jury. A jury later convicted Filer of those two wire fraud counts, and Judge Leinenweber granted a judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict. The government successfully appealed, and the recent retrial followed. 

During the retrial, the U.S. government was questioned for improperly eliciting privileged attorney-client communications from a key witness, the general counsel at Filer’s former law firm. U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger expressed concerns over the government’s handling of the matter, noting that it raised significant legal and ethical questions. That Motion to Dismiss for prosecutorial misconduct followed a separate motion to dismiss for misconduct before the grand jury. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois was recused, and the case was supervised by the Western District of Wisconsin.

“This is an unusual case in that it charged a lawyer qua lawyer,” added Riley. “Mr. Filer did not have an ownership stake in his client’s business, nor did he have any financial interest in anything related to the case at hand, and he was not even paid for his fees. This acquittal underscores what we have known from the beginning: that Mr. Filer acted within the bounds of the law and in his client’s best interests. We appreciate the jury’s careful consideration of the evidence and commitment to justice.”

The verdict puts to rest a high-profile case that raised crucial issues about government overreaching in a number of different areas.