John E. Riley, Attorney

As an Assistant United States Attorney, Jack Riley tried numerous complex jury trials and handled numerous long-term grand jury investigations. He successfully deported a nazi war criminal in United States v. Kowalchuk for participation with German forces in the persecution of Jews in a ghetto and the occupied civilian population in a town in Russia, culminating in the death of at least 5,000 Jews in a pit killing in October, 1942. Jack Riley traveled behind the Iron Curtain and Israel to conduct depositions of holocaust victims. In 1979, he received a Special Achievement Award from the Attorney General of the United States in recognition of sustained superior performance.

In 1980, Mr. Riley was assigned by the Department of Justice for three months to the U. S. Virgins Islands on an emergency basis to assist in abbreviating a backlog of criminal cases. There he tried numerous cases, including a murder trial to a jury verdict.

In private practice, Mr. Riley has defended several high profile cases. He successfully defended Congressman McDade in United States v. McDade, a nine week jury trial where the charges included allegations of RICO, bribery, and conspiracy.

Mr. Riley has acted as the lead counsel in numerous complex civil litigation matters including the defense of a Chicago law firm in an abuse of process suit; the defense of a law firm for legal malpractice; prosecution of a bad faith claim against an insurance company for denial of coverage; the defense of a class action representative in a suit for misuse of civil process; the defense of an executive of a public utility in a class action suit by rate payers; and the defense of a Chicago based construction company in a contract and billing dispute with the City of Philadelphia.