Winston & Strawn Welcomes Caryn Jacobs To Chicago Office

CHICAGO - Winston & Strawn LLP has announced that Caryn L. Jacobs, a prominent litigator focusing on securities, accounting and auditing professional liability and ERISA litigation, has joined its litigation department in Chicago as a partner.

Jacobs brings more than 20 years of sophisticated experience in a wide range of securities, accounting and auditing, ERISA and other commercial disputes that includes the successful handling of complex individual, class, arbitration and multidistrict actions at the trial and appellate level. She joins Winston from Mayer Brown, where she was a partner and co-chair of that firm's Securities Litigation and Corporate Governance Group.

Jacobs is also a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois' Criminal Division, where she prosecuted dozens of criminal matters, eventually concentrating on criminal financial institution fraud cases. After leaving the U.S. Attorney's Office to go into private practice, Jacobs gained extensive civil experience in numerous cases involving professional accounting and auditing services, federal securities law, financial institutions, ERISA and other high-stakes commercial disputes.

Among other high-profile cases, Jacobs co-tried the closely-watched Lexecon v. Milberg case, which resulted in a $45 million jury verdict against the law firm in question and led to a $50 million settlement. She also co-tried and won, on behalf of a Big Four accounting firm, a massive federal securities fraud action brought in the Southern District of New York.

Besides her impressive public and private resume, Jacobs served as law clerk to U.S. District Judge Susan Getzendanner (retired) of the Northern District of Illinois. She speaks and publishes widely on such topics as federal securities law, accounting and auditing professional liability, ethics and class actions and was awarded the Northern District of Illinois's Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Service this year.

Jacobs earned her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was notes and comments editor of the Harvard Women's Law Journal. She also received an A.B., with distinction and with honors in humanities, from Stanford University.

Winston & Strawn LLP is an international commercial law firm with 14 offices in America, Asia and Europe. For more information, visit www.winston.com.