Scott M. Levin is a member and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. For the 10 years prior to joining Defrees & Fiske, Mr. Levin was a founder and the managing partner of Levin, McParland & Phillips, LLC. In March 2003, Mr. Levin and several other former Levin, McParland attorneys, along with their staff, merged their practices into Defrees & Fiske. Before forming his own firm, Mr. Levin was a partner at a large Chicago law firm.

Mr. Levin practices in the areas of business and commercial law, litigation and intellectual property. The majority of Mr. Levin's clients are closely held businesses and individuals, although he also represents several clients with a national presence. He serves as general counsel to a number of such closely held businesses.

Mr. Levin brings to his clients a diverse range of legal experience. As a litigator, he has handled hundreds of business disputes, many of which have been litigated in federal and state courts or resolved through arbitration. His substantial litigation experience includes claims and disputes based on contract, intellectual property (trademark, copyright, licensing, unfair competition, franchise), employment matters (discrimination, non-competition), eminent domain, real estate (mortgage foreclosure, mechanic's lien, forcible detainer/eviction, distress for rent, sale and lease), surety and fidelity bonds, business torts (trade defamation, intentional interference with contract, oppression, breach of fiduciary duty, consumer fraud), appeals and all types of special remedies (injunction, declaratory judgment, enforcement of judgement, replevin).

Mr. Levin's transaction and counseling experience includes licensing; organization of businesses (limited liability company, partnership and corporation), including shareholder, partnership and operating agreements; employment agreements; the sale, financing and leasing of commercial properties; asset/stock sales; and a multitude of different contracts.

Prior to entering the private practice of law, Mr. Levin served as Executive Assistant, Illinois Law Enforcement Commission, 1977-1982, and Deputy Executive Director, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, 1983-1986.

Mr. Levin is a member of the Chicago Bar Association (Member, Patent, Trademark & Copyright Committee; former chairman, Police-Lawyer Relations Committee), Illinois State Bar Association (Member, Sections on: Civil Practice and Procedure; Banking and Bankruptcy; Corporations and Securities; General Practice; Intellectual Property) and American Bar Association (Member, Sections on: General Practice; Intellectual Property; Law Practice Management; Litigation and Business Torts) and a member of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police.

Mr. Levin has been admitted to practice in: State of Illinois; U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, including the Trial Bar; and U.S. Courts of Appeals, 7th and 9th Circuits. He is a graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law (J.D., with honors, 1983) and The John Marshall Law School (LL.M., Intellectual Property, 1994). He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and his Masters in Public Administration from the University of Illinois, Urbana (B.S., 1976; M.A., 1978).