John L. Leonard

John L. Leonard received his Bachelor of Science Degree in History from Loyola University Chicago, and his law degree from Northwestern University, where he was a Weymouth Kirkland Scholar, Russell Sage Fellow, and winner of the Wigmore Key award. He is admitted to practice in Illinois, and in a number of federal courts in Illinois and Wisconsin. John has experience, and concentrates his practice, in commercial and general civil litigation, including environmental, insurance coverage (policyholders), antitrust, real estate, employment discrimination, building construction, consumer fraud, probate, personal injury, and copyright infringement matters.  John also represents vendors and suppliers of perishable agricultural commodities (produce) in actions under the federal Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (“PACA”) against non-paying buyers and purchasers.

John participated in a successful Federal civil trial of a Superfund lawsuit involving environmental contamination from residue from a manufactured gas plant, and he obtained a successful result in obtaining injunctive relief and damages against a mail order seller of CATV black box decoders. John also filed and prosecuted numerous federal civil copyright infringement cases where he successfully obtained injunctions and damages against various individuals and firms involved in video piracy and the unlawful importation of pirated and illegal videocassettes and DVDs. He has appeared in a number of state and federal courts, and various state and local administrative bodies and arbitration panels.

John also represented an excavator in a dispute involving the settlement of soil at the College of DuPage, in which he prevailed and obtained a favorable judgment, affirmed on appeal by written decision, for his client.

John’s article, “Is there a private cause of action under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act? A curious history of an interesting issue,” was published in the Illinois State Bar Association’s Section of Environmental Law newsletter.

John enjoys classical music (plays piano, clarinet and saxophone, and is a sometimes amateur composer), amateur astronomy (member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers and speaks occasionally on astronomy to youth groups), ham radio (KG9QH), animals, chess, American history, professional and collegiate sports (fan of the Chicago White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks and a longtime season ticket holder of the Loyola University Chicago men’s basketball team) and spending time at his wilderness retreat in northern Minnesota.

John can be contacted at (312) 971-7115 or jlleonard@teeplelaw.com.