Linda T. Coberly, Esq.
Linda Coberly is the managing partner of Winston & Strawn LLP's Chicago office—its oldest and largest—and serves on the firm's Executive Committee. She is a partner in the firm's Litigation Department and chairs its Appellate and Critical Motions Practice.
Linda focuses her practice on appeals and on critical motions that resolve complex lawsuits before trial. She is known for her strong business sense, clear briefs, and compelling oral advocacy. She counsels clients on appellate and strategic issues at all stages of litigation, from before trial through and including proceedings before the U.S. Supreme Court. She has argued more than 50 appeals, spanning eight different federal courts of appeals and a variety of state appellate and supreme courts around the country.
Linda has extensive experience in class actions and fraud litigation—and, in particular, in defending issuers, auditors, and others in tort and securities fraud actions following allegations of fraud. These cases frequently implicate complex issues of pleading, class certification, agency law, damages, standing, and loss causation—as well as the doctrine of in pari delicto, which arises when a corporation, trustee, or receiver attempts to sue a third party based on a fraud committed by the corporation's own management. Linda speaks on these and related topics as a regular faculty member at the industry's leading conference for accountants' liability practitioners.
A significant portion of Linda's practice centers on advising and representing clients with regard to proceedings in the U.S. Supreme Court, drawing upon her experience as a law clerk to Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the Supreme Court and to Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg on the D.C. Circuit. She also frequently represents amici in important business cases before the Court.