Attorney Info
Rachael G. Pontikes
Partner
Duane Morris LLP
Suite 3700
190 South LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL 60603-3433
USA
Phone: +1 312 499 6757
Fax: +1 312 277 6903
Email:
RGPontikes@duanemorris.com
Rachael G. Pontikes practices in multiple areas of commercial litigation nationwide, including general contract and tort disputes, consumer litigation, banking litigation and administrative law. Ms. Pontikes represents foreign clients who have disputes in the United States. She also represents clients in heavily regulated industries such as the healthcare industry and financial services area. Ms. Pontikes' approach is to work with her clients to find creative solutions to the issues that arise.
Ms. Pontikes represents a broad range of financial institutions in the securities, futures and derivatives markets in federal trial and appellate courts and in customer and broker disputes before the National Association of Securities Dealers. She has also represented compounding pharmacies in major disputes against the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration in state and federal court and agency administration proceedings throughout the United States.
Ms. Pontikes is highly active in civic and pro bono activities, serving as a volunteer attorney for the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), a member of the Chicago Lyric Opera's Junior Guild Board, a member of the Executive Committee of the Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women, and a member of the associate board for the Just the Beginning Foundation. Ms. Pontikes is the co-founder of the mentoring circles program sponsored by the Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women.
Ms. Pontikes is a 2001 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and an honors graduate of Wesleyan University, where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa. She is fluent in Italian and proficient in modern Greek.
Areas of Practice
- Commercial Litigation
- Appellate Advocacy
- Healthcare Litigation
- Financial Services Law
- Consumer Litigation
Representative Matters
- Represents foreign companies in contract disputes in the United States.
- Represented seven girls and represents four girls, in federal trial and appellate courts, against Joe Francis and the Girls Gone Wild companies for allegedly producing child pornography.
- Successfully represented clearing broker in the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit defending a challenge to a U.S. District Court confirmation of a pre-hearing summary judgment granted in favor of the clearing broker. Olson v. Wexford Clearing Services Corp., 397 F.3d 448 (7th Cir. 2005)
- Represented compounding pharmacies in major disputes against the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration in federal appellate courts, federal trial courts and agency administration proceedings, specifically in Drug Enforcement Administration proceedings, throughout the United States.
- Represented consumers and consumer service providers in Magnuson and Moss actions, both individual and class, in state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels.
- Successfully obtained asylum in the United States for an African woman, a victim of domestic violence, pro bono for the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC).
Professional Activities
- American Bar Association
- Chicago Bar Association
- Alliance for Women
-- Executive Committee - Hellenic Bar Association
- Securities Industry Association - Compliance Legal Division
- National Society of Compliance Professionals
- University of Chicago Women's Mentoring Program
Admissions
- Illinois
- Supreme Court of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- Trial Bar of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Education
- University of Chicago Law School, J.D., 2001
- Wesleyan University, B.A., Philosophy and Italian Studies, with honors, 1996
- Elected Phi Beta Kappa
Experience
- Duane Morris LLP
- Partner, 2010-present
- Associate, 2003-2009 - Altheimer & Gray, Chicago, Illinois
- Associate, 2002-2003 - Lovells, Chicago, Illinois
- Associate, 2001-2002
Board Memberships
- Lyric Opera of Chicago Guild
- Vice President of Silent Auction, 2007-2008 - Just the Beginning Foundation
- Associate Board
Selected Speaking Engagements
- Speaker, "Changing the System: Enhancing Multicultural Competence in Law Firms," Indiana Lawyer's 2008 Diversity in Practice Conference, October 2008
- Speaker, "Women and Negotiation," Bayer Pharmaceutical, September 2008
- Speaker, "Current Texas Federal Litigation Against the FDA," International Academy of Compounding Pharmacies, June 2005
- Presented on the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act at "Fundamentals of Food and Drug Law and Regulation in California," a seminar by the Food Drug Law Institute, San Francisco, June 2005
- Presented the position of compounding pharmacies in current litigation, 48th annual conference of the Food Drug Law Institute, Washington, D.C., March 2005
