Jonathan C. Bunge

Jon Bunge is Co-Chair of the firm’s National Trial Practice and Managing Partner of the Chicago office.  He has tried over 60 jury and bench trials as well as numerous domestic and international arbitrations.  He has been the first chair litigator in the majority of these trials, many of which have lasted for weeks or months in duration.  He has tried cases in many areas, including commercial disputes, non-compete and trade secret disputes, products cases, trademark matters, white collar criminal law matters, and securities and financial disputes.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.  The American Lawyer and other publications have repeatedly described him as “one of Chicago’s top trial lawyers.”  He has tried cases in federal courts and state courts across the country for clients such as IBM, McDonald’s, private equity firms, and others.  He has been listed as one of the top litigators in the United States and in The Best Lawyers in America since 2008, and in other similar publications.

Jon is a former federal prosecutor and United States Supreme Court law clerk.  In 2023, the State of Colorado appointed him as a Special Prosecutor to try the first case against police officers arising from the death of a young man named Elijah McClain while in police custody. The trial generated national attention and resulted in the conviction of the lead officer on homicide and assault charges.  Also while in private practice, the State of Illinois appointed Jon a Special Assistant Attorney General to help the Illinois Attorney General's office organize and operate a Public Integrity Unit.

As a former federal prosecutor, Jon often defends clients in regulatory and criminal investigations and has conducted many internal investigations at Fortune 100 and smaller corporations.  Jon worked at the United States Attorneys’ Office in Chicago for almost nine years before entering private practice.  He was Deputy Chief for the General Crimes Division and the lead prosecutor in a series of high-profile cases: the prosecution of the Ford Heights, Illinois Chief of Police and six other police officers on corruption and racketeering charges; various cases arising out of the Silver Shovel investigation into political corruption in City and State government; a terrorism case involving the efforts of a Puerto Rican independence group to bomb a military recruiting center; the prosecution of a large Chicago street-gang that attempted to purchase military weapons for the purpose of attacking a Chicago police station; and a series of fraud prosecutions involving securities and other types of businesses.  At the Department of Justice, he received the Department of Justice’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant United States Attorney and four Department of Justice Special Achievement Awards.  

A former law clerk to Justice Byron White and Judge James L. Buckley, Jon has argued over 20 appellate cases in various federal and state appellate courts, including for example four appellate arguments on civil matters before the California appellate courts.  He has been successful in the vast majority of these appeals.

Over the course of many years, Jon has taught on a part-time basis at the University of Chicago Law School.  He has previously taught these courses: European Union Law; Evidence (the basic evidence course); Corporate Crimes & Investigations; Federal Criminal Law; Franchise & Distribution Law; and a course on the Sarbanes Oxley Act.