Louis A. Chaiten

Partner

Cleveland + 1.216.586.7244

Louis Chaiten focuses his practice on high-stakes appellate and class action matters and is a co-leader of Professional Services for the Firm. Having argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous trial and appellate courts, he was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to a three-year term as one of the four practitioner members of the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States, which drafts and recommends new federal rules of practice, procedure, and evidence. Louis previously clerked on the U.S. Supreme Court (for Justice Antonin Scalia) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (for Judge Jeffrey Sutton). He also served in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Louis has successfully defended scores of matters collectively seeking hundreds of billions of dollars in alleged damages. Among his representations: Daikin, in wide-ranging PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) litigation, including successfully petitioning for interlocutory review of an order certifying an 11 million member class; U.S. Bank, in multibillion dollar mortgage-backed securities litigation, including securing a major appellate victory on champerty grounds; CBIZ, in successfully defending a $900 million investor class action; and many other clients spanning industries. Louis also won a pro bono appeal on behalf of a man wrongfully convicted of murder, leading to the man's release after a decade in prison.

Louis serves on the boards of The City Club of Cleveland (the nation's oldest active free speech forum) and the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland.