Brienne M. Letourneau is a partner in the Litigation Department. She is a litigator and trial lawyer who represents businesses and institutions in their most complex and high-stakes matters. Her significant litigation experience extends to a variety of substantive areas, including fiduciary litigation, asset management disputes, ERISA litigation, director and officer liability, consumer class actions, contract disputes, and business torts. Brienne has represented a wide array of public and private companies, including leading wealth management and financial services companies and multinational consumer-facing businesses, as well as individual directors, officers, and fiduciaries, and prominent higher education institutions.
Some of Brienne’s recent representations include*:
- Won dismissal of a class action alleging that a major private university had mismanaged workers’ retirement savings, which was affirmed on appeal to the Seventh Circuit.
- Defeated class certification and won summary judgment in an action alleging mismanagement of trust assets by a professional fiduciary.
- Won dismissal of claims for breaches of fiduciary duty in multiple actions against a financial services company in connection with individual participant investment advice in 401(k) plans.
- Won dismissal of a class action alleging that an asset management company executed an imprudent investment strategy on behalf of a defined benefit pension plan.
- Won dismissal of a class action alleging that a company violated ERISA’s anti-cutback provisions by reducing older employees’ accrued pension benefits, which was affirmed on appeal to the Seventh Circuit.
- Won dismissal and summary judgment of multiple consumer class actions filed against a marketing services company and a global publishing company.
- Argued and won summary judgment in a complex breach of contract action asserted by a marketing services company against its service provider.
- Successfully represented a pro bono client in a civil rights action in which she second-chaired a federal jury trial and conducted multiple direct and cross examinations
*Brienne advised on these matters prior to joining Willkie.
Prior to joining Willkie, Brienne was a partner at another major law firm in Chicago.
Brienne serves on the Board of Directors for Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, and is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA).