BIO

Adam Merrill has expertise in complex commercial litigation and appeals, corporate investigations and federal criminal defense in state and federal courts throughout the country. He has first-chaired bench and jury trials in the Northern District of Illinois and the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois and argued appeals in the Illinois Appellate Court, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Mr. Merrill founded Watershed Law in 2020 after eight years as an Associate and Partner at Kirkland & Ellis and seventeen years as a Partner at Sperling & Slater. Mr. Merrill’s litigation and appeals experience includes breach of contract, accountant and legal malpractice (including tax shelters), Delaware corporate governance, antitrust, employment, non-compete and trade secret, bankruptcy and insolvency and defense of federal prosecutions, including mail and wire fraud, health care fraud, violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, tax fraud and drug trafficking. He has represented clients as part of investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Illinois Department of Insurance and has represented clients investigated by and summoned before federal grand juries. Mr. Merrill is a member of the Federal Defender Panel in Chicago and has represented dozens of indigent criminal defendants and federal prisoners for little or no fee. Prior to attending law school, he worked as an auditor for Price Waterhouse.