John A. Sopuch III

John A. Sopuch III, a trial lawyer with a history of winning some of the nation’s biggest verdicts, has joined The Collins Law Firm as Of Counsel.

In 2002, the National Law Journal recognized John’s nearly $43 million verdict (in Miami Cigar v. UST, et al., a business fraud case) as among the top 100 verdicts in the nation that year. In 2004, John did it again, with his $30 million verdict in a breach of contract case, Basic Capital Management Inc. v. Dynex Commercial, Inc.

Hailing from St. Louis, MO, John was born on March 21, 1965. Attending prep school at The St. Louis Priory, he went on to study at the University of Texas where he graduated in 1987. John received his law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1990.

Upon graduating from law school, John joined a boutique litigation firm of Bickel & Brewer, working at the firm’s Chicago offices. John remained at Bickel & Brewer until 1997, becoming, at the time, the youngest person to make partner at the firm.

John left Bickel & Brewer in 1997 and started his own firm – Sopuch Annett Higgins & Gaubert – with offices in Chicago and Dallas, and later in St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands, USVI.

In 1999 and again in 2001, John was appointed by Governor Charles W. Turbull of the USVI to be a Special Assistant Attorney General to aid the government of the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue in several substantial pieces of litigation and favorably settled those matters for more than $10 million collectively.

In 2005, John left the firm he had been instrumental in founding, and became Of Counsel to the Honolulu firm of Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher. Recently, John moved back to Chicago and joined The Collins Law Firm, where his trial lawyering skills and list of verdicts for his clients add to the depth of talent at The Collins Law Firm. John’s practice areas are focused on business litigation and other forms of commercial dispute resolution.