Daniel M. Tardiff

Dan concentrates his practice in complex commercial litigation. Prior to joining the firm, Dan served for five years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois. As an AUSA in the Civil Division, he oversaw the prosecution and investigation of numerous complex health care fraud, public housing fraud, and other affirmative civil enforcement actions, requiring coordination with federal and state law enforcement agencies and investigators as well as Criminal Division personnel in parallel cases. Dan also defended the United States, its agencies, and federal employees in civil suits alleging employment discrimination, negligence including medical malpractice, constitutional tort, immigration, and other civil claims, where he had primary responsibility for all aspects of the litigation. As a result, Dan brings his clients the skill and judgment that comes with significant first-hand litigation experience in all aspects of civil litigation, including all pre- and post-trial matters, discovery and motions practice, working with expert witnesses, and conducting settlement negotiations and conferences with opposing counsel and the court. As an AUSA, Dan also tried eight cases, ranging from employment discrimination, negligence, and medical malpractice matters, and successfully handled nine appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, including three that went to oral argument before the court.

In May 2007, Dan was asked to teach at the Department of Justice’s training center, the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina, where he taught in the areas of federal motions and evidence. Upon his departure from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Dan received the Law Department Performance Award from the United States Postal Service for his successful defense of a complex employment discrimination lawsuit that culminated in a favorable jury verdict for the Postal Service in June 2008. Immediately prior to serving as an AUSA, Dan clerked for The Honorable William J. Bauer on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from 2002-2003.

Professional Activities and Honors

• Instructor, U.S. Department of Justice’s National Advocacy Center, May 2007
• Loyola University Chicago Law Journal, Executive Student Articles Editor, 2001 2002
• Comment, Knocking on the Courtroom Door: Finally an Answer from Within for Employment Testers, 32 LOY. U. CHI. L.J. 909 (2001)