Peter G. Rush

• Served as lead counsel representing the former controller of a large international shipping company in an SEC investigation into the company’s accounting practices, and provided same representation in the related securities fraud class action and professional liability litigation. The SEC investigation generated Wells Notices to several targets including the former controller. GT successfully obtained a termination letter from the SEC with respect to the controller, while all the remaining targets were named as defendants in an SEC enforcement action.
• Construction Workers Pension Trust Fund – Lake County and Vicinity v. Navistar International Corp. Acted as lead counsel for the former controller of Navistar in this securities fraud case class action alleging accounting manipulations and successfully obtained dismissal of complaint against the client.
• Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. (formerly Enron Corporation). Served as counsel to the Board of Directors of Enron overseeing and assisting in the coordination of several substantial litigations pending in various forums, including Illinois, Texas and New York. Served as lead trial counsel for Enron in cases litigated Illinois and Texas.°
• Securities and Exchange Commission v. Dean L. Buntrock, et al. Represented Dean L. Buntrock, former Chief Executive Officer of Waste Management, in an SEC enforcement action in the Northern District of Illinois.°
• Served as counsel to the former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with an independent investigation involving a large, Midwestern mutual fund complex under scrutiny by various federal and state regulators for claims of market-timing and late trading. °
• Presented more than a dozen Independent Trustees and agents of Investment Company Act entities, as well as more than a dozen officers and directors of publicly-traded companies, for testimony before the SEC in connection with formal and informal investigations.°
• In re Oppenheimer Champion Income Fund and Core Bond Fund Securities Fraud Class Actions. Represented the Oppenheimer Champion Income Fund and Core Bond Fund and all of its Independent Trustees in a putative securities class action consolidated in the District of Colorado. The lawsuit alleged defendants failed to disclose that the Funds altered their conservative investment strategies and invested in high risk derivatives in violation of Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933; Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; Section 13(a) of the 1940 Act.°
• Williams, et al. v. WMX Technologies, Inc., et al. Represented WMX in a securities fraud putative class action alleging violations of Section 10 and Rule 10b-5, and Section 20 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 in connection with landfill availabilities. A panel of the Fifth Circuit granted defendants’ petition for leave to file an interlocutory appeal of the trial court’s decision denying defendants’ motion to dismiss on Rule 9(b) and 12(b)(6) grounds. The Fifth Circuit reversed the trial court and ordered that the case be dismissed with prejudice.°
• Served as lead counsel to all of the independent directors of a prominent closed-end mutual fund in a putative class action in Maryland federal district court.°
• OM Group Securities and Derivative Litigation. Represented the controller for OMG Americas in securities litigation involving OM Group, Inc. filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The cases involved class action claims for securities fraud and breach of fiduciary duty arising out of the accounting for OM Group’s multi-national corporation.°
• In re Discovery Zone Securities Litigation. Represented all defendants in a securities fraud class action primarily attacking defendants’ accounting for pre-opening costs. The case involved extensive litigation concerning the certification, scope, definition and membership within the class of purchasers of Discovery Zone stock.°
• In re Waste Management, Inc. Securities Litigation. Represented a former Chief Executive Officer and a former Chief Financial Officer of Waste Management, Inc. in a putative class action involving claims of alleged securities fraud concerning company financial statements. Obtained a then-unprecedented ruling entering a contribution bar immunizing his clients from contribution liability under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act ("PSLRA").°
• Kriendler v. Chemical Waste Management, Inc., WMX Technologies and Philip B. Rooney. Co-counsel for all defendants in three consolidated shareholders’ class action lawsuits brought against WMX Technologies and a WMX subsidiary, Chemical Waste Management. Obtained a dismissal of the class action complaint with prejudice at the pleading stage.°

• Currently acting as lead counsel representing a publicly-traded company in multi-million dollar arbitration in Orange County, California.
• Currently serving as trial counsel in New York state court for several former officers and directors of a Hollywood studio against claims of mismanagement of financing of several films.
• Performed multiple highly-sensitive internal investigations for large, publicly-traded company concerning claims of ethics violations, gender bias, discrimination and preferential treatment in the C-Suite.
• Served as lead trial counsel in Los Angeles with respect to claims of fraud and misrepresentation concerning production of a Hollywood film.
• Performed internal investigation of Texas manufacturing facilities of a publicly-traded company regarding claims of discrimination and disparate treatment based upon sexual orientation.
• Served as lead counsel for a Big Ten University in a lawsuit filed pertaining to the administration of the University’s 403(b) retirement plans.
• Represented a global media company in multiyear litigation involving several disputes over a multimillion dollar film financing slate.°
• Represented a Tier I automotive parts supplier in a breach of warranty claim against a Tier II automotive parts supplier in a claim involving brake pedal rods, and secured a multimillion dollar award on behalf of client.°
• Three H Enterprises, L.L.C. v. Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc., et al. In Texas federal court, won trial verdicts worth almost $2 million, including an award of more than $750,000 in attorneys’ fees, in a theft of trade secrets dispute over the use of valuable technology involving the manufacture of composite wood products combing polyethylene and wood fiber.°
• Conducted a confidential internal investigation pertaining to several compliance issues of a large non-profit health system that provides comprehensive health care services in the Midwest through hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and various outpatient locations.°
• Orchestrated and directed a highly confidential internal investigation of an international publicly traded company with respect to recurring inventory write-downs over a several-year period and over several locations.°

• Represented the football coaching staff (including head coach) of a Power Five conference member institution in an investigation by the NCAA Enforcement Staff, presenting the Head Coach and two assistants for testimony before the Staff.
• Successfully represented a national award winner at his football position in an NCAA investigation which threatened to strip him of his eligibility to participate during his award-winning senior year.
• Successfully represented dozens of amateur student-athletes to restore eligibility taken by the controlling athletic Association, both at the college and high school levels, including through litigation and actual trials.
• In Illinois state court, served as lead counsel for an Illinois high school in lawsuit against Illinois High School Association challenging mistaken application of outcome-determination contract provision.
• Currently representing an NFL-member professional football club.
• Advised authors on issues of amateurism for novels and hard news pieces.
• Advised a New York film producer with respect to a documentary film project involving amateur student-athletes.°
• Represented principal actors and targets in multiple NCAA investigations involving accusations of major infractions, including appearing before the full panel of the NCAA Committee on Infractions.°
• Represented a four-time Olympic gold medal winner and a six-time Olympic medalist, as well as a prominent television sports newscaster in their negotiations of their agent/endorsement contracts.°
• Retained by a high-profile sports agent with respect to the loss of amateur eligibility questions concerning a college baseball pitching prospect, and consulted on a number of issues with prominent Chicago-based professional sports agency.°
• In Illinois state court, served as lead trial counsel securing injunctive relief providing for the eligibility of four Sudanese high school student-athletes. The eligibility obtained in this representation ultimately contributed to Moosehart’s lone Illinois State Championship which was in the sport of Boys Basketball.* Mooseheart Child City & School, Inc. v. Illinois High School Association (“IHSA”). 
• In Colorado state court, lead counsel to world-champion and Olympic free-style skier Jeremy Bloom in his case, Jeremy Bloom v. NCAA. In that action, Bloom sought to secure eligibility to play college football for the University of Colorado as a wide receiver and punt returner while maintaining his vocation as a professional skier through sponsorships, and pursuing his television, film and professional modeling opportunities.°
• In De LaSalle Institute, et al. v. Illinois High School Association (IHSA), lead trial counsel of a team that succeeded on behalf of 37 Illinois private high schools in obtaining a Consent Decree that dissolved the Illinois High School Association Board's enrollment multiplier.°
• Represented Darnell Autry in litigation against the NCAA (Autry v. NCAA) to preserve Autry’s eligibility, causing the NCAA to amend the applicable rule now known as the "Autry Amendment."°
• Tried the case of Todd Townsend v. IHSA to gain the eligibility of Townsend to compete in basketball after transferring to New Trier High School. Subsequent to the case, the IHSA rewrote the transfer rule. Townsend received a full scholarship to Marquette University and was a starter for Marquette on its last Final Four team.°
• Consulted clients in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as internationally (Poland, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Africa) on sports law questions, including athletic eligibility.°

°The above representations were handled by Mr. Rush prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.

• Listed, Leading Lawyers Network, 2019
• Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, Illinois Super Lawyers, 2016-2019
• Listed, The Legal 500 United States, 2016 -2017
• Rated, AV Preeminent^® 5.0 out of 5

°AV^®, AV Preeminent^®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished^SM and Martindale-Hubbell Notable^SM are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell^® certification procedures, standards and policies.

• President, Notre Dame Club of Chicago Scholarship Foundation