Overview

Dave Audley is a partner and the Co‑Practice Group Leader of the Litigation Group. He has been practicing law since 1985 when he joined Chapman and Cutler LLP. He concentrates his practice in the commercial litigation area, particularly litigation involving creditor/debtor work, bankruptcy law, securitization and securities fraud issues, government finance and tax, and banking law.

Dave’s recent governmental assignments have involved serving as Special Assistant State’s Attorney for numerous counties in Illinois, providing litigation representation in various civil matters involving finance and tax issues. He has practiced and submitted legal memoranda before the Illinois and United States Supreme Courts and various federal Courts of Appeals, and prosecuted one of the ten largest civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) Act damage awards ever rendered by a jury in the United States. Dave's professional activities have included presentations to bar associations on litigation‑related matters, instruction of civil procedure courses, and periodically conducting in‑house seminars on various litigation topics.

Representative Matters

  • Representation of a major religious organization against SEC charges of securities fraud.
  • Representation of the $1 billion US arm of a Japanese investment firm in securitization litigation.
  • Representation of a major Chicago bank on numerous multimillion-dollar credits outside of and in bankruptcy.
  • Representation of minority shareholders in litigation resulting in a precedent-setting multimillion-dollar trial court judgment in favor of minority shareholders.
  • Special trial counsel to the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee in a multimillion-dollar adversary proceeding.

Admitted

Illinois

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Education

University of Wisconsin Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1985

University of Wisconsin—Madison, B.S., Philosophy/Political Science, 1982

Insights

Presentations

  • Panelist, "Old Dogs and New (Insolvency) Tricks—Established Insolvency Regimes and New Kids on the Block," Informa Asset Recovery and Insolvency Conference, February 27, 2026

We have always been focused on finance.

  • 1913
    TS Chapman partners with Henry Cutler to form Chapman and Cutler
  • 1st
    Chapman's first client in 1913 is still a client of the firm today
  • 22
    Diverse financial practices serving regional, national, and global clients
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    Offices across the country and in key US financial centers

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