Open-and-Shut Case

Open-and-Shut Case

Open-and-Shut Case

As seen in Fortune & Forbes. King & Jones is featured in Chicago Leaders In Law 

To his adversaries in court, commercial litigator Peter M. King is known as “fearsome.” To judges and juries, he is a captivating, persuasive personality who wins cases by making the complex understandable.

“The courtroom is the place where your business dilemmas come face to face with the people who can right a wrong: judges, juries, and arbitrators,” says King, managing partner at King & Jones, a business litigation law firm representing corporations and entrepreneurs in Chicago and across the U.S.

A CPA as well as an attorney, King is equally comfortable discussing complex accounting practices as he is the intricacies of the law. But he knows judges, and especially jurors, benefit from a clear argument. “Sometimes jurors simply aren’t interested in the case. Boiling down the important facts of the case into more comprehensible terms and capturing the attention of an unmotivated audience isn’t taught in law school. Those who have mastered it give their clients a courtroom advantage.”

King, whose continuing legal education includes studies with the nationally acclaimed Trial Lawyers College, is well known for his masterful jury selection techniques. “Cases are often won and lost during voir dire, and questions that reveal little more than self-identified prejudices or beliefs aren’t enough,” says King, who often uses mock trials to identify danger points, discover prevailing community sensibilities, and test various strategies. “The selection process is our first step toward creating empathy with jurors. A strong social connection guides us as we begin to frame the argument.”

King and partner William H. Jones lead the firm originally founded by legendary Chicago trial lawyer Jay A. Canel in 1985. With clients in jurisdictions throughout the nation, King & Jones represents plaintiffs and defendants involved in complex, multijurisdictional, and high-stakes cases, including at the appellate court level. As lead attorneys or co-counsel, they routinely handle all areas of business litigation, professional negligence cases, and trust and estate litigation.

In addition to large corporations, King & Jones also levels the legal playing field for individuals with small businesses. Many of these individuals with small businesses have been valued clients for over 40 years. When those clients have legal issues, they return to lawyers who are effective and who they know they can trust.

“We take a ‘business-first’ approach with our clients. We don’t simply present their legal options and litigation strategy. We carefully discuss the potential impact each route will have on their business’ viability,” says King. “In the end, our success is measured by how well our clients can further their business goals.”