Nicole J. Highland

Associate

T: +1 (312) 609 7914 F: +1 (312) 609 5005

Chicago

Nicole J. Highland is an Associate at Vedder Price in the firm’s Litigation practice area.

Ms. Highland represents clients in a wide array of commercial disputes, including disputes concerning breaches of contract, consumer actions against financial institutions, restrictive covenant agreements, breaches of fiduciary duty and fraud claims. Ms. Highland has counseled and educated clients on issues involving franchising, avoiding the establishment of an inadvertent franchise and various issues in the distribution arena. She has also defended various clients in antitrust, products liability and securities actions. Ms. Highland has also represented nonprofit companies and low income individuals on apro bono basis.

Prior to joining Vedder Price, Ms. Highland was an associate at Mayer Brown.  Before moving to Mayer Brown, she worked for the Cook County Office of the Public Defender in the felony trial division. Ms. Highland acted as lead counsel in both jury and bench trials before the Honorable Judge James Schreier, having been licensed to practice as a law student under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711. Ms. Highland’s experience as first chair in two jury trials and second chair in one jury trial resulted in winning verdicts.

While in law school, Ms. Highland was one of ten students selected for the Phillip H. Corboy Fellowship in Trial Advocacy. Through the Corboy Fellowship, Ms. Highland competed in three national trial competitions, was honored as a best advocate at the 2006 "Tournament of Champions" trial competition and received over 300 hours of trial advocacy training from prominent judges and attorneys in Chicago. Ms. Highland was also a member of Loyola’s American Bar Association Moot Court team. In 2005, Ms. Highland won the American Bar Association Regional Moot Court Competition in New York and placed fifth in the National Competition in Chicago. Ms. Highland also received a Certificate in Trial Advocacy upon graduating from law school.

• Commercial Litigation
• Financial Institution Litigation
• Franchise and Distributorship Litigation Services
• Government Enforcement and Special Investigations
• Securities Litigation
• Trade Secrets/Unfair Competition

• J.D., magna cum laude, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 2007
• B.A., with honors, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001

• Illinois, 2007
• US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2007

Recent Publications

• Co-author, "Putting Attorneys on the Witness Stand and Their Advice at Issue: The Perils of Selective Waiver of Privilege," ABA Treatise on the Attorney-Client Privilege, 2010