Meagan P. VanderWeele

Meagan P. VanderWeele is a partner in the Chicago Office of GRSM and is a member of the Insurance Practice Group. Her practice primarily focuses on complex commercial litigation, insurance coverage and cyber security & data privacy litigation. 

Prior to joining GRSM, she worked for a premier litigation firm in Chicago specializing in professional liability defense. She has extensive experience in all phases of high-exposure and complex litigation, from initial evaluation through trial or arbitration and appeal.

Admissions

• Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois

Memberships

• Illinois Bar Association
• Chicago Bar Association
   

• Obtained defense verdict in favor of infectious disease physician in a three-week wrongful death trial in which plaintiff asked the jury to award in excess of $12 million. 
• Successfully defended at trial an estate planning attorney accused of negligently preparing an amendment to a trust in which the defense asserted an unclean hands affirmative defense.  
• Obtained defense verdict at trial, which was affirmed on appeal, in a complex medical malpractice case involving a wrongful birth claim.
• Achieved dismissal with prejudice, which was affirmed on appeal, in a legal malpractice case involving the plaintiff’s lawyer’s misconduct, including falsified court documents, which supported affirmance of the dismissal.
• Secured appellate court reversal in favor of defendant long-term care facility in a case of first impression where circuit court denied stay of non-arbitrable claims pending completion of arbitration.

Publications

In re Atm Fee Litigation: Ninth Circuit Uses Illinois Brick to Build a High Wall for Indirect Purchasers, 12 DePaul Bus. & Comm. L.J. 121 (Fall 2013)

Education

J.D., DePaul University College of Law, 2014

• Magna Cum Laude
• Editor-in-Chief, DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal
• Member, Order of the Coif
• Judicial Extern, Honorable Justice Anne M. Burke, Illinois Supreme Court
• Teaching Assistant, Legal Analysis, Research & Communications
• Janet D. Steiger Fellow, Tennessee Office of Attorney General
• Recipient of several CALI Awards for Academic Excellence

B.A., Political Science and Sociology, Minor in Women’s Studies, 2011

• University Honors

Honors

Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star (2019 – 2023)

Leading Lawyers Magazine, Emerging Civil Defense Lawyer (2020)

Leading Lawyers Magazine, “Emerging Women Lawyer” (2020-2021)

Best Lawyers in America® Ones to Watch distinction in Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants (2021-2025), Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants (2021-2025), Legal Malpractice Law (2024-2025)