Bob Coleman for Illinois Attorney General

General and Educational Background

Robert Franklin Coleman, the first of three children of Helen and Clayton Coleman, was born on December 14, 1944, and raised on the South Side of Chicago. Bob, as he is known to his friends, family and colleagues, graduated from Bogan High School on the southwest side of Chicago in 1962. He earned a bachelor's degree in business in 1966 from DePaul University, working his way through school as a bookkeeper at several downtown restaurants, a loader on railroad freight docks and as a part-time shoe salesman. Bob also worked in the mailroom at the accounting firm Haskin & Sells.

While at DePaul, Bob joined the ROTC. Upon graduation in 1966, he was commissioned as an officer in Military Intelligence in the U.S. Army. Bob received an honorable discharge in 1974.

Bob married his high school sweetheart, Marcia (Nogal) Coleman, in 1967. Marcia worked as a legal secretary helping to put Bob through law school. Bob went on to receive his law degree in 1969 from the DePaul University College of Law.

Legal Career and Accomplishments

Bob's legal career began in the Antitrust Division of the Illinois Attorney General's Office. As an Assistant Attorney General, Bob represented the state in several major antitrust cases.

Bob and his wife of 34 years, Marcia

He entered private practice in 1974 as a partner in the Chicago law firm Freeman, Atkins & Coleman, concentrating in the area of complex business litigation, insurance regulatory litigation, antitrust, securities fraud and commercial fraud. In the mid-1970s he represented 23 Illinois business trade associations and the Illinois Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO) in a comprehensive challenge of several workers compensation insurance premium increases in Illinois. The defendants in those cases included over 300 casualty insurance companies, the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI). The litigation resulted in over $60 million in premium refunds and more than $500 million in prospective premium reductions.

In 1984, Bob founded Robert F. Coleman & Associates, continuing his practice in the area of complex business litigation and broadening his areas of expertise into legal and accounting malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraudulent conveyance, lenders liability and other commercial torts. Bob's firm enjoys an outstanding record of success in highly sophisticated matters against some of the largest and most powerful defense firms in the country.

In the 1980s, Bob represented a class of former Ozark Airline pilots against TWA regarding the termination of the Ozark retirement plan, negotiating a substantial settlement. In the early 1990s, Bob tried three related cases that involved claims of professional malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and lender liability, resulting in recoveries in excess of $20 million.

In the past few years, Bob has represented the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) in extensive litigation against public officials, banks, fund recipients, investment bankers and other professionals arising out of a series of failed investments made on behalf of the pension system. Bob and his team recovered in excess of $70 million in settlements for KPERS and the people of Kansas.

Most recently, Bob has been lead counsel for the Reliance Acceptance Group's Bankruptcy litigation. This matter arose in connection with Reliance's failed sub-prime auto financing operations and the 1997 split-off of Chicago-based Cole Taylor Bank. Bob assembled, litigated and effectively managed this litigation on behalf of the Bankruptcy Estate. He was integral in bringing the various parties together and negotiating settlements of more than $150 million for the creditors and stockholders.

Family Background

Bob and his wife of 34 years, Marcia, live in River Forest and have lived in the Oak Park/River Forest community for the past 30 years. Marcia returned to college in 1991 after raising their daughter and received her bachelor's degree in fine arts from Dominican University in River Forest in 1996.

Bob and Marcia's daughter, Cassandra (Coleman) Crotty, was born in Chicago in 1972. Cassie and her husband, Sean, have been married for four years and live in River Forest. Like her father, Cassie earned her law degree from DePaul in 1998. Both she and her husband, Sean, are attorneys at Bob's firm. Bob and Marcia's family expanded in 2000, when their first grandchild, Brendan Crotty, was born.

Bob and his family at Cassie and Sean's wedding

Community Involvement

Bob has a strong interest in fostering the education of our youth. He has served for 10 years on the Board of Trustees of Trinity High School, serving a two-year term as President. He is also a life member Fenwick High School's Board of Trustees and is a member of Dominican University's Presidents Council. In 2000, Trinity High School honored Bob by naming him Board of Director Emeritus. He was awarded a Certificate of Merit in 1994 from the Cook County Regional Office of Education for "outstanding service to children and education in Cook County."

During the last 15 years, Bob has worked tirelessly for women's issues in education with particular emphasis on programs of empowerment. As an example, Bob was instrumental in bringing the International Baccalaureate program to Trinity, an all girls' catholic high school in River Forest, and has actively supported Trinity's decision to remain a single gender secondary school.

Bob is a Director of The Private Bank in Chicago where he serves on the Trust Committee and as Chairman of the Audit Committee. He has served as a Commissioner on the River Forest Police and Fire Commission for the past two years.

Bob is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and the biannual Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He also has been named a Leading American Attorney in commercial litigation.