Robert Merlo focuses his defense litigation practice on professional liability, primarily defending and advising attorneys in a wide range of matters such as claims for malpractice, statutory violations, and professional responsibility and ethics matters. He also specializes in the defense of real estate licensees in claims alleging negligence, as well as ancillary statutory claims. Robert has extensive experience defending these professionals in front of licensing and other oversight agencies in Illinois and in several other states. He regularly advises clients in non-litigation settings, drawing on his experience to guide his clients with regard to strategies and measures that can help avoid or mitigate potential claims. In addition to lawyers and real estate professionals, Robert regularly handles claims against accountants, directors and officers, insurance producers, architects, engineers and other professionals. Robert also represents insurers in coverage matters.

Robert has extensive experience handling these claims from inception to trial and – when necessary – through the appellate process, and has amassed several dispositive motion victories affirmed on appeal. Robert was one of 20 nominated finalists who successfully completed Wilson Elser’s rigorous Mock Trial Invitational through which our most successful trial lawyers impart their knowledge to those destined to join their ranks.

Robert’s wide-ranging litigation experience has proven valuable to a variety of clients, and he works closely with them to understand their goals, reassure them during times of crisis, and ensure they receive a comprehensive and cost-effective defense. From start to finish, Robert assesses and reassesses each case, exploring and pursuing creative strategies – both in court and out – to best protect his clients’ interests and to steer their matters toward favorable outcomes.

Robert has served on Wilson Elser’s Associate Focus Committee since 2022, and was the Chicago office Chair from 2023 through May 2024. In that leadership role, Robert used his skills as a strong communicator and advocate, assisting younger attorneys in their professional journeys and providing valuable insight, advice and assistance.

Prior to joining Wilson Elser, Robert worked as an attorney for a Chicago law firm focused on commercial litigation, specifically commercial collections and commercial real estate litigation. Robert also spent years conducting post-judgment proceedings and pursuing post-judgment remedies. He has brought his experience in these practice areas to Wilson Elser, assisting firm clients who become involved with matters including bankruptcy proceedings, adversary actions in bankruptcy, post-judgment collection actions, as well as claims for breach of contract and equitable relief.

While in law school, Robert volunteered at the John Marshall Pro Bono Clinic’s Foreclosure Help Desk; served as an extern for Appellate Justice John B. Simon of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, First Division; and handled Municipal Citation matters while working for the City of Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.

    Education

    • John Marshall Law School (J.D. with honors, 2017)
      • Editor in Chief, The Journal of Information Technology and Privacy Law; Best Oralist, The Fred F. Herzog Moot Court Competition
    • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (B.S. in News/Editorial Journalism, 2014)

    Bar Admissions

    • Illinois

    Court Admissions

    • Supreme Court of Illinois
    • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois
    • U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

    Professional Affiliations

    • Chicago Bar Association
    • Illinois State Bar Association
    • Justinian Society

Robert F. Merlo

Robert Merlo focuses his defense litigation practice on professional liability, primarily defending and advising attorneys in a wide range of matters such as claims for malpractice, statutory violations, and professional responsibility and ethics matters. He also specializes in the defense of real estate licensees in claims alleging negligence, as well as ancillary statutory claims. Robert has extensive experience defending these professionals in front of licensing and other oversight agencies in Illinois and in several other states. He regularly advises clients in non-litigation settings, drawing on his experience to guide his clients with regard to strategies and measures that can help avoid or mitigate potential claims. In addition to lawyers and real estate professionals, Robert regularly handles claims against accountants, directors and officers, insurance producers, architects, engineers and other professionals. Robert also represents insurers in coverage matters.

Robert has extensive experience handling these claims from inception to trial and – when necessary – through the appellate process, and has amassed several dispositive motion victories affirmed on appeal. Robert was one of 20 nominated finalists who successfully completed Wilson Elser’s rigorous Mock Trial Invitational through which our most successful trial lawyers impart their knowledge to those destined to join their ranks.

Robert’s wide-ranging litigation experience has proven valuable to a variety of clients, and he works closely with them to understand their goals, reassure them during times of crisis, and ensure they receive a comprehensive and cost-effective defense. From start to finish, Robert assesses and reassesses each case, exploring and pursuing creative strategies – both in court and out – to best protect his clients’ interests and to steer their matters toward favorable outcomes.

Robert has served on Wilson Elser’s Associate Focus Committee since 2022, and was the Chicago office Chair from 2023 through May 2024. In that leadership role, Robert used his skills as a strong communicator and advocate, assisting younger attorneys in their professional journeys and providing valuable insight, advice and assistance.

Prior to joining Wilson Elser, Robert worked as an attorney for a Chicago law firm focused on commercial litigation, specifically commercial collections and commercial real estate litigation. Robert also spent years conducting post-judgment proceedings and pursuing post-judgment remedies. He has brought his experience in these practice areas to Wilson Elser, assisting firm clients who become involved with matters including bankruptcy proceedings, adversary actions in bankruptcy, post-judgment collection actions, as well as claims for breach of contract and equitable relief.

While in law school, Robert volunteered at the John Marshall Pro Bono Clinic’s Foreclosure Help Desk; served as an extern for Appellate Justice John B. Simon of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, First Division; and handled Municipal Citation matters while working for the City of Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.

Robert F. Merlo

Blair, Merlo and Wood Win Legal Malpractice Defense Verdict

Kimberly Blair (Partner-Chicago, IL), Robert Merlo (Partner-Chicago, IL) and Courtney Wood (Associate-Chicago, IL) secured a defense verdict in a legal malpractice action brought in Cook County. Kim, Bob and Courtney represented personal injury attorneys who had previously represented the plaintiff in an underlying motor vehicle accident case.

The plaintiff alleged that our clients improperly recommended an $845,000 settlement in the underlying action, which involved claims stemming from a motor vehicle collision, including a claim that a C5-C6 herniation was sustained as a result of the accident. Plaintiff contended that our clients failed to advise him of an excess insurance policy and asserted that, had he known of the additional coverage, he would not have agreed to settle underlying case for $845,000 and instead would have proceeded to trial.

The Court bifurcated the trial of the malpractice action, and directed the parties to first try the underlying auto matter – the “case within a case” – with the understanding that a verdict below $845,000 would result in the absence of causation and damages, thereby entitling the defendant attorneys to judgment in their favor.

After six days of the trial’s first phase (the case-within-a-case phase), plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award $2,406,000 in damages. The jury returned a verdict of just $50,232.04, eliminating any basis for damages on the legal malpractice claim and resulting in a complete defense victory for our clients.

Kimberly E. Blair, Robert F. Merlo and Courtney L. Wood

Blair, Merlo & Duff Prevail on Behalf of Attorney Client in Contentious Post-Decree Appeal

Kimberly Blair (Partner-Chicago, IL) and Chicago associates Robert Merlo and Thomas Duff represented the attorney for the wife in a very contentious divorce case; specifically, representing her in post-decree proceedings stemming from the husband’s refusal to turn over significant sums of money, over which he was held in indirect civil contempt and jailed. Subsequently, the husband filed suit against his ex-wife, his former business partner, and his wife’s attorneys (including our client) on allegations of aiding and abetting, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy – suggesting that our client’s conduct was part of a nefarious legal strategy. Kim, Robert, and Thomas were successful at having the matter dismissed with prejudice at the trial court level based on the absolute litigation privilege. An impressive brief written on appeal by Robert and Thomas convinced the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District to affirm the trial court’s decision in an extensive opinion that further solidified the litigation privilege in the State of Illinois. 

Kimberly E. Blair and Robert F. Merlo

Blair, Stafford, Merlo and Duff Secure Affirmance in Precedent-Setting Legal Malpractice Case

A Chicago office team comprising partners Kimberly Blair and Joseph Stafford and associates Robert Merlo and Thomas Duff secured the First District Court of Appeals’ affirmance of a dismissal with prejudice of the plaintiffs’ third amended complaint for legal malpractice against our law firm client. A the circuit court level, the team brought in our client’s predecessor counsel as a third party, alleging that because discovery in the underlying case closed on their watch, there was nothing our client could have done to remedy the alleged malpractice. The predecessor counsel filed a motion for summary judgment on our third-party complaint based on the successor counsel (viability) doctrine, and the court denied it, holding that by the time it appeared in the underlying case, nothing our client could have done would have prevented the unfavorable outcome for the plaintiffs in the underlying action. After that ruling, the plaintiffs were given one more chance to state a claim, but they would have had to wholly shift their theory of malpractice. The court then dismissed that complaint (with prejudice) because the plaintiffs’ allegations about what they would have done were contradicted by what they actually did in response to the underlying judgment, through yet another successor attorney.

On appeal, the plaintiffs argued, among other things, that the district court judge was incorrect to hold, as a matter of law, that no arguments could have defeated the underlying dispositive motions and improperly took judicial notice of post-judgment proceedings from the underlying case in dismissing the plaintiffs’ “last-ditch” third amended complaint. The First District affirmed, and comprehensively laid out why it agreed with our many arguments in the Response Brief. Notably, the First District’s conclusion in its published opinion essentially mirrored our conclusion in our Response Brief.
 

Kimberly E. Blair and Robert F. Merlo

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