Arthur M. Scheller III
Of Counsel
Art has represented clients for over twenty-five years in civil and business litigation of all kinds. These include contract, tort, real estate, health care, employment, higher education, condemnation, construction, product liability, and other commercial litigation matters. Art has advised a wide variety of clients including individuals, business executives, small and midsize businesses, Fortune 500 companies, hospitals, developers, government entities, and nonprofits. He has tried cases throughout the country and represented clients in numerous domestic and international arbitrations. He also has substantial appellate experience, participating in appeals in the Seventh Circuit, the Illinois Supreme Court, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, and federal and state appellate courts throughout the country. With a proven track record for obtaining favorable results for his clients, Art builds client loyalty and trusted relationships by developing and executing creative legal strategies that protect his clients and advance their objectives efficiently.
After graduating from law school, Art held a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Allen Hartman of the Illinois Appellate Court. He then went on to practice law for over eighteen years at one of the nation’s largest law firms (Faegre Drinker f/k/a Drinker Biddle & Reath) where he practiced in the Commercial Litigation Group and the Products Liability & Mass Tort Practice Group. Before joining Dietrich VanderWaal, Art founded and was the managing member of a commercial litigation firm and then co-founded a commercial litigation boutique in Chicago. His ties to the Central Wisconsin legal community also run deep: Art’s grandfather was a judge in Waupaca County where his father, a law professor, was born and raised.
Education
Admitted to Practice
Bar Associations
Professional Activities
Representative Cases
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B.S., The University of Notre Dame, cum laude, 1983
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J.D., The John Marshall Law School, magna cum laude, 1993
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Wisconsin Supreme Court
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Illinois Supreme Court
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U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
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U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
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State Bar of Wisconsin
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Illinois State Bar Association
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Hoke LLC - Partner, (2021-Present)
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ASG Law LLC – Member, (2018 – 2020)
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Scheller Law Group, LLC - Founder/Managing Member, (2014 -2018)
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Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP - Counsel, (1995 – 2013)
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Illinois Appellate Court - Judicial Clerk, (1993 – 1995)
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Obtained judgment in favor of the nation’s second largest public transportation system. This followed a two-week trial in a case involving claims for more than $3 million arising out of the construction of five elevated stations and track structures.
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Successfully defended a major medical device manufacturer who was a defendant in over 500 product liability cases pending throughout the United States. This included cases consolidated in federal court for multi-district litigation.
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Successfully argued appeals in the Illinois Supreme Court and the Illinois Appellate Court on behalf of a major retailer involved in a class action lawsuit which arose out of the retailer’s practice of collecting sales tax on shipping charges for internet purchases. See Kean v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 231 Ill. 2d 669 (2009).
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Successfully defended a major hospital, its officers, and individual physicians in a case involving breach of contract and tort claims brought by a surgeon whose privileges were terminated following a medical peer review.
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Represented a national home builder in obtaining dismissal of an annexation petition following a one-week trial.
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Obtained a $2.5 million award of legal fees and expenses on behalf of a landowner after a local school district abandoned its condemnation of the landowner’s property.
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Obtained judgment on behalf of a major medical device manufacturer in an American Arbitration Association hearing involving a $4 million breach of contract case.
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Represented a golf course in an international arbitration hearing held in Guangzhou, China involving breach of a construction contract.
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Represented a water reclamation district in an American Arbitration Association hearing involving construction of a $48 million wastewater treatment plant.
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Represented a Chicago museum in an American Arbitration Association hearing involving a capital bond financing issue.
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Served as litigation counsel to a Chapter 7 Trustee in asserting claims for fraud, commodity law, and RICO violations against a futures commission merchant and negotiating a $10 million settlement for the estate.
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Represented national higher education association as amici curiae in an appeal involving the privacy rights in student education records.
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Successfully defended hospitals in appeals relating to medical peer review, and privileging and credentialing disputes.
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Represented clients in various appeals involving Section 1983 claims, eminent domain, property disputes, and attorneys’ fees claims.