In addition to serving as an arbitrator and mediator, Chaka Patterson is a Partner at Alston & Bird. He previously served as a senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary at a global education corporation. Chaka guided the business development and M&A transactions, corporate governance, risk and compliance, and litigation functions. Chaka also served as Vice President, Treasury & Investor Relations at a Fortune 100 company, where he managed the company’s balance sheet, cash, bond offerings, and relationships with external stakeholders.
Chaka was the chief of the Civil Actions Bureau for Cook County’s State’s Attorney in Illinois where he managed a team of 100 lawyers in defending the county and its officeholders and employees in civil suits. Chaka served as an assistant attorney general and chief of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office Special Litigation Bureau, where he prosecuted civil and criminal fraud cases, including health care fraud, securities fraud, complex consumer fraud, charitable trust fraud, and False Claims Act cases. Chaka’s private practice experience as a partner in two AmLaw 100 law firms includes representing clients in business and commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense involving state attorneys general investigations, FCA actions, and internal investigations and compliance reviews.
Chaka presented the oral argument before the Illinois Supreme Court in Scachitti v. UBS. He presented the oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Consolino v. Towne, a case involving the free speech rights of public employees. He has assisted a client in resolving two shareholder derivative lawsuits, two shareholder class action lawsuits, eight statewide, and two national class action lawsuits. He sued the client’s insurance carriers to cover the costs of the internal investigation and subsequent litigation, with the court finding in favor of the client. Additionally, Chaka has counseled and advised boards of directors for public companies on a variety of legal matters, including corporate governance, securities, and regulatory litigation.
