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.

  • 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.

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)

Admissions

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

Memberships

  • Illinois Bar Association
  • Chicago Bar Association

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)