Peter D. McLaughlin

Peter McLaughlin brings a rare combination of elite BigLaw expertise, federal clerkship experience, and financial industry acumen to his AI-forward legal practice.

Peter honed his litigation skills at two of the world’s most prestigious law firms—Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Sidley Austin—where he represented individual and corporate clients in arbitrations and courts across the country and in all phases of litigation, from pre-litigation counseling and investigation through post-trial motions and appeals. He has experience in securities, bankruptcy, breach of contract, fraud, antitrust, False Claims Act, and trade secret litigation, as well as other kinds of complex commercial litigation and business disputes. In recent years, Peter has been a core team member on several large, high-stakes, fast-moving litigation matters, several of which involved steering clients through parallel proceedings, and he has taken a lead role coordinating with experts, working with fact witnesses, and drafting briefs on major dispositive motions in these complex matters. 

Peter has developed particular depth in white collar criminal defense and government investigations, representing companies and executives in enforcement actions and investigations by the SEC, DOJ, CFTC, and other federal and state agencies. His white collar practice encompasses healthcare fraud defense (including False Claims Act whistleblower actions and Anti-Kickback Statute matters), securities enforcement, financial crimes, and regulatory compliance investigations. Peter has conducted internal investigations for companies and audit committees involving allegations of financial fraud, healthcare billing irregularities, and executive misconduct. His experience includes successfully navigating clients through SEC enforcement investigations, DOJ corporate investigations, and CFTC enforcement matters, often achieving favorable resolutions including declinations and advantageous settlements.

Peter also has extensive experience on both sides of the “v” in employment law litigation. Peter has represented both employers and employees in cases involving employee movement, restrictive covenants (non-competes and non-solicits), trade secret misappropriation, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblowing, wrongful termination, and senior executive/founder departure disputes. For example, Peter served as trial counsel for a nationwide mortgage lender in arbitration and follow on litigation against one of the company’s former senior managers for breaches of contractual and fiduciary duties resulting in multimillion dollar award, and in related Texas court litigation against a competitor mortgage bank regarding its recruitment and data practices. As another example, Peter successfully defended a former employee of Centurion Service Group LLC with respect to the company’s allegations that he breached a non-compete provision in his employment agreement, persuading the Delaware Court of Chancery (Vice Chancellor Zurn) to find that the restrictive covenant at issue was unenforceable. See Chancery Rules Ill. Co.’s Non-Compete Pact ‘Unenforceable’ – Law360.

What truly distinguishes Sailfish Law, however, is Peter’s unique perspective on risk assessment and strategic analysis, developed through his experience as a Vice President at one of the world’s largest litigation funders, Burford Capital, where he underwrote commercial litigation investments across antitrust, breach of contract, and mass tort claims. Peter’s earlier career in financial markets—including founding his own trading firm and trading U.S. Treasury Securities at Credit Suisse—provides clients with sophisticated financial insight rarely found in traditional legal practice.

This multifaceted background—spanning federal courts, elite law firms, litigation finance, and capital markets—uniquely positions Peter to leverage AI technology in transformative ways. He doesn’t just understand the legal issues; he understands the business dynamics, financial implications, and risk profiles that drive successful outcomes.

At Sailfish Law, Peter combines this exceptional foundation with institutional-grade AI technology to deliver BigLaw-quality representation with unprecedented efficiency. The result is a new paradigm in legal practice: elite expertise enhanced by AI, delivering superior outcomes at transformative value.

Education:

• Northwestern University School of Law (Class of 2014), Chicago, IL
  • Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, May 2014; Captain of Jessup Moot Court Team; studied Finance and Accounting at the Kellogg School of Management
• Georgetown University (Class of 2007), Washington, DC
  • Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Economics, Magna Cum Laude; Honors Degree in Economics and member of the Mathematics Honor Society (Pi Mu Epsilon); teaching assistant in both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics

Federal Clerkship:

• James B. Zagel, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Chicago, IL
  • September 2014 – August 2016

Admissions:

• Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar)