Romeo S. Quinto Jr.

Romeo Quinto is a litigation attorney in Holland & Knight's Chicago office. Mr. Quinto is a commercial litigator with more than 20 years of experience handling complex business disputes in federal and state courts across the United States, at the trial and appellate levels, and in domestic and international arbitration. His clients include leading life sciences companies, financial institutions and transportation companies. Mr. Quinto is also a trusted business counselor and advocate opposite federal and state regulatory agencies, including representing one of the Big Four banks in the implementation of and compliance with several landmark consent judgment matters valued in the tens of billions of dollars.

Mr. Quinto's litigation practice concentrates on complex commercial disputes involving antitrust laws, breach of contract, fraud, trade secrets, unfair and deceptive business practices, unjust enrichment and various federal and state statutes. Most recently, he tried a pharmaceutical milestone payment dispute in an international arbitration before the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. He served as lead counsel and argued several contentious matters in federal court in defense of a healthcare company accused of first-of-its-kind per se antitrust violations for allegedly striking employee no-poach agreements with other companies. He also defended a heavy truck manufacturer in private arbitration against contract claims allegedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars related to a profit-sharing plan.

Other significant representations over the course of Mr. Quinto's career include litigating large-scale antitrust cases brought against manufacturers in the auto, food and tobacco industries. He defended an individual entrepreneur and his startup company in a trade secret case at the forefront of algorithmic high-frequency trading against his former employer and one of the world's largest hedge fund companies. Mr. Quinto obtained dismissals of several class actions in federal district court, which were upheld on appeal, on behalf of a financial services company sued by county governments for novel statutory claims seeking millions of dollars in mortgage assignment recording fees. He also has represented large corporations in the pharmaceutical, consumer products and consumer services industries, as well as nonprofits, against claims such as product liability, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) violations, consumer fraud, breach of contract and violations of various other U.S. federal and state laws.

Complementing his litigation practice, Mr. Quinto's regulatory practice includes advising and representing national clients on consumer, financial and business practice issues opposite the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Reserve Board, state attorneys general and other governmental agencies. Most recently, Mr. Quinto was lead counsel for a bank in implementing and complying with the terms of a consent order with the U.S. Trustee Program related to bankruptcy filings nationwide. Before that, he was lead counsel for a bank's implementation of the $25 billion National Mortgage Settlement, including advising the bank over a 3½-year period to demonstrate to a third-party independent monitor sustained compliance with more than 300 mortgage servicing standards.

Mr. Quinto maintains an active pro bono practice. As a member of the trial bar in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, he has been appointed by the court to prosecute civil rights violations in prisoner litigation. He successfully represented a client before the District of Columbia Office of Citizen Complaint Review (now the D.C. Office of Police Complaints), which led to a new police policy regarding the treatment of minors who are in the company of an adult placed under arrest. Outside of his law practice, Mr. Quinto coached moot court in the Honors Appellate Advocacy Program at Loyola University Chicago School of Law for 18 years, and continues to be an active alumnus serving as a first-year student mentor, diversity mentor, member of the school's diversity council and a former member of its Alumni Board of Governors. He is a frequent speaker at events hosted by various bar associations and by Chicago-area law schools, as well as a frequent guest lecturer or panelist in law school and continuing legal education (CLE) courses.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Quinto was a partner for a multinational law firm in its Chicago office. He previously served as a partner in the global litigation practice for another international law firm and clerked for the Honorable David D. Dowd Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.