Glenn A. Klinger

Glenn A. Klinger represents corporate and insurance clients in commercial, coverage, and risk-transfer litigation and related defense matters across many industries, including construction, manufacturing, transportation, professional services, and data privacy/technology. He counsels companies and risk managers on business tort, contract, indemnity, and other civil issues, and routinely handles both first- and third-party coverage claims involving general liability, professional liability, property, and specialty-line policies. Glenn has extensive experience in declaratory judgment and bad faith cases and serves as monitoring counsel in complex, high-exposure tort, contractual, and civil disputes, coordinating defense, coverage, and resolution strategies across multiple layers of insurance.

Glenn also maintains a broad commercial and defense litigation practice. He has represented professionals, contractors, and businesses in actions alleging fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, deceptive trade practices, consumer protection violations, and negligence. His experience across these intersecting areas of law and business enables him to navigate the continuum of insurance, contractual, and enterprise risk considerations, integrating legal and business strategy to achieve practical, efficient resolutions that align with client operational and financial objectives, minimize exposure and disruption, and advance long-term interests.

Glenn was previously a partner at a national litigation firm, where he managed all phases of case strategy, discovery, motion practice, and appeals in state and federal courts nationwide. Beyond his practice, Glenn remains active in the Illinois legal community through his service on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Defense Counsel and his role as a Practice Development columnist for the IDC Quarterly. He is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of lawyers and promoting continued growth and innovation in the practice of law.

Representative Experience

Glenn has served as lead counsel in numerous declaratory judgment and bad faith actions, and in litigation defending professionals, contractors, and transportation companies. He has successfully resolved matters on the pleadings, at summary judgment, and through mediation and other alternative dispute mechanisms. Representative cases include:

• Secured emergency injunctive relief on behalf of a technology client in connection with a dispute over control of digital assets.
• Obtained declaratory judgment in coverage dispute under general liability, umbrella, and cyber suite endorsements issued to metal finishing manufacturer after it was sued for data privacy violations.
• Successfully litigated certified question appeal involving statutory interpretation of motor vehicle insurance statute resulting in appellate guidance on policy drafting and regulatory compliance.
• Secured declaratory judgment when federal court adopted all arguments advanced regarding the applicability of a general liability policy’s auto exclusion to claims arising from loading and unloading operations.
• S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit adopted in full a management-liability coverage analysis addressing the insurability of restitution and the definition of “damages” under California law.
• Convinced commercial arbitration panel that reimbursement provisions in a loss-sensitive insurance program were ambiguous and that bad faith failure to pay claims lacked merit, defeating claims advanced by insurer against national trucking company.
• Obtained dismissal of appeal for specialized motor carrier (over-dimensional freight) based on lack of appellate jurisdiction in case involving proposed bad faith claim against its insurer.
• Favorably settled coverage lawsuit for multi-million-dollar environmental losses and bad faith denial of coverage where claims were controlled by Wisconsin law and presented novel questions on whether payment of remediation expenses constituted defense costs or indemnity payments.
• Advised national carriers on allocation and trigger issues under layered and manuscript policy programs governed by multiple states’ laws, where policies dated back 50 years were lost.

Admissions

• Illinois
• S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
• S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Memberships, Civic and Charitable

• Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel (IDC)
  • Board Member (2021-Present)
  • Vice Chair, Educate Committee
  • Member, Trucking & Transportation Committee
  • IDC Quarterly Practice Development Columnist

Other

• Illinois Super Lawyer®, Insurance (2026)
• Illinois Rising Star by Super Lawyers®, Insurance (2025)
• Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America™, Insurance Law (2024-Present)
• IDC Rising Star Award (2022)

Education

• D., Northern Illinois University College of Law, Cum Laude
• S., Illinois State University, Cum Laude