Admissions

• Supreme Court of the United States
• Supreme Court of Illinois
• U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Eight Circuits
• U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois and Western District of Michigan

Memberships

• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• Appellate Lawyers Association
• Seventh Circuit Bar Association

• Juris Doctor, University of Illinois College of Law (1997)
• Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, The Ohio State University (1994)

• In Search of Common Ground: Leveling the Playing Field for Chemically Dependent Workers Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 1996 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1257 (1996).
• You’re Fired! And Don’t Forget Your Non-Compete…: The Enforceability of Restrictive Covenants In Involuntary Discharge Cases, 1 DePaul Bus. & Comm. L.J. 1 (Fall 2002).
• Liquidated Damages: The Forgotten Remedy In Noncompete Disputes, 95 Ill. Bar. J. 5, at p. 254 (May 2007).
• Non-Traditional Non-Competes: Designing Non-Competition Agreements to Hold Up in Court, 101 Ill. Bar. J. 11, at p. 568 (November 2013).
• Proving Lost Profits Under Illinois Rule of Evidence 701, Kane County Bar Briefs Sept. 2014, at p. 56.
• Since 2008, Mr. Vanko has published a blog titled Legal Developments in Non-Competition Agreements, which can be found at www.non-competes.com

• Summary judgment on $5 million trade secret dispute involving retail insurance brokerage industry, excluding all expert testimony related to lost profits and royalty damages
• Summary judgment on behalf of start-up labor staffing firm brought by industry-leading competitor on claims of trade secret misappropriation and breach of non-competition agreements, affirmed on appeal
• Judgment of dissolution for petitioning shareholders in Champaign-based investment advisory firm, following six-day bench trial, with corresponding attorneys’ fee sanction award exceeding $120,000
• Judgment following bench trial in Indiana state court in favor of defendants in non-compete and trade secret dispute in the auto glass replacement industry
• Judgment in DuPage County following bench trial in favor of defendant employee arising out of claim for breach of non-competition covenant
• Judgment following bench trial in DuPage County in favor of minority shareholder and former director on claim for usurpation of corporate opportunity
• Successful defense of cancellation proceeding before United States Patent and Trademark Office\’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, where dispute concerned priority of use over registered service mark
• Dismissal of vertical non-competition claims brought by print brokerage company against manufacture of adhesive labels
• Dismissal of employee non-competition claim brought by office equipment manufacturer against designer and salesperson
• Dismissal of claims against printing and sign company on grounds of Copyright Act preemption
• Preliminary injunctions in federal district courts in Minnesota and Montana for publicly-traded industrial supplier arising out of claims for breach of non-competition agreement
• Temporary restraining order against former executive for misappropriation of company assets and commercial bribery, resulting in favorable seven-figure settlement and incarceration of defendant through separate criminal proceedings
• Temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction for commercial landlord against business tenant for creating public and private nuisance
• Judgment in favor of former employees arising under Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030 et seq.; also obtained judgment in separate state court proceeding where employer asserted related tort claims
• Temporary restraining order for publicly-traded financial services firm seeking emergency injunctive relief in aid of FINRA arbitration proceedings
• Lead counsel for national technology company to obtain temporary restraining order against former employee who posed threats of violence to co-workers and who interfered with customer relationships, resulting in final judgment against defendant
• First-chaired defense of public university in defense of class action employment discrimination case and obtained summary judgment for university on all claims
• Successfully defended temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction proceedings for mortgage brokers arising out of non-compete and trade secret claims, also obtaining money judgment for wrongful issuance of ex parte TRO
• Successfully represented pro bono client on Board of Review appeal before Illinois Department of Employment Security, obtaining reversal of adverse referee determination as to benefits eligibility
• Negotiated departures of high-level corporate executives faced with threatened litigation over “inevitable disclosure” of trade secrets in insurance brokerage, high-frequency trading, banking, and wireless services industries