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Patrick is a former federal prosecutor with a proven track record of navigating clients through their most sensitive and challenging matters. Patrick represents entities and individuals in criminal and regulatory enforcement matters and complex civil litigation; he leads company and Board-driven internal investigations; and he advises clients on issues ranging from corruption and fraud to cybersecurity and data privacy. He has been ranked by Chambers and was named 40 Under 40 for 2020 by Crain’s Chicago Business.

Patrick has the perspective of an accomplished trial lawyer—he has won each of his dozen trials in federal court. He draws on that experience and his federal investigative experience to lead investigations for his clients across the energy, healthcare, life sciences, and financial services industries. He has handled complex civil and criminal enforcement matters with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as state attorneys general. These matters have involved the False Claims Act, accounting and financial fraud, cybersecurity and data privacy, corruption, antitrust and anti-competitive behavior, racketeering, as well as securities fraud.

Before joining King & Spalding, Patrick served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. He was Deputy Chief of General Crimes, responsible for training and supervising new Assistant U.S. Attorneys on federal criminal procedure, grand jury practice, investigative techniques, and trials. Patrick led hundreds of grand jury investigations, prosecuted high-profile criminal cases through to trial, and briefed and argued appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Patrick’s notable cases as a federal prosecutor include the trial and conviction of the president and CEO of Sentinel Capital Management who bankrupted the company in the largest fraud by dollar amount in Chicago’s history, the cutting-edge prosecution and conviction of two individuals engaged in computer intrusion and theft of trade secrets from a Chicago-based hedge fund, as well as leading the investigation, prosecution and four-month long trial of defendants who led a decade-long racketeering enterprise.

Patrick serves as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law, where he teaches a seminar on Chicago’s gun violence epidemic.

Earlier in his career, Patrick clerked for the Honorable Richard C. Wesley of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York.

Full Bio

Credentials

J.D., Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, Order of the Coif

B.S. Mathematics, University of Notre Dame

Illinois

New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Judicial Clerk, Honorable Richard C. Wesley, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Top Ranked Lawyer, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations


Chambers USA, Illinois (2020-2022)

Patrick Otlewski is a careful and extraordinarily hard-working lawyer.


Chambers USA (2022)

Director's Award for Superior Performance by a Litigation Team


U.S. Department of Justice

Mitch Mars Prosecutorial Excellence Award


Chicago Crime Commission, 2014 and 2017

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Recognition

Top Ranked Lawyer, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations


Chambers USA, Illinois (2020-2022)

Patrick Otlewski is a careful and extraordinarily hard-working lawyer.


Chambers USA (2022)

Director's Award for Superior Performance by a Litigation Team


U.S. Department of Justice

Mitch Mars Prosecutorial Excellence Award


Chicago Crime Commission, 2014 and 2017

Matters

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Trustees of a public university into allegations of unlawful and improper activity, including sexual misconduct.

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Trustees of a public entity into allegations of professional misconduct by executive personnel.

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Directors of a publicly-held company into allegations of employee misconduct, mismanagement, and control failures, with advice and counseling on remedial measures.

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Matters

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Trustees of a public university into allegations of unlawful and improper activity, including sexual misconduct.

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Trustees of a public entity into allegations of professional misconduct by executive personnel.

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Directors of a publicly-held company into allegations of employee misconduct, mismanagement, and control failures, with advice and counseling on remedial measures.

Led an internal investigation for a publicly-held company into alleged accounting fraud and misleading public disclosures.

Led a pro bono investigation for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Published a public report detailing factual findings and proposing remedial measures.

Represented the CFTC Chairman, two CFTC Commissioners, the CFTC Director of Enforcement, and other CFTC officials in federal contempt proceedings, successfully obtaining mandamus relief from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. See In re: Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 7th Cir. Case No. 19-2769.

Represented companies in False Claims Act and qui tam investigations and litigation.

Represented and counseled companies in data privacy-related investigations and litigation, including the representation of a credit reporting company in litigation with multiple state attorneys’ general.

Defended an individual who was the target of a federal criminal investigation involving allegations of commodities fraud and insider trading, and successfully obtained a full declination of all federal charges by the Department of Justice.

U.S. v. Eric Bloom: Represented the government in a four-week trial of the former president and CEO of futures commission merchant Sentinel Management Group. The jury found Bloom guilty of wire fraud and a criminal violation of the Investment Advisers Act. This was the largest fraud trial in Chicago’s history by dollar amount lost ($665 million).

U.S. v. Yihao Pu, Sahil Uppal: Led the prosecution of two employees who stole high-frequency trade algorithm data and code from a global Chicago-based financial institution and a New Jersey financial firm, resulting in their convictions for theft of trade secrets and obstruction of justice.

U.S. v. Gregory Chester, et al.: Led the investigation and trial team against leaders of the Hobos criminal enterprise. After a trial that spanned more than four months, the jury returned guilty verdicts against all defendants.

Matters

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Trustees of a public university into allegations of unlawful and improper activity, including sexual misconduct.

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Trustees of a public entity into allegations of professional misconduct by executive personnel.

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Directors of a publicly-held company into allegations of employee misconduct, mismanagement, and control failures, with advice and counseling on remedial measures.

See more

Close

Matters

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Trustees of a public university into allegations of unlawful and improper activity, including sexual misconduct.

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Trustees of a public entity into allegations of professional misconduct by executive personnel.

Led an internal investigation for the Board of Directors of a publicly-held company into allegations of employee misconduct, mismanagement, and control failures, with advice and counseling on remedial measures.

Led an internal investigation for a publicly-held company into alleged accounting fraud and misleading public disclosures.

Led a pro bono investigation for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. Published a public report detailing factual findings and proposing remedial measures.

Represented the CFTC Chairman, two CFTC Commissioners, the CFTC Director of Enforcement, and other CFTC officials in federal contempt proceedings, successfully obtaining mandamus relief from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. See In re: Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 7th Cir. Case No. 19-2769.

Represented companies in False Claims Act and qui tam investigations and litigation.

Represented and counseled companies in data privacy-related investigations and litigation, including the representation of a credit reporting company in litigation with multiple state attorneys’ general.

Defended an individual who was the target of a federal criminal investigation involving allegations of commodities fraud and insider trading, and successfully obtained a full declination of all federal charges by the Department of Justice.

U.S. v. Eric Bloom: Represented the government in a four-week trial of the former president and CEO of futures commission merchant Sentinel Management Group. The jury found Bloom guilty of wire fraud and a criminal violation of the Investment Advisers Act. This was the largest fraud trial in Chicago’s history by dollar amount lost ($665 million).

U.S. v. Yihao Pu, Sahil Uppal: Led the prosecution of two employees who stole high-frequency trade algorithm data and code from a global Chicago-based financial institution and a New Jersey financial firm, resulting in their convictions for theft of trade secrets and obstruction of justice.

U.S. v. Gregory Chester, et al.: Led the investigation and trial team against leaders of the Hobos criminal enterprise. After a trial that spanned more than four months, the jury returned guilty verdicts against all defendants.

Credentials

J.D., Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, Order of the Coif

B.S. Mathematics, University of Notre Dame

Illinois

New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Judicial Clerk, Honorable Richard C. Wesley, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Top Ranked Lawyer, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations


Chambers USA, Illinois (2020-2022)

Patrick Otlewski is a careful and extraordinarily hard-working lawyer.


Chambers USA (2022)

Director's Award for Superior Performance by a Litigation Team


U.S. Department of Justice

Mitch Mars Prosecutorial Excellence Award


Chicago Crime Commission, 2014 and 2017

Close

Recognition

Top Ranked Lawyer, Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations


Chambers USA, Illinois (2020-2022)

Patrick Otlewski is a careful and extraordinarily hard-working lawyer.


Chambers USA (2022)

Director's Award for Superior Performance by a Litigation Team


U.S. Department of Justice

Mitch Mars Prosecutorial Excellence Award


Chicago Crime Commission, 2014 and 2017