Andy Hale - Chicago, IL

Andy M. Hale is a trial attorney with over 30 years of experience in civil rights and commercial litigation matters. He and his cofounder, Brian T. Monico, joined forces in 2019 to create Hale & Monico – America’s Justice Attorney’s – where they also specialize in personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases. Andy began his career as a litigator in Orlando, Florida and later worked in the Chicago and Los Angeles office of a large national law firm, focusing his practice on a variety of commercial litigation and entertainment litigation matters. Since moving back to his hometown Chicago over twenty years ago, Andy has focused his trial practice on civil right cases. Mr. Hale has been involved in numerous high-profile cases during his three-decade legal career. He is a member of the Bars of Illinois, California and Florida.

Mr. Hale also represents clients who he believes are innocent and are wrongfully incarcerated. Mr. Hale has been able to vacate the convictions of two individuals, one after a 47 year prison term, and another after a 20 year prison term. Mr. Hale prides himself as a trial attorney seeking justice for his clients, whether plaintiff or defendant.

Mr. Hale has also been actively engaged in numerous media projects; It was in Chicago where he began his career as a filmmaker and producer, shining a light on the issue of wrongful convictions. His Netflix documentary entitled “A Murder In the Park” lead to the exoneration of Alstory Simon after sixteen years of wrongful incarceration. His documentary “Wrong Cat” follows his client Cleve Heidelberg, Jr.’s struggle to prove his innocence after forty-seven years of wrongful incarceration. Andy has also produced short documentary films regarding social justice issues, including “Bullets Have No Names,” which addresses gun violence in Chicago, as well as “98 Seconds,” which sheds light on the issue of sexual assault. Andy also hosted an Emmy nominated television show in Chicago for several years – “Case Files Chicago” – which highlighted and attempted to solve many of Chicago’s most well known “cold cases.” Finally, Andy was also an executive producer of the documentary “White Boy” that chronicled the case of Rick Wershe, a 17-year old from Detroit who was sentenced to life in prison for a non-violent drug offense.

Brief High-Profile Case Overview:

WFLD-TV v. The Chicago White Sox, Cook County, IL (1988) (TV broadcast network sued to sever TV contract with the Chicago White Sox claiming the team breached the contract’s implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by fielding a team that was “not desirable to watch”)

Laramore v. The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, the City of Chicago, and the Chicago White Sox, 89 C 1067 (N.D. IL) (Residents of area adjoining site selected for new baseball stadium for the Chicago White Sox sued alleging the site was selected for racially discriminatory reasons)

Chicago Professional Sports Ltd. Partnership v. National Basketball Association, 90 C 6247 (N.D. IL) (Chicago Bulls and WGN-TV sued the NBA claiming that the agreement between the league and the national television broadcast network was an impermissible restraint on trade)

Baker, et al. v. Jewel Food Stores, Inc. and Dominick’s Finer Foods (Mr. Hale was one of the attorneys representing the plaintiff, a class of consumers alleging Jewel and Dominick’s had conspired to fix, raise and maintain the price of milk in Chicago)

Alsdorf v. Bennigson, 04 C 5953 (N.D.IL) (Mr. Hale was one of the attorneys representing the defendant in an ownership dispute regarding Pablo Picasso’s painting “Femme en Blanc”)

Michael Evans v. City of Chicago, et al., 04 C 3570 (N.D. IL) (Mr. Hale successfully defended ten retired Chicago police officers who were sued by a man claiming he had been framed for the rape and murder of a nine-year old girl and had been wrongfully imprisoned for 26 years)

Joseph Serfecz v. Jewel Food Stores, Inc. (Mr. Hale represented the owner of a shopping center who sued Jewel Food Stores for moving out of its anchor tenant space but continuing to pay rent. After extensive litigation, Mr. Hale was able to negotiate a favorable settlement for his client)

Miller v. City of Chicago, et al., 04 C 3570 (N.D. IL) (Mr. Hale obtained summary judgment for several Chicago police officers who were sued by a man claiming he had been maliciously prosecuted for the rape, robbery and kidnapping of a woman and had spent 26 years in prison before being exonerated based on DNA testing)