Ryan W. Blackney
Ryan W. Blackney is a partner in the Commercial Litigation Practice Group of Freeborn & Peters LLP in Chicago, with a focus on trial work. He is an experienced trial attorney, having tried more than 200 cases and personally handling 52 jury trials, litigating over 100 evidentiary motions. In<br>2017, Mr. Blackney first-chaired a week-long trial before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas, and in 2018, he tried a two-week jury trial in the Northern District of Illinois. He focuses his practice on complex commercial and bankruptcy litigation, especially on commercial<br>fraud, fraudulent transfers, and objection to discharge adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court.<br>Mr. Blackney assists his clients in high-end asset- and debt-recovery work, often involving wealthy<br>debtors intent on hiding their assets. Prior to joining Freeborn, he was an Assistant State’s Attorney<br>for eight years, and from 2007-11, he was a special prosecutor for McHenry County, Ill., where he<br>handled the most high-profile crimes in McHenry County from indictment to verdict. Mr. Blackney is co-chair of ABI’s Commercial Fraud Committee and a member of the McHenry County Bar Association, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and the International Bar Association (IBA). He received his B.A. from Miami University and his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College<br>of Law, where he was on the Dean’s List and was a CALI Award Recipient in Legislative Advocacy.