William M. Sweetnam

William M. Sweetnam, has spent over 30 years as a litigator, often concentrating in the area of class action and complex litigation, prosecuting hundreds of consumer, shareholder and antitrust class actions in federal and state courts across the country.  In addition to representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of cases involving both economic and non-economic injuries, Mr. Sweetnam has acted as lead counsel, co-lead counsel and has been a member of the executive and steering committees in consumer, antitrust and other class action, complex and multidistrict litigation matters.  

Mr. Sweetnam has been counsel of record in class action lawsuits resulting in recoveries totaling more than $20 billion. Some notable examples include:

Stewart, et al. v. LexisNexis Risk Data Retrieval Services, LLC. Mr. Sweetnam was class counsel in this Fair Credit Reporting Act class action which resulted in a $21.5 million settlement on behalf of 23,000 consumers about whom LexisNexis was alleged to have reported inaccurate civil judgment and lien information in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Kelly v. Old National Bank. Mr. Sweetnam obtained class certification and was appointed lead counsel for the class in this consumer fraud bank overdraft fee class action, ultimately resulting in an all-cash settlement of $4.9 million, representing more than 90% of the class’ damages.

Levey, et al. v. Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación, S.A.P.I. de C.V. Mr. Sweetnam was class counsel in this consumer fraud class action against Mexican airline Volaris alleging its failure to issue refunds to more than 23,000 passengers whose flights were canceled during the early phases of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although numerous other similar cases were filed against other airlines, Mr. Sweetnam obtained the only all-cash settlement, totaling $3.5 million. 

Mr. Sweetnam received his B.A. from The University of Michigan and his J.D. from De Paul University College of Law. He is admitted to practice in all Illinois courts and in the following federal courts:

• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar)
• United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana
• United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin