Taft Chicago partners Graham Grady, Daniel Saeedi, and Derrick Thompson have been named to Crain’s Chicago Business’ “Notable Minorities in Accounting, Consulting & Law” for 2020. The list includes 56 professionals, many of whom overcame obstacles and biases to rise to the top of their fields. The honorees have shown the ability or power to effect change in their area of practice, serve as a role model or mentor, and have assumed leadership positions outside their organization. View the full list of professionals here.

Grady’s real estate practice focuses on the City of Chicago and Cook County. He helps secure necessary approvals for land developments in the Chicago metropolitan area. Grady received his. B.A. from the University of Illinois and earned his J.D., with honors, from Northwestern University School of Law.

Saeedi focuses his practice on issues relating to employment law and unfair competition. He represents clients nationwide in the realm of trade secret theft, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, and breaches of fiduciary duties. In addition, he helps companies conduct complex internal investigations regarding intellectual property theft, and computer fraud and data privacy issues, including matters related to biometric information and compliance with the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Thompson is a member of Taft’s Litigation group, focusing on complex business and contract disputes. He has significant experience as lead trial counsel in a variety of litigation matters, including partnership disputes, real estate litigation, employment litigation, intellectual property disputes, trust and fiduciary litigation, and sports and entertainment-related disputes.