Trace Schmeltz represents corporations and financial services firms in complex commodities, securities, mergers and acquisitions, and white collar litigation. He pursues and defends complex claims on behalf of Fortune 500 companies before forums such as the Delaware Court of Chancery and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He also works with the government, including the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the SEC, as counsel to receivers and monitors.

Trace advises auditors, investment banks, futures commission merchants, commodity trading advisors and pool operators, hedge funds, corporate boards, broker-dealers, investment advisers and corporations. When clients face financial misfortune, he leverages decades of experience in financial malfeasance actions to pursue serious claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation and false representation of assets, criminal and civil claims, and regulatory investigations and enforcement. His passion for dispute resolution is manifest in his energetic work ethic.

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I bring analytical, data-driven problem solving to complex matters, turning complicated facts into compelling arguments that win cases."
Credentials

Education

  • University of Kansas School of Law, J.D., 1997, University of Kansas Law Review
  • Principia College, B.A., 1992

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Illinois

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
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