Costello Legal has added Partners John Pirra and Peter Syregelas to the firm. The move allows the firm to broaden its litigation expertise in employment, coverage, and appellate work. The firm continues to expand both in the diversity of practice, and the geographic scope of its work. Costello Legal currently handles all of Illinois and Indiana for several clients on litigation work, and has a national litigation management practice.Managing Partner Dan Costello extolled the new partners value to the firm in recent comments “The two new partners bring different strengths to the firm. With Peter’s extraordinary experience in construction and CGL coverage litigation we bring one of the strongest coverage attorneys in the Midwest to our practice. Also working on over 100 appeals Peter will continue to act as a leader in the appellate industry.” His industry knowledge and experience will provide additional value to existing clients.Peter Syregelas will chair Costello’s Insurance Coverage and Appellate Practice divisions.
Peter Syregelas started his career serving as an elbow clerk to Illinois Appellate Justice Robert Gordon, where he drafted over 100 precedential opinions and dispositive orders on all types of civil and criminal cases. He then spent nearly 10 years at a well-known defense firm, where he was elevated to Partner after only five years, serving insurance industry clients as coverage and appellate counsel.His extensive coverage experience spans several lines of coverage including general liability, commercial general liability, professional liability, errors and omission, directors and officers, homeowners, personal and business auto, and related policies of insurance. Peter's experience includes finding solutions to complex legal and coverage issues.He is an experienced appellate lawyer and has participated in many landmark appeals, including one before the Illinois Supreme Court, where Peter wrote the brief successfully challenging the constitutionality of Public Act 98-1132, Senate Bill 3075, which reduced the number of jurors in a civil trial in State of Illinois from 12 to 6.
John Pirra comes to the firm from “Big Law” where he was senior counsel at Kelley Dyre. In that role he focused on employment discrimination claims, FLSA, white collar criminal investigations, John has also been a member of the national litigation coordinating legal counsel for a prominent Fortune 500 company where he coordinated and directed local litigation counsel around the country.John Pirra has spent the last 16 years as a top litigation attorney in construction, employment, medical malpractice, complex litigation, and transportation. He comes to Daniel P. Costello & Associates, LLC after spending the past eight years working with in house counsel and risk managers at top flight national and international companies.
