Joseph J. Zaknoen ("Joe") attended Indiana University Northwest in Gary, Indiana where, in 1988, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in History and Political Science. Joe received a number of undergraduate honors and graduated magna cum laude. In 1991, Joe received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Indiana University School of Law Bloomington and was a member of the Editorial Staff of the Indiana Law Journal.

After graduating from law school, Joe accepted a position as an associate at Winston & Strawn LLP where he practiced in the firm's litigation department. Joe represented business clients in a variety of complex commercial litigation matters including: false advertising, products liability, consumer fraud, class actions, breach of contract, and trade secret misappropriation.

In 1999, Joe was elected an Income Partner at Winston & Strawn LLP and continued to practice in the firm's litigation department.

Joe's practice concentrations include mass tort, products liability, trade secrets, class actions, and complex commercial litigation. Joe has represented Altria Group, Inc., Philip Morris USA, The St. Paul Companies, Inc., St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, Thomson Consumer Electronics, and a variety of other Fortune 50 companies in both state and federal court. Other clients for whom Joe has worked include: Aplexion, C.R. Bard, Black & Decker, Continental Bank, Gage & Tucker, GE Credit, General Electric Corporation, General Packaging, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, Heitman, Heller Financial, Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative, Household Finance, IBAX, Implant Innovations, Inc., Isuzu, Marmon Group, Motorola, The Northern Trust, Paulstra, The Professional Golfers Association, Polaris, Richelieu Foods, Sara Lee, South Chicago Bank, Sears, Shearson, Tropicana, United Air Lines, WNC Corp, and Western Sugar.

Among his other accomplishments, Joe represented Philip Morris USA at trial and defended over 200 individual smoking and health cases in Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Kentucky. Joe successfully tried Tune v. Philip Morris, Inc., in the Circuit Court for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Pinellas County, Florida, with Matt Lydon, the first individual smoking and health case to be tried in the State of Florida against Philip Morris USA. The trial received national media coverage and was featured in the June 3, 2002 issue of The National Law Journal as the "Verdict of the Week."

Joe represented Philip Morris USA in Eastman v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., et al., in the Circuit Court for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Pinellas County, Florida and was on the trial teams headed by Dan Webb of Winston & Strawn LLP in United States v. Philip Morris USA, et al., in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, reportedly the largest civil action in United States history, Engle v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al., Circuit Court for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Dade County, Florida, and State of Washington v. American Tobacco Co., et al., Circuit Court for King County, Washington.

Joe represented St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in litigation involving complex reinsurance coverage issues and fraud.

Joe represented Thomson Consumer Electronics in a purported nationwide class action in Cook County, Illinois involving allegations of false advertising in connection with Thomson's patented stereo television audio system.

Joe left Winston & Strawn in January 2007 to form Zaknoen & Zaknoen, LLC with his brother Ed, also a former litigation partner at Winston & Strawn LLP. At Zaknoen & Zaknoen LLC, Joe concentrates his practice in general commercial litigation, class action litigation, major personal injury and product liability litigation, construction litigation, health care issues, intellectual property, civil and criminal trials and appeals, probate and estate planning, real estate, and family law. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar and the Illinois State Bar Association.

Joe is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of Illinois as well as United States Courts of Appeals for the 6th and 7th Circuits, the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois, the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Northern District of Ohio, the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, the Northern District of Georgia, and the Western District of Wisconsin.

Edward G. Zaknoen ("Ed") attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science in 1987. Ed received an honors research grant from the history department to conduct original research at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York. He received the Wendell L. Wilkie Award for outstanding academic achievement in political science. Ed received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Indiana University School of Law in 1991. He was a member of the Editorial Staff of the Indiana Law Journal.

After graduating from law school, Ed was an associate at Lucas, Holcomb & Medrea in Merrillville, Indiana. He represented a wide variety of business and individual clients in litigation and transactions. He also advised a number of the firm's health care clients on issues such as informed consent for medical procedures, living wills and health care representatives, peer review, credentialing procedures, adoption procedures, and a number of other hospital procedure issues. In 1995, Ed second-chaired a jury trial in the Northern District of Illinois in front of Judge Rueben Castillo, in a case involving negligent pre-natal care. One issue in the case involved the standard of care owed to a patient by a licensed nurse-practitioner and was reported as the Case of the Month by the Nurse's Service Organization. Ed was an active member of the Indiana and Lake County Bar Associations while actively engaged in the practice of law in Indiana.

In 1996, Ed joined Winston & Strawn, LLP, in Chicago, Illinois, as an associate in the firm's litigation practice. Ed was selected by the firm to be a member of the trial teams representing Philip Morris USA, and Altria Group, Inc., led by Winston's top-flight trial lawyer, Dan Webb in several cases around the nation. Ed was a member of the team, led by Dan Webb, representing Philip Morris in the Texas State Attorney General action against the tobacco industry scheduled to be tried in Texarkana, Texas in the fall of 1997. State of Texas v. American Tobacco Co., et al., (E.D. Tex. No. 5-96CV-91). That case settled in January of 1998, and, at the time, was the largest civil settlement in United States history.

In 1998, Ed was a member of the team representing Philip Morris, again led by Dan Webb, in the Washington State Attorney General action against the tobacco industry. State of Washington v. American Tobacco Co., Inc., et al., (Superior Court of King County, No. 96-2-15056-8-SEA). That case was in the middle of trial in Seattle, Washington, when the tobacco industry entered into a historic $280 billion settlement with 46 state Attorneys General.

In 1999, he was a member of the trial team representing Philip Morris in the first case brought by a union health care fund to proceed to trial. Iron Workers Local Union No. 17 Ins. Fund v. Philip Morris, Inc., (N.D. Ohio, No. 1:97-CV-1422). The trial, in federal district court in Akron, Ohio, resulted in a complete defense verdict for Philip Morris and the other tobacco companies.

In 2000, Ed was elected an Income Partner at Winston & Strawn LLC and practiced in the firm's litigation department.

In late 2000-early 2001, he was a member of the trial team that represented Philip Morris in front of Judge Jack Weinstein in the Eastern District of New York, in an action brought by the Johns-Manville Asbestos Personal Injury Settlement Trust, seeking contribution from the tobacco companies. Falise v. American Tobacco Co., et al., (E.D. N.Y. No. CV 97-7640 JBW). The trial resulted in a deadlocked jury and eventually was voluntarily dismissed by the Settlement Trust.

In 2004, Ed was a member of the team representing Philip Morris and Altria Group in the federal government lawsuit against the tobacco industry, United States of America v. Philip Morris, USA, et al., (D. D.C. No. 99-CV-02496 (GK)), in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. That trial team was led by Dan Webb of Winston & Strawn and Ted Wells of Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison of New York.

In addition to defending Philip Morris, Ed worked on trade mark and trade dress infringement, construction, and product liability cases for other clients at Winston & Strawn.

Ed left Winston & Strawn in October 2006, to form Zaknoen & Zaknoen, LLC. Ed concentrates his practice in general commercial litigation, class action litigation, major personal injury and product liability, construction litigation, health care issues, intellectual property, civil and criminal appeals, probate and estate planning, and family law.

Ed is a member of the American Bar Association, Business Law Section, Litigation Section, General Practice, Solo and Small Law Firm Division, and a member of the ABA's Forum Committee on the Construction Industry; the Illinois State Bar Association, Antitrust & Unfair Competition, Civil Practice and Procedure, Federal Civil Practice and Tort Law Divisions; and the Chicago Bar Association, Federal Civil Practice Committee and Commercial Litigation Committee.

Ed is admitted to practice in all state courts in the State of Illinois, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois.

Ed is a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Chicago Historical Society.