Deanna N. Pihos
-
Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C.
325 N. LaSalle St. Suite 350
Chicago, IL 60654 - (312) 751-1170
-
2660 Townsgate Road
800 Village Park, Suite C
Westlake Village, CA 91361 - (312) 612-2211
Education
- Cornell University Law School, J.D. (2005) – Honors: Magna cum laude, Order of the Coif
- Northwestern University, B.S. (2001)
Deanna Pihos, a partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland who specializes in litigation, joined the firm in 2008 after two judicial clerkships, one in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and one in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She divides her time between the Chicago office and Los Angeles, California, and represents clients nationwide.
Deanna pursued a career in law, and specifically joined MBG in order to use her skills as an attorney to promote social justice. This remains her passion today and her practice largely focuses on representing individuals and groups whose rights have been violated, protecting consumers from fraud, and working to eliminate discrimination in the workplace.
Deanna has extensive experience in complex litigation and her areas of focus include: representing state governments in complex litigation; representing plaintiffs in civil rights, environmental, consumer protection, qui tam, and class action matters; and representing employees in discrimination, wage and hour, and other employment matters. She also advises employers and non-profits on legal issues pertaining to their employees. Deanna litigates in both state and federal court and her dedication to her clients and providing them the highest quality representation has translated to millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts.
Qui Tam / False Claims Act Litigation
Deanna represents whistleblowers/relators in qui tam actions alleging that corporate defendants have defrauded the federal and/or state government through the submission of false claims. Her cases have concerned fraud in multiple industries, including various segments of the healthcare industry and the for-profit college industry.
Employment Law, Discrimination and Civil Rights
Deanna has expertise in federal and state wage and hour laws and employment discrimination laws. She represents individuals and groups of employees in sexual harassment and discrimination cases, including discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, and age. Her clients have come from a variety of industries, from hospitality to construction, and she has extensive experience in handling matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights.
Deanna also represents and advises employees in all types of contract disputes, including those concerning employee benefits, and non-compete and non-solicitation agreements. She also advises employers on a variety of issues that arise during the course of their business, including employment policies/handbooks, the discipline or separation of employees, and the application of various federal and state employment laws.
State Government Representation and Consumer Protection
Deanna has extensive experience working with state Attorneys General in complex litigation. In particular, she represented the Attorneys General of multiple states in their Average Wholesale Price litigation against pharmaceutical manufacturers and other entities in the prescription drug market under various state false claims acts, Medicaid fraud statutes and consumer protection statutes. Deanna participated in all aspects of these cases, and has been a part of multiple trial teams that have secured multi-million-dollar verdicts on behalf of the respective state Attorneys General.
Environmental Litigation
Deanna’s environmental practice focuses on protecting people and their property from harm caused by corporate polluters. Deanna’s work in this area includes representing a class of individual residents against a corporate polluter for alleged nuisance on their properties and an action brought by a major environmental organization under the Clean Air Act against one of the nation’s largest utilities.
Community Service Activities
American Bar Association, Member
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Member
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Member
Bar Admissions
Illinois Supreme Court (2005)
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (2006)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2008)
State Bar of California (2013)
Pro hac vice admissions to courts in Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky and Wisconsin
Publications
- “Assuming Maturity Matters: The Limited Reach of the Establishment Clause at Public Universities,” 90 Cornell Law Review 1349 (2005)