Peter L. Rossiter

Counsel
Peter L. Rossiter brings both legal and business experience to his practice.
Peter Rossiter

Peter L. Rossiter brings both legal and business experience to his practice. His career with the firm includes an active corporate, securities, and financial institutions practice, service on the Executive Committee from 2009 until 2013, and service as the firm’s General Counsel from 2013 through 2016. As a business leader, he served Northern Trust Corporation from 1992 to 2004 in successive roles as Executive Vice President and General Counsel; as President of its Corporate and Institutional Services Business Unit; and as its first head of Corporate Risk Management.

With a focus on corporate governance and regulatory issues, Peter has advised public companies on such matters as reporting and disclosure under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance and the public offerings of securities. Clients such as a leading global manufacturer of fluid transfer systems, a publicly held telecommunications company and a leading publicly held provider of higher education turned to Peter for counsel on complex corporate governance and securities law compliance issues, mergers and acquisitions, and general commercial matters. After his return to the Firm, Peter also drew on his unique experience as General Counsel and a business unit leader at Northern Trust to represent clients ranging from large national and international financial institutions to community banks on strategic acquisitions, governance issues and regulatory compliance issues.

In his present role, Peter assists the firm’s General Counsel and advises the firm’s management, attorneys, and staff on a broad range of professional responsibility, loss prevention and practice-related issues.

Previous Work

  • Clerkship: Hon. Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice of the United States (1975-1976)
  • Clerkship: Hon. Alvin B. Rubin, U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of Louisiana (1973-1975)

Boards, Memberships & Certifications

Memberships

  • American Bar Association
  • Chicago Bar Association
  • Chicago Council of Lawyers
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • The Lawyer’s Club of Chicago, Past President
  • The Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services, Cook County’s legal aid hotline – Advisory Board
  • INROADS, Inc., a minority internship organization – past Board Member
  • Yale Law School Alumni Association – past Executive Committee Member

Professional Activities

  • Adjunct Faculty, The University of Chicago Law School (1979-1981; 1999)
  • Adjunct Faculty, Tulane University Law School (1975)
  • Diocesan Endowment Fund of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, Chair (2007-2013), Trustee (2019-present)
  • Episcopal Diocese of Chicago Chancellor (1989-1994)

Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

Recognitions

  • The Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers (2007-2009, 2012-2024)
  • Illinois Leading Lawyer, Law Bulletin’s Illinois Leading Lawyers Network (2008-2021)
  • Who’s Who Legal Illinois, Law Business Research Limited (2008)
  • Peer Reviewed AV® Preeminent™, Martindale-Hubbell (Since 1987)
  • Bar & Court Admissions
    • Illinois Bar
  • Education
    Yale Law School, JD, Yale Law Journal, Board of Editors, 1973
    Princeton University, AB, School of Public and International Affairs, with high honors, 1970