Anthony J. O’Neill

Tony is counsel to Bauch & Michaels, LLC. He focuses his practice on complex commercial disputes, eDiscovery strategy, and cybersecurity incident response.

Tony is recognized as a leader in cyber risk strategy. He has been a guest speaker at Valley Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (ValleyML), the most active and important community of ML & AI companies and start-ups, data practitioners, executives and researchers. He was interviewed by Government Technology magazine about implementing innovative cyber defense strategies. He participates in the Advanced Cyber Security Center, New England’s first information sharing organization. Tony is a member of the Sedona Conference, Working Group 11 – Data Privacy and Security Liability. He is “AV” peer review rated by Martindale-Hubbell, reflecting the highest peer recognition for both ethical standards and legal ability.

Tony began his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Charles P. Kocoras, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. He was appointed by the Board of Directors to serve as Executive Director and General Counsel of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. Tony also trained under legendary trial lawyers at boutique law firms in Chicago. He is sought after by key decisions makers for his unique ability to implement novel, data-driven methods to mitigate enterprise risks and improve investment value in targeted acquisitions. Tony uses cutting edge eDiscovery tools and practices to retrieve information in document-intensive cases, develop, and refine case theories and damages models.

Tony is active in numerous professional organizations, including: The Sedona Conference, Advanced Cyber Security Center, as well as national and state bar associations and the Chicago Inn of Court.

A leader in pro bono and community service, Tony has served on the Chicago Bar Foundation Advocacy Committee and is past President of the Center for Disability & Elder Law (CDEL). He currently serves on CDEL’s Governing Board and sits on the Nominating Committee. Earlier in his career he served as President of CDEL’s Young Professionals Board. In 2012 CDEL awarded Tony its Impact Award for his outstanding efforts in achieving legislative changes to the Illinois Tax Code that benefited senior citizens in Cook County and permitted them to remain in their homes.

Tony was admitted to the Illinois bar in 2008 and has also been admitted to the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (including trial bar), Supreme Court of Illinois.

Additionally, Tony has been admitted pro hac vice to the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio, and the Arizona Supreme Court.

Tony received his Bachelors of Arts in Classics and Letters in 2004 from the University of Oklahoma. He received his J.D., cum laude, in 2007 from Western Michigan University – Cooley Law School, where he was Associate Editor of Thomas M. Cooley Journal of Clinical & Practical Law. He obtained a certification in 2020 from Carnegie Mellon University as a Chief Risk Officer (CRO).