Christina Lesko

Partner | Litigation

christina.lesko@pierferd.com
+1.312.415.3614 cell
+1.779.243.2447 office
Chicago
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About
Credentials
Experience

About

Christina Lesko is a partner in the litigation group. Christina focuses her practice in the financial industries, advising and defending her creditor clients in bankruptcy and state court alternatives. From avoidance actions to proof of claim disputes and stay and discharge violation claims, Christina guides creditors through the bankruptcy process, defending their interests and ensuring compliance with bankruptcy rules and regulations.

  • Christina also provides zealous representation and counsel to lenders and corporate clients, managing anything from complex litigation and class actions to shareholder disputes.

Practices

  • Banking and Financial Services

  • Bankruptcy, Financial Restructuring, and Reorganization

  • Class Action Defense

  • Commercial Litigation

  • Litigation and Risk Management

Admissions

  • Illinois

  • Iowa

  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

  • United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois

  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa

  • United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa

  • United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois

Education

  • University of Illinois College of Law, J.D., summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, 2011

  • Wheaton College, B.A., magna cum laude, 2008

Professional and Community Involvement

  • Director of Lawyers for Veterans, First Responders & Educators, 2011-present

Awards

  • Best Lawyers in America®: Ones to Watch: Commercial Litigation (2024-2025)

Experience

  • Troutman Pepper Locke LLP, 2017-2026

  • Iowa Court of Appeals, Staff Attorney, 2016-2017

  • Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP (then Faegre Baker Daniels LLP), 2013-2016

Clerkships

  • Hon. James E. Gritzner, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Iowa, 2011-2013

Representative Matters

  • Managed national portfolio for automobile and credit card lines of business for Fortune 100 creditor client, advising on and favorably defending hundreds of avoidance actions and related creditor disputes in bankruptcy and state court alternatives.

  • Advised creditor clients on defending creditor’s interests in bankruptcy, receiverships, and assignments for the benefit of the creditors, including addressing regulatory concerns arising from compliance with bankruptcy rules and regulations.

  • Managed creditor client’s distressed asset portfolio, handling the disposition of those assets through litigation with debtors and third parties, and transfer and sale of the underlying assets.

  • Obtained removal, reassignment, and stays of multiple class actions pending in the Northern District of Illinois for a mortgage lender, consolidating the client’s risk and exposure.

  • Obtained a favorable resolution to purported class action regarding lender handling of COVID-19 modifications for defaulted loans.

  • Successfully litigated a federal shareholder’s case, winning the clients the right to regain control of their company after having been illegally ousted by another shareholder.

  • Obtained favorable resolution for underwriters against a multimillion-dollar securities fraud class action in the Southern District of New York regarding the initial public offering of a Chinese company.

  • Successfully mediated or otherwise resolved numerous actions against broker-dealers and brokers before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority from investor claims of unsuitability, breach of fiduciary duty, failure to supervise, breach of contract, failure to perform due diligence, negligence, and fraud related to various illiquid investments.

  • Represented purchaser before the Southern District of Iowa in a multimillion-dollar dispute regarding the seller’s breach of an asset purchase agreement and successfully compelled arbitration of the parties’ dispute over the post-closing purchase price adjustment.

  • Represented national bank in a $30 million lawsuit involving the sale of distressed debt in the Northern District of California, obtaining dismissal of all contract and tort claims.

  • Successfully mediated claims for a financial institution brought by numerous property owners asserting negligence, fraud, and failure to disclose material defects.