Zac Madonia is a litigator who primarily practices in the areas of class action defense and complex commercial litigation. He represents corporate clients from a diverse range of industries – including mortgage and consumer lending, pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution, and healthcare – facing class and mass actions in federal and state courts across the country.

Zac's practice spans the substantive spectrum. For example, Zac recently obtained dismissal with prejudice of a putative nationwide class action brought against a student lender that asserted civil RICO claims and alleged violations of various federal and state borrower protection statutes. He also obtained dismissal with prejudice (affirmed on appeal to the D.C. Circuit) of a False Claims Act action brought against a chemical and material sciences company that sought billions in damages based upon the alleged failure to report risk information to the EPA. Other substantive areas in which Zac regularly advises clients include antitrust and competition, commercial fraud, securities and shareholder derivative litigation, breach of contract, and intellectual property.

Although he typically represents clients at the trial court-level, Zac also has been involved in a number of federal and state court appeals, including serving as first-chair on appeals to the First and Eleventh Circuits. He has served as an embedded “appellate lawyer at trial,” with responsibility for briefing dispositive motions, Daubert motions, motions in limine, and various evidentiary and legal issues arising in the course of trial. In that capacity, Zac was part of a month-long product liability trial in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and obtained a JNOV that reversed a $27 million plaintiffs’ verdict.

In addition, Zac has extensive experience litigating commercial disputes between corporate parties. Most recently, he was part of a trial team that successfully obtained a jury verdict on behalf of an Alabama-based diagnostic facility against a national medical equipment manufacturer on claims of fraud, breach of contract, and entitlement to punitive damages.

Outside of his billable work, Zac stays active in pro bono matters, including representing several death row inmates in state and federal habeas challenges to their convictions. 

Zac joined Bradley after more than six years working as an associate at a large, international law firm based in Chicago, where he focused his practice on antitrust, securities fraud, and shareholder derivative litigation.

Bar Admissions

• Alabama, 2016
• Illinois, 2009

• United States Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
• United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama
• United States District Court, Middle District of Alabama
• United States District Court, Southern District of Alabama
• United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois
• United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan

Education

• University of Chicago Law School, J.D., 2009
• University of Notre Dame, B.A., 2006, cum laude