Mr. Neslund is an experienced trial attorney who has won millions of dollars for his clients, including a $5 million dollar settlement in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke and, most recently, a $4.75 million dollar verdict, where an officer shot three siblings at a New Year’s Eve party.
Mr. Neslund has extensive jury trial experience in both Federal and State Courts. He practices nationally, and specializes in cases involving police brutality, wrongful death, wrongful convictions, false arrests, as well as catastrophic personal injuries caused by negligence.
Mr. Neslund has been widely recognized for his insight and experience in police brutality and related Constitutional issues. Mr. Neslund has appeared on local, national and international television and radio to comment on his own cases and related civil rights issues. Mr. Neslund has appeared on CNN, HLN, MSNBC, the BBC, Chicago’s ABC, NBC, CBS, WGN and FOX news. To see Mr. Neslund’s interviews and commentaries, see our “In the News” section.
The settlement in the Laquan McDonald case brought a microscope of national and international attention to the shooting itself as well as the City of Chicago’s Code of Silence in trying to cover up misconduct in police shootings. The United States Department of Justice initiated a federal investigation into the facts and circumstances of the shooting as well as a policy and practice review of the entire Chicago Police Department. Officer Van Dyke was ultimately convicted of second Degree Murder and 16 counts of Aggravated Battery with a Firearm.
In addition to his civil work, Mr. Neslund is an accomplished criminal defense attorney. He is a former prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Gang Crimes Unit where he tried exclusively First Degree Murder cases involving the various street gangs in Chicago. Mr. Neslund has successfully defended hundreds of clients in both State and Federal Courts.
Mr. Neslund graduated magna cum laude from Boston College in 1989 and with honors from the University of Florida College of Law in 1992, where he was an editor on the Florida Law Review.
Bar Admissions
Illinois
Florida
Mr. Neslund has also tried cases in Michigan, Kentucky, Iowa and Indiana.
