George L. Saunders, Jr. graduated from the University of Alabama (A.B. 1957) and from the University of Chicago Law School (J.D. 1959). Following graduation, Mr. Saunders served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Richard T. Rives, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1959-1960), and as Law Clerk to Justice Hugo L. Black of the United States Supreme Court (1960-1962). He joined Sidley & Austin in 1962 and became a partner in that firm in 1966. On June 30, 1990, Mr. Saunders withdrew from Sidley & Austin to establish Saunders & Monroe, a firm specializing in complex and emergency litigation, including antitrust and trade regulation, communications, securities, banking and bankruptcy. In September 2011, he became Of Counsel to the Saunders Law Firm.

Mr. Saunders is a member of the Bar of the State of Illinois and has been admitted to practice in federal appellate courts throughout the country. His practice has focused on large, complex cases, both before state and federal regulatory agencies and before state and federal courts. This has included cases in the railroad industry, the securities industry, the telecommunications industry, the natural gas industry and the electric power industry. He also has extensive appellate experience in federal courts throughout the country and in the United States Supreme Court.

From 1974-1984, Mr. Saunders served as lead outside counsel in the management of the antitrust litigation against the Bell System, as lead trial counsel in United States v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., Civ. No. 74-1698 (D.D.C.); MCI v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., No. 74 C 633 (N.D. Ill.); Southern Pacific Communications v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., Civ. No. 78- 0545 (D.D.C.); and Phonetele v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., No. CV 74-3506-HLH (C.D. Cal.), and as lead appellate counsel in nine major appeals arising out of this litigation. Subsequently, he served as lead trial and appellate counsel for American Natural Resources in litigation involving the Great Plains coal gasification project, as counsel for Middle South Utilities in connection with possible litigation involving the Grand Gulf I nuclear project, as counsel for one of the major defendants in several securities actions arising out of the Drexel Burnham & Lambert bankruptcy.

More recently, Mr. Saunders has broadened his practice to include engagements as an arbitrator, an expert witness in antitrust law as counsel to the Board of Directors of a large corporation to advise the Board of the settlement value of important litigation against the corporation, and as counsel for class action plaintiffs in large antitrust cases, having served as lead appellate counsel for the class plaintiffs in the Brand Name Prescription Drugs case in Chicago, as an expert witness for the defendant’s counsel in an action arising out of a major antitrust class action in North Carolina  and as consulting counsel for the plaintiffs in the LCD class action in San Francisco.

Mr. Saunders is an emeritus fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.