Maureen E. Browne is an Associate in Holland & Knight's Chicago office and concentrates her practice in the areas of litigation, local government and land use law.
On the commercial litigation side, Ms. Browne has represented national corporations, municipalities, and State of Illinois agencies, as well as small businesses and individuals. Ms. Browne has experience with breach of contract claims involving vendors and suppliers and commercial business disputes between companies. Ms. Browne also has handled other types of claims that arise out of breach of contract, including consumer fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, and breach of fiduciary duty. Ms. Browne has represented the Illinois Division of Insurance against refund claims based on state taxing statutes. Ms. Browne also has assisted in cases before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals involving Section 1983 First Amendment claims and violations of Brady rights.
With respect to her work in local government and land use law, Ms. Browne has handled drafting and negotiation of annexation and development agreements, and zoning ordinance regulations. Ms. Browne's experience also includes appearances at board and commission meetings and hearings, and counseling on zoning variations, special use permits, planned unit developments and code enforcement.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Browne worked as a legislative analyst in the Office of Government Relations at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in Washington, D.C., where she helped to secure annual appropriations from Congress for public broadcasting. In addition, she provided expertise on appropriations, telecommunications, and public broadcasting issues. Ms. Browne also served as a legislative assistant for Congressman John Edward Porter from Illinois in Washington.