M. Frank Bednarz is an attorney with the Center for Class Action Fairness at the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute. He returned to the Center in July 2016 after interning there during its inaugural year of existence, 2009-2010.

Previously, he was an attorney with Goodwin Procter LLP, where he practiced patent litigation including Hatch-Waxman litigation and litigation before the International Trade Commission. He also contributed to Goodwin’s Digital Currency Perspectives Blog on bitcoin and the law.

Before joining Godwin Procter, Bednarz worked as an attorney for the University of Chicago Exoneration Project, representing wrongfully convicted individuals. He helped write a post-conviction petition for Eric Caine in 2009, which eventually led to Mr. Caine’s release after nearly 25 years of wrongful imprisonment.

Bednarz is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Utah. He is a member of the state bars of Massachusetts and Illinois. He resides in Chicago, where he homebrews and participates in the sharing economy.

Bednarz enjoys improving the oft-broken incentives in class action settlements, and is especially proud of winning a victory of first impression to disgorge money captured by selfish objectors in Pearson v. Target Corp., 968 F.3d 827 (7th Cir. 2020).