Ian Ross is a co-leader of Sidley’s Consumer Class Actions practice, and experienced trial lawyer who represents clients in business disputes, commercial and securities litigation, nationwide class actions, and government investigations. He is ranked by Chambers USA for his Florida practice in Securities Litigation (Band 1; 2022–2026) and in General Commercial Litigation (2022–2026). In the 2026 edition of Chambers, clients have described Ian as “fantastic to work with. He has incredible expertise,” and he “has a relentless work ethic. I don’t know when he sleeps.” Other clients have commented to Chambers that Ian “is also strategic, and thinks about the bigger picture and how to manage a difficult opponent” (2023).
Ian regularly handles high-stakes litigation matters across the country, and his matters have been featured in Bloomberg, The American Lawyer, and Law360, among many others. He is often asked to defend his clients in class actions involving novel privacy and statutory theories, and in recent years has written and spoken extensively on emerging theories of liability under national and state privacy and consumer protection laws. As a trial attorney, he has defended his clients through appeal in cases involving challenging financial, corporate governance, and damages issues. Ian has prevailed on dispositive motions, defeated class certification, and successfully won appeals on novel issues of materiality, reliance, and causation under Florida law.
He is asked frequently to write and speak on emerging issues in securities and class action litigation, and his analysis has been featured in the Florida Bar Journal, the Journal of Health and Life Sciences Law, Law360, and the Daily Business Review. Ian also serves on the editorial board of the Enhanced Scrutiny blog, where the Sidley team provides timely updates and analysis on M&A and corporate governance matters from the Delaware courts.
Ian has been recognized in The American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” publication three times for litigation wins in the last two years. He is ranked in The Best Lawyers in America® for Litigation – Securities (2026–2027) and Commercial Litigation (2027), Florida Legal Elite (2023–2025), and Florida Super Lawyers (2023–2026). He has been listed in Legal 500 United States and Florida Trend’s Legal Elite Up & Comers (2020), and is an AV-Preeminent-rated lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell (2025).
Ian earned his B.A., with honors, in political science at Johns Hopkins University before earning his J.D., cum laude, from Duke University School of Law. While in law school, he was the B.S. Womble Scholarship recipient and the executive editor of the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law.
In addition to his litigation experience, Ian has an active pro bono practice and has represented dozens of asylum seekers and refugees throughout the United States. In 2021, he received the Daily Business Review’s “Florida Legal Award for Social Impact” for his representation of detainees and asylum seekers, and he has been recognized by Americans for Immigrant Justice as a “Pro Bono Hero.”
