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Joseph A. Power Jr. - Chicago, IL
70 West Madison StreetSuite 5500 Chicago, IL 60602
Power Rogers, LLP
Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Overview
Joseph Power has obtained more than 200 jury verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million, including the largest jury verdict in Illinois history for a medical malpractice case ($55.4 million) and a recovery of $100 million in a trucking case which led to 76 criminal convictions, including the former Governor of Illinois in the "licenses for bribes" scandal, which triggered the retesting of over 2,000 truck drivers.
In total, he has recovered over $1 billion for his clients...
Joseph Power has obtained more than 200 jury verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million, including the largest jury verdict in Illinois history for a medical malpractice case ($55.4 million) and a recovery of $100 million in a trucking case which led to 76 criminal convictions, including the former Governor of Illinois in the "licenses for bribes" scandal, which triggered the retesting of over 2,000 truck drivers.
In total, he has recovered over $1 billion for his clients...
Joseph Power has obtained more than 200 jury verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million, including the largest jury verdict in Illinois history for a medical malpractice case ($55.4 million) and a recovery of $100 million in a trucking case which led to 76 criminal convictions, including the former Governor of Illinois in the "licenses for bribes" scandal, which triggered the retesting of over 2,000 truck drivers.
In total, he has recovered over $1 billion for his clients. He has also never lost a medical malpractice case at trial. He has tried numerous medical malpractice cases and secured many multi-million-dollar awards, including:
- $43 million
- $35 million
- $30 million
- $25 million
- $21.7 million
- $18.75 million
- $18 million
Each one of his jury verdicts has resulted in payments between $43 million and $2 million, depending upon the amount of the defendant's insurance policy.
In 2022, Joseph Power and James Power obtained a settlement in the amount of $10,000,000 for the family of a man who suffered fatal injuries when while working as a bricklayer, was crushed from a large piece of earth that caved in burying him while still alive. Also, that same year, Joseph Power, Tom Power and James Power obtained a settlement in the amount of $50,000,00 for a man who sustained a severe electric shock when attempting to remove a tree in his backyard came into contact with a sagging overhead power line.
In 2017, Joseph Power and James Power obtained a verdict of $95.4 million for a plaintiff who lost both of his legs when he was working as a truck driver and the cargo he was transporting fell onto him. The day after obtaining that verdict, Joseph Power, Larry Rogers, Jr. and James Power set out on another complex trial and obtained a verdict of $33.4 million for their clients in a negligent security case against Allied Barton.
At age 28, he became the youngest lawyer in the country to obtain a jury verdict in excess of a million dollars for his client. Mr. Power tried the case alone after the offer to settle for $75,000 was declined. In another noteworthy case, a local hospital allowed a teenage gunshot victim to bleed until he was near death in an alley outside its doors until the police came to his rescue and carried him into the hospital. He later died. This case resulted in a federal investigation, review, and clarification of the federal law concerning hospital emergency room duties. The family of the deceased teenager ultimately recovered $12.5 million.
Mr. Power has obtained similar success in each of his trucking cases. For example, an Illinois family recovered almost $40 million, which was all the insurance coverage available, when a husband and father of two was killed and his teenage daughter suffered serious injuries as a result of a negligent truck driver in Indiana. Mr. Power also obtained a $23 million dollar verdict for a 50-year-old man seriously injured in a trucking collision in Illinois. In another case, Mr. Power represented the then Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court where a jury awarded $7,000,000.00 for defamation.
In 2016, Mr. Power obtained a settlement in the amount of $17,500,000.00 for a bicyclist who lost her leg after being struck by a semi-tractor trailer who was making a right-hand turn.
In 2015, Mr. Power and Joseph Balesteri teamed up to recover $30,000,000.00 for a patient who ended up losing two kidneys after a surgery that was only supposed to remove one. Again in 2015, Mr. Power and Mr. Balesteri recovered $6,900,000.00 for the wrongful death of a wife and mother as a result of negligent post-delivery care. In addition, Mr. Power and Devon Bruce recovered $3,750,000.00 in Sangamon County for a 19-year-old who suffered from juvenile glaucoma and lost vision as a result of malpractice.
Also in 2015, after almost three weeks of trial and prior to closing arguments, Joe and his brother Tom recovered over $6,000,000.00, which was more than three times the offer prior to trial. In 2014, Mr. Power and Mr. Balesteri recovered $8,000,000.00 for a woman who was not treated for a pneumothorax after an auto accident resulting in brain damage. Mr. Power also recovered $5,400,000.00 for the family of a 15-year-old boy who drowned in Lake Michigan while attending a summer camp.
In February 2013, prior to jury selection, he settled a medical malpractice case for a brain-damaged child for $35,000,000. In March 2013, Mr. Power obtained a $23,000,000 award for a young man who lost his legs in a bailor. In May 2013, he obtained a record verdict following a two-week trial for his client in Ogle County of $5,000,000 in a motorcycle collision. He returned to Cook County and in July 2013 obtained a $7,250,000 trial verdict for a school teacher who was killed as a result of medical malpractice.
In late 2012, Mr. Power obtained a jury verdict of $3.1 million for a 45-year-old Hispanic woman who was killed by a motor vehicle in an unwitnessed hit and run on Chicago's south side. Complicated forensic evidence developed by Mr. Power tied a school bus to the collision after the police department failed to charge anyone. The defendant's insurance company offered only $500,000 to settle.
In 2001, Mr. Power obtained a $13,500,000 verdict, reduced 20% to $10,800,000 for comparative negligence for a young woman who lost her leg when she was run over by a commercial boat near Oak Street Beach in Chicago. That same year, Mr. Power and Larry Rogers, Sr. obtained a verdict from a Cook County jury in the amount of $3,850,000 for a former Chicago Bear cornerback in a medical malpractice case for a career-ending knee injury. Mr. Power represented another former Chicago Bear wide-receiver in a medical malpractice case for a knee injury, and in 2001, obtained a verdict in the amount of $5,294,000, the largest knee injury verdict in Illinois history and only medical malpractice verdict in Lake County, Illinois over $1,000,000.
Mr. Power is a past President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the Inner Circle of Advocates, which is a legal organization consisting of the best 100 plaintiff trial lawyers in the United States. In addition, he is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is a past President of both ABOTA (Illinois Chapter) and the Celtic Legal Society.
Mr. Power has been listed in the Harvard Law Graduates Naifeh and Smith book, The Best Lawyers in America, every year since 1987. The same publication named him the top personal injury lawyer in Illinois in 2014. The National Law Journal recognized him as one of the top ten litigators in the United States. Additionally, Joe has been repeatedly selected as one of the top lawyers by LawDragon, a group that selects the top 500 lawyers in the country, since inception and again in 2015. In 2019, he was named in a poll of his peers by the Leading Lawyers Network as the top plaintiff personal injury lawyer and the top consumer attorney in Illinois.
In 2012, Joe was presented with the "Champion of Justice" award by Public Justice, a national public interest law firm that, with dedicated plaintiffs' attorneys, fights injustice and holds corporate and government wrongdoers accountable for their misconduct. He was also awarded the "Distinguished Award for Excellence" from the Illinois Bar Foundation, the "Medal of Merit" from the Illinois State Bar Association, the "Medal of Excellence" by the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, the "Citizen of the Year" by the City Club of Chicago and the Civil Justice Foundation's "Special Commendation Award."
Power Rogers has recovered over $5 billion dollars in verdicts and settlements. Power Rogers has achieved the #1 spot in the Chicago Lawyer Annual Settlement Survey in ten of the last eleven years and again #1 in 2022, meaning the firm obtained more dollars in recoveries than any other Chicago personal injury law firm in Illinois. Surpassing its next closest competitor by more than half a billion dollars in total recoveries since 2000.
- U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman's Advisory Council, 1994
- Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee 1995-2003, Chairperson, 1996-2000
Results
W. v. Transamerica Leasing, Inc.- 98 L 3127
Joseph Power and Larry Rogers, Jr. represented a Chicago family that lost six children in a fiery Wisconsin car crash in 1994 caused by an unqualified truck driver. Investigations prompted by the tragedy and lawsuit revealed widespread corruption, whereby the Secretary of State's staff exchanged licenses for bribes that went to the campaign of George Ryan. These federal investigations triggered Operation Safe Road, which required retesting for over 2,000 drivers using tainted licenses and netted 76 convictions, including that of former Governor of Illinois George Ryan. Joseph Power and Larry Rogers, Jr. obtained a record $100 million settlement for personal injury and wrongful death for a single-family.
RECOVERY: $ 100,000,000.00
R. M. v. Metal-Matic Inc.
Personal Injury, Trucking, Double leg Amputee:
Power Rogers attorneys Joseph Power, Jr. and James Power recently secured a $95,477,464 million jury verdict for our client who suffered massive leg injuries that required a double above-the-knee amputation in 2014. Our client, a truck driver, was transporting carbon steel tubing. The crane operator at the delivery location attempted to unload the cargo, but because the tubing was improperly stacked and configured for unloading, one bundle of the tubing rolled out and crushed his legs, lacerating his right popliteal artery and fracturing his fibula and tibia. His right knee was amputated above the knee, and after his left leg developed a fungal infection, the doctors had to amputate that one above the knee as well.
JURY VERDICT: $95,477,464.00
M. v. Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation, No. 96 L 05681
This case involved the failure to properly give oxygen or intubate and give oxygen to a 54-year-old-lady undergoing a bronchoscopic procedure and biopsy for possible tuberculosis which resulted in brain damage. This is the largest medical malpractice verdict in the history of the State of Illinois. Additionally, the loss of consortium of $15,000,000.00 to the husband is also the largest such award in the history of Illinois for that type of damage.
JURY VERDICT: $55,439,269.59
Offer prior to trial: $ 10,500,000.00
Offer prior to verdict: $ 13,500,000.00
M v. A Local Community Hospital, No. 2017 L 10109
Medical Malpractice: 12 year old girl presented to a Local Community Hospital on October 18, 2016. The employed hospitalists involved in her care and treatment failed to diagnose neck abscesses by CT scanning, failed to recognize her clinical deterioration and organ dysfunction due to infection and failed to timely transfer her to a children's hospital. The employed interventional radiologist and otolaryngologist failed to perform a sedation assessment, failed to recognize a class IV airway, failed to recognize developing sepsis, failed to protect her airway before giving inappropriate sedation and failed to timely transfer her to a children's hospital. These providers failed to recognize deep neck abscesses when treating mononucleosis and streptococcal infection leading to continued clinical deterioration. As a result, the minor suffered catastrophic irreversible neurologic injury due to a cardiorespiratory arrest. This is the largest settlement for a brain injured-minor in the history of the State of Illinois. Co-counsel with Joseph W. Balesteri.
RECOVERY: $40,000,000.00
L. v. Active Transportation Company, LLC, No. 00 CV 8448.
L., 43, was driving with his wife and children as passengers when he slowed down due to construction on the highway in Lafayette, Indiana. A truck struck him from behind, causing his car to burst into flames. L. sustained fatal injuries. He is survived by his wife and two minor children. His wife sustained facial fractures, a concussion, bone bruising, lacerations, and sprains. His daughter suffered second and third-degree burns, requiring amputation of her left leg and the toes of her right foot. She also fractured multiple broken bones in her pelvis and fingers. L.'s son suffered second and third-degree burns to his legs.
RECOVERY: $39,910,186.38
A. v. Burdock, et al. - 14 L 2727
On December 18, 2011, the Plaintiff Mother presented to the hospital for labor and delivery. Pitocin was administered at 7:30 p.m. to augment labor contractions. Fetal heart rate monitoring began at 7:30 p.m. and was normal and reassuring through 10 p.m. Plaintiffs' alleged that the fetal monitoring tracings became non-reassuring and abnormal after 10:00 p.m. through delivery at 12:28 a.m. the following morning. Plaintiffs contend that had Mom delivered between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on December 18th, A. would have been neurologically normal. Because of the delay in delivering A., she suffered brain damage and resultant spastic quadriplegia, cerebral palsy and seizures.
This settlement is a state record for a child injured at birth.
RECOVERY: $35,000,000.00
T v. Elmhurst Hospital, et al., No. 2008 L 7156
Minor plaintiff at three months of age was intubated by defendant physician. Plaintiff alleges that defendant doctor and undisclosed hospital were negligent in the failure to intubate Dalian causing subglottic stenosis. The subglottic stenosis subsequently required the plaintiff to have a tracheostomy. In September of 2006, the minor plaintiff was hospitalized at a separate hospital when the tracheostomy tube occluded and caused an anoxic event. Plaintiff did not receive proper oxygenation for approximately 12-15 minutes. Plaintiff alleged that the defendant failed to monitor the plaintiff while hospitalized.
As a result of the anoxic event, plaintiff sustained permanent damage and is a spastic quadriplegic. He suffers from cortical blindness and requires a gastrostomy tube.
This is one of the largest settlements in Illinois history.
RECOVERY: $35,000,000.00
M.M. v. Allied Barton
Wrongful Death, Negligent Security: The Plaintiffs worked for a law firm in the large office building located at 500 West Madison Street. Allied Barton provided Security Services to the building. On December 8, 2006, a former client of the firm's entered the 500 West Madison office building armed with a revolver, chain, padlock, hunting knife, and hammer in order to seek out and kill one of the attorneys who he mistakenly believed had wronged him. After loitering in the building's lobby and being turned away by the security desk, the former client was permitted access to the law firm, located on an upper-level floor, by Allied Barton security. Once he had gained access to the law firm, he shot and killed three individuals and injured the fourth. Joseph A. Power, Jr. represented the Estate of M.M. and recovered $14.6 million for his client. Larry R. Rogers, Jr. represented the Estate of A.H. and secured an $11 million verdict for his client. James Power represented R.L. and secured a $5 million verdict.
JURY VERDICT: $33,400,000.00
K. vs. Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, et al., No. 11 L 10860
46 year old male presents for a laparoscopic nephrectomy due to kidney cancer. During the procedure, aortic transection and ligation occurred with a stapling device which was not recognized by the healthcare practitioners until the patient's transfer to an outside institution. Additionally, injuries to the right kidney were caused by a stapling device which had transected and ligated arteries to the right kidney. As a consequence, the Plaintiff is a paraplegic and requires permanent dialysis.
RECOVERY: $30,000,000.00
J.D., et al. v. Trucking Company and Steel Company (2019 - Northern District of Illinois District Court)
Trucking/Transportation Negligence: A father (M-64), mother (F-43), and their only daughter (F-11) were rear-ended by defendants' semi-tractor/trailer when its driver fell asleep on Interstate 55. All three were killed (the father was survived by two adult children from prior marriages and the mother was survived by her parents and siblings). Plaintiffs alleged that the trucker, who was acting under the defendant steel company's direction, had routinely violated the hours of service and other federal regulations and as a result, according to a sleep expert, was chronically sleep-deprived, which contributed to cause the fatal crash. Joseph A. Power, Jr. co-counsel with Kathryn L. Conway and James I. Power.
RECOVERY: $27,375,000.00
G. v. LHP, No. 2008 L 2333
On February 22, 2008, Plaintiff AG's legs became crushed in a paper baler at a factory owned and operated by Defendant factory owner and Defendant factory operator. Prior to injury, AG entered a large chute/tube, which feed the baler from above, to clear a jam by using the weight of his body. When the jam cleared, AG was caused to fall into the baler. He did not have fall protection at the time of the incident. Nor did he have training on OSHA lockout/tagout procedures. After AG fell, the baler's ram crushed his legs. AG was working, as a janitor, for a cleaning company at the time of the incident. The Defendants hired the cleaning company to do janitorial work and light industry work. Defendants brought a third party complaint against the cleaning company. The complaint alleged that Defendants violated OSHA and applicable safety standards, by failing to: (1) ensure that AG was properly trained on how to safely unclear paper jams; (2) ensure that he had available and used fall protection such as lanyards and harnesses; (3) ensure that lockout/tagout was followed while the machine was being worked on and/or he was in the chute/tube; (4) provide a hazard assessment; and (5) ensure there is adequate warning signs and the hatches are secured by locks so only authorized personnel entered the chutes/tubes. Defendants denied that they knew AG or other cleaning company employees entered the tube/chute to unclog it on the day of the occurrence, or at any time prior to the occurrence. They contended that AG and the cleaning company, as AG's employer, were the entities liable for his injuries. However, there was evidence that individuals had entered the chute/tube to clear paper jams in the past. The Defendants and Third Party Defendant received OSHA violations as a result of the incident. AG sought recovery for the cost of past and future medical care, wage loss and all other available damages.
RECOVERY: $23,000,000.00
D. and S. v. Syntex
This product liability case involving children who suffered brain damage as a result of baby formula.
JURY VERDICT: $27,000,000.00
Offer: $ 350,000.00
D. v. Nettleton Specialized Carriers, Inc. and J.W. Peters, Inc., No. 08 L 6731
Plaintiff was stopped at the Edens Spur ramp at the beginning of a construction zone back up on the Edens Expressway. He was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer owned by the defendants and operated by an employee and/or agent of the defendants who was traveling at least 65 m.p.h. The driver testified he applied his brakes prior to the collision, but did not have time to stop. He claimed he had just exited a curve. The collision occurred after 3,000 feet of a straight roadway near the tail end of the Edens Spur. He sustained a C5-C6 tetraplegic injury.
Prior to jury selection the Defendants admitted liability. This was accepted by the plaintiffs. Prior to trial, the defendants offered $10,000,000 to settle. During the trial the defendants incrementally increased their offers to $15,000,000 and then $20,000,000. After closing arguments the defendants offered a high/low agreement of $25,000,000 - $50,000,000.
JURY VERDICT: $23,000,000.00
After a jury verdict of $23,000,000 the case settled under a high/low agreement entered into after closing arguments for $25,000,000.00.
Bennie Wood, et al., v. Navistar Inc., formerly known as International Truck and Engine Corp., et al., 14 L 10457
Power Rogers attorneys Joseph A. Power Jr., as lead counsel, and Sean M. Houlihan and James Power recently obtained a $21.6 million dollar verdict on behalf of a truck driver and his wife. Our client suffered a traumatic brain injury after a defectively designed grab handle on his truck broke and caused him to fall. The case involved many disputes about jurisdiction and where the case was to be heard, and was recently featured in an article published by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
JURY VERDICT: $21,600,000.00
R. v. Trinity Hospital, No. 99 L 6539
Decedent was admitted to Trinity Hospital on February 8, 1998 at approximately 5:30 a.m. at term. She was given an epidural anesthetic at approximately 6:49 a.m. when her blood pressure dropped into the 70s and then into the 50s. Fetal bardycardia was shortly thereafter detected on the fetal monitor and Decedent was place in Trendelenberg position. Dr. Jiha, the attending anesthesiologist, was paged at approximately 7:30 a.m. for low blood pressure. The nurse anesthetist continued to administer fluids including Ephedrine in order to correct the hypotension. A house doctor and obstetrician, Dr. Moreland, was called because of the fetal bardycardia on the monitor but she determined that a cesarean section was not necessary. Thereafter Susan complained of being dizzy, vomited several times, became confused and cyanotic. At 7:45 a.m. Decedent's blood pressure again dropped into the 70s and more fluids, including the Ephedrine, were given.
According to plaintiff's experts Decedent's blood pressures were abnormal for almost two hours. According to plaintiff's experts intubation was required much earlier and her oxygen status should have been monitored more closely. Additionally, earlier intubation was required and her oxygen status should have been monitored more closely along with a cesarean section operation at least an hour earlier. Decedent died after being in a coma for twelve weeks and her son was left permanently brain damaged and unable to care for himself.
The case for the disabled minor son settled for $11,250,000.00 and the wrongful death action for his mother settled for $10,025,000.00.
RECOVERY: $21,175,000.00
F.M. v. A Local Community Hospital, Michael J. Riemaier, M.D., and Associates for Women's Healthcare, No. 2016 L 002120
Mom was a gestational diabetic who was advised to deliver her son in the 39th week gestation by a maternal fetal medicine consultant. Her prenatal care was provided by a midwife who was scheduled to deliver her son. After monitoring, cervical ripening and induction, the mid-wife and her supervising obstetrician determined that no cervical change was occurring and mom could go home to return in a few days for another induction (unless she went into labor in the interim). Plaintiff's experts believe it was unsafe for mom to go home in light of her gestational diabetic risks to herself and her son and his large size as well as abnormalities they identified on fetal heart tracings during the initial scheduled induction. When mom returned, she was allowed to labor for hours prior to birth despite additional abnormalities on fetal heart tracings. Baby was born with imaging suggestive of an older brain injury and an acute brain injury. The defense argued that injury to the fetal brain occurred in the first trimester and thereafter. The midwife and supervising obstetrician were not employees of the local community hospital. The minor has spastic cerebral palsy and a major seizure disorder. Co-Counsel with Joseph W. Balesteri.
RECOVERY: $19,000,000.00
C. v. Thorek Memorial Hospital, No. 07 L 7771
Plaintiff underwent cervical disc surgery at Thorek Memorial Hospital on June 14, 2006 because he was having neck pain which radiated into his left arm. Post-operatively, he experienced difficulties moving his toes, feet and then legs. Ultimately, this progressed to his arms within about six or seven hours of surgery. By June 15, 2006, Plaintiff was a quadriplegic. On June 14, 2006 when surgery was completed, while in the operating room, Plaintiff could move his upper and lower extremities per the testimony of three witnesses. He was taken to the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) for recovery at 11:10 a.m. In the PACU he was seen by two nurses and an anesthesiologist. Both nurses noted that Plaintiff could not move his legs. No-one told the anesthesiologist, nor the operating neurosurgeon who was involved in another surgery. Plaintiff was transferred out of the PACU to the ICU by the anesthesiologist who was unaware that he couldn't move his legs. In the ICU, he was seen by two different nurses assigned to him for the next approximate 20 hours. Neither of these nurses advised any physician that Plaintiff couldn't move his legs and that he was losing the ability to move his arms. The first ICU nurse, on duty until 7:00 p.m., claims to have activated the nursing chain-of-command during his shift, having advised all of his nursing supervisory personnel (charge nurse, house physician, nursing supervisor, client nursing officer) of Mr. Contreras' situation as well as the house physician. The other hospital staff denied ever receiving this information, and denied sitting in a room talking about how to reach the neurosurgeon for an hour or two as claimed by this same nurse who was assigned to Plaintiff. Later, around 8:00 p.m. an agency nurse took over the care of Plaintiff and didn't call anyone about his condition because he was advised by a charge nurse that Plaintiff could not walk at the time he first came to Thorek Memorial Hospital. This nurse claimed that he didn't have access to the medical records to confirm the accuracy of that information when he was providing Plaintiff's care because he didn't have access to the computer and the chart isn't something he normally reviews.
RECOVERY: $18,750,000.00
F.P. v. John Burns Construction
Wrongful Death, Car Accident: In June of 2008, the Plaintiff sued the driver of the vehicle that crashed into his children as well as multiple construction contractors, alleging that a road barricade placed in the wrong location caused the Defendant-driver to collide with an oncoming vehicle, which caused her vehicle to crash into the sidewalk where three children were standing.
RECOVERY: $18,550,000.00
T. v. LaGrange Memorial Hospital - 85 L 3581
A 36-year-old man became paralyzed on his left side as a result of a stroke. His family physician and emergency room doctor were found to be negligent in failing to diagnose subacute bacterial endocarditis. This is the largest medical negligence verdict in Illinois history and the largest in the U.S. in 1991 according to the National Law Journal. This verdict was reduced $2,238,141.00 for economic damages awarded above the present cash value of lost earnings and future attendant care needs found in the evidence or requested by plaintiff at trial. At the time this case was the largest verdict ever affirmed on appeal in Illinois.
JURY VERDICT: $18,500,000.00
Offer: $200,000.00
Affirmed on Appeal 92-2262 268 Ill.App.3d 1051, 645 N.E.2d 284 (1994).
R. v. Trinity Hospital, No. 99 L 13178
This case involved a pregnant mother who presented to Trinity Hospital shortly after midnight on January 1, 1995, with an elevated systolic blood pressure, edema and protein in her urine. The nurses as well as the physician, Dr. Everett A. White, failed to diagnose preeclampsia according to plaintiffs' experts. At the time of her presentation to Trinity, the plaintiff's mother was 37 weeks pregnant and in labor. She labored from approximately midnight on
January 1st until 12:45 p.m. when she had an eclamptic seizure. Her child, R., was delivered at 1:19 p.m. with very low APGARS and a cord blood gas indicating she suffered from hypoxia and ischemia. She remained depressed for approximately thirty-six more minutes due to the failure to adequately resuscitate her. As a result, R. sustained brain damage and is currently institutionalized.
The defendants denied that they were negligent, denied that R.'s mother was preeclamptic and instead have suggested she suffered a seizure as a result of an enterovirus which they claimed was found in the placenta. The defense alleged this enterovirus attacks newborns and, in fact, was responsible for aseptic meningitis evidenced by elevated white blood cell count in the cerebral spinal fluid of R. as well as abnormalities in the placenta. It was the defendants' position that this enterovirus was the sole proximate cause of R.'s problem and was untreatable.
RECOVERY: $18,000,000.00
D.P. v. Sucha Singh, et al., No. 17 L 469
Joseph Power and James Power, along with Kurt Ensign, secured $17.5 million for a bicycle accident victim who, while cycling next to the curb, was knocked off her bike and thrown in front of the truck's rear tires; all because the driver did not properly look before turning right. Despite aggressive arguments from the defense, who argued that the bicyclist wasn't following proper cycling etiquette at the time of the accident, Joseph and James used video footage to prove her innocence and ultimately secure the largest recovery in Illinois bicycle accident history.
RECOVERY: $17,500,000.00
K. vs. Lutheran General Hospital, et al., No. 08 L 5522
Minor Plaintiff was born with a heart that was not formed properly. Doctors picked up an irregular heart beat prior to her birth. Plaintiff alleges Defendant doctors failed to properly admit her into the hospital and failed to properly monitor her resulting in her death at approximately 8 months of age.
RECOVERY: $17,500,000.00
S. v. HMD Trucking, Inc., et al., No. 07 L 1922
The cause involved the wrongful death of R.S., who was a 47 year old auto worker, who was returning home from work on the evening of October 16, 2004, when he was killed while operating his motor vehicle southbound along Indiana's I-465 within the city limits of Indianapolis, Indiana. A tractor-trailer operated by Tadeusz Strojny was also traveling in the middle lane of the southbound traffic along I- 465. Mr. Strojny's tractor-trailer struck Mr. Studer's vehicle from behind, propelling and pinning it along the I- 465's median wall. Ronald Studer was unable to escape his vehicle and died as a result of his injuries.
Tadeusz Strojny was employed as a truck driver by Defendant, Right Express, Inc. d/b/a E.R.A. Transportation, Inc. The tractor was owned by Defendant, HMD Trucking, Inc., for whom Mr. Strojny was driving. He was pulling a trailer owned by Defendant, FAF, Inc. with an insignia of Forward Air, Inc. stenciled on the side of the vehicle.
Mr. Strojny was a Polish born individual who is not fluent in the English language. On the date of this occurrence Mr. Strojny had picked up the tractor-trailer at the Forward Air depot in Chicago, Illinois and was taking it to Columbus, Ohio.
RECOVERY: $16,000,000.00
H. v. Rush University, et al., No. 03 L 9289
On February 13, 2002, H. presented to Dr. Lopes at Rush University for a second opinion on treatment of an unruptured, small (3x5 cm), left internal carotid artery aneurysm that was incidentally found in a January MRA for an unrelated condition. Dr. Lopes recommended that H. undergo a neuro-interventional coiling procedure whereby a micro-catheter would be inserted into the femoral artery and advanced through her body and into her skull for purposes of delivering small platinum-coated coils into the aneurysm. H. agreed and on February 20, 2002, Dr. Lopes performed the procedure at Rush University. Within an hour of the procedure, H. was documented as experiencing nausea, vomiting and headache. She subsequently arrested and after being resuscitated was taken for an emergent CT scan where an intracerebral hemorrhage was diagnosed. Despite emergency surgery, H. was left profoundly brain damaged.
Plaintiff's alleged that Dr. Lopes negligently performed a procedure beyond that consented by H. Plaintiff's alleged that Dr. Lopes went beyond the coiling procedure H. consented to when he performed a non-FDA approved coiling & stenting procedure. The stent & coil procedure Dr. Lopes performed involved Dr. Lopes advancing a stiff and rigid steel coronary stent along
a stiffer and more rigid guidewire, designed for larger heart vessels, into the left internal carotid artery of H.'s brain. Plaintiff's alleged that this was a non-FDA approved use of the stent device that was not indicated given that H.'s aneurysm was small (3x5 cm), asymptomatic and unruptured. Dr. Lopes' use of the stiffer and more rigid guidewire and coronary stent required the application of torque and force to manipulate the devices through the curves of the intracerebral vessels causing the tip of the guidewire to perforate a distal branch of H.'s middle cerebral artery resulting in an intracerebral hemorrhage. Plaintiff's alleged that there were signs of an intracerebral bleed during the procedure and immediate post-procedure period that Dr. Lopes and the nursing staff failed to recognize. Plaintiff's alleged that Dr. Demetrius Lopes and Rush University spoiled evidence of the bleed when 12 of 19 angiography runs from the procedure were not produced and had not been saved on the system's hard drive.
RECOVERY: $15,700,000.00
R. v. Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hosp., No. 05 L 1137
On April 8, 2003, Plaintiff underwent a radical open anterior and posterior slovenectomy for a rare knee disease. She underwent the surgery at VHS Subsidiary Number 3, Inc. d/b/a Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital. The surgery was performed by the attending physician, who was not an employee of VHS Subsidiary Number 3, Inc. d/b/a Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital. The Plaintiff and her expert did not contend that the attending was liable for compartment syndrome, which was a risk of the procedure. Upon examination immediately following surgery, Plaintiff had no complications and a normal neurovascular status. Into the night of April 8, 2003 and morning of April 9, 2003, Plaintiff repeatedly complained of pain below her knee and in her foot and had an abnormal neurovascular status. In response to her complaints, she was given repeated doses of pain medication and her dosage of medication was increased. Moreover, two resident physicians were contacted by the nursing staff but did not come into the hospital to examine Plaintiff. Attending Physician was never contacted about Plaintiff's complaints or abnormal neurovascular status. Upon examination by the attending physician, at around 6:30 AM, Plaintiff was diagnosed to have compartment syndrome. Shortly thereafter, the attending physician performed a fasciotomy surgery to treat the compartment syndrome by relieving the pressure caused by the compartment syndrome. In the weeks following the initial fasciotomy surgery, Plaintiff required several debridements due to necrotic muscle and tissue below her knee. As a result of the debridements and prolonged compartment syndrome, Plaintiff lost approximately 90% of the muscle in her lower extremity, has foot drop and severe nerve dysfunction.
The Plaintiff claimed that the nurses and resident physicians failed to adequately recognize the significance of Plaintiff's condition and communicate her condition to the attending physician. Plaintiff further claimed that this lack of recognition and communication prevented a timely diagnose and treatment of the compartment syndrome which resulted in Plaintiff;s extensive muscle and tissue death in her lower extremity.
JURY VERDICT: $14,891,123.02
Last Offer: $2,500,000.00
R. v. United/Goedecke Services, Inc., No 00 L 4797
On December 22, 1999, United/Goedecke Services, Inc. was lifting a 25 foot I-bar utilizing a hoist called a tugger when the 25 foot I-bar fell 110 feet, striking and killing R.. R. was the signalman, directing a 25 foot I-bar up the tugger bay. The plaintiff alleged the defendant was negligent in failing to more securely attach the I-bar as it was lifted up the tugger bay. The defendant claimed that R. never should have been in the tugger bay, under a load, while it was being lifted and should have used a radio next to the tugger operator and outside the bay as a safer, more effective means of communicating. They also claimed R. adjusted the sling, altering the cinch point which was responsible for it falling upon him.
JURY VERDICT: $14,230,000.00
Reduced 35% to: $9,250,000.00
Offer prior to Trial: $1,500,000.00
Offer after Closing Argument: $2,500,000.00
R. v. Seadog Ventures, Inc., et al., No. 97 L 16158
On October 12,1997, R. was run over by a commercial boat named the Sea Dog, near Oak Street Beach in Chicago, Illinois. It was almost six weeks after the swimming season was over and the beaches were closed.
The plaintiffs argued the vessel came too close to shore, failed to keep a proper look-out and that the defendant failed to properly train its captains in the rules of the U.S. Coast Guard as well as its own rules.
The defense argued that with the swimming season over and the Chicago beaches had been closed for almost six weeks it was unforeseeable that there would be a swimmer in the water over fifty yards from shore, with a 60 degree water temperature, three to five foot waves and a small craft advisory. A Chicago Park District rule prohibits swimming over 50 yards off shore.
Prior to the trial commencing the defendants offered $3,000,000.00. During jury selection the defendants offered $5,000,0000.00. It was suggested the offer would never exceed that amount which was equal to the largest amount ever awarded for a below the knee amputation. After opening statements and after three witnesses testified for the plaintiffs the defendants increased their offer to $6,500,000.00. This was the figure the trial judge recommended to settle the case. These offers were rejected by the plaintiffs.
JURY VERDICT: $13,500,000.00
Reduced 20% to: $10,800,000.00
P. v. NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, et al., No. 00 L 008622
The defendants allegedly hyperstimulated a pregnant woman's uterus with labor-inducing medication and failed to recognize signs and symptoms of fetal distress, causing the woman's newborn girl to suffer brain damage due to an inadequate flow of oxygen and blood to the brain, resulting in cerebral palsy.
RECOVERY: $13,000,000.00
S. v. Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center, et al., No. 98 L 14847
As a result of a shooting, S., a minor, sustained a puncture to his aorta, mesenteric vein as well as the colon. He walked as far as he could on to Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center property. S. was within fifty (50) feet of the Ravenswood Hospital door, when security of Ravenswood Hospital was notified of his need of assistance. A nurse employed by Ravenswood Hospital opted to leave Christopher untreated, as their policy was not to go outside the hospital building to assist the injured. He was left to bleed from these injuries for approximately 25 minutes and after he had been transported to the Emergency Room by the police officers he had a barely palpable pulse. Within two minutes of arriving in the Emergency Room he arrested.
This is the record settlement in Illinois for the wrongful death of a minor involving hospital negligence.
RECOVERY: $12,500,000.00
C. v. Victory Memorial Hospital, et al.,Court No. 98 L 0081, Lake County
This case settled for a Lake County record of $12,250,000.00 prior to closing argument before Judge Terrence Brady on Friday evening after the jury instruction conference.
On March 29, 1996, C. paged her obstetrician complaining of a splitting headache at 4:00 p.m. He told her to go the emergency room. She and her husband arrived at 4:45 p.m. and saw the emergency room physician at 5:15 p.m. He diagnosed preeclampsia and spoke to the obstetrician between 5:25 and 5:50 p.m. The emergency room physician testified she needed an anti-hypertensive for preeclampsia with hypertension but the obstetrician told him to send her to Labor & Delivery and he would call in his orders. The obstetrician ordered over the phone magnesium sulfate at 5:50 p.m. which is a prophylactic for seizures and reduces blood pressure
transiently but did not order hydralzine, an anti-hypertensive. According to one of the plaintiffs' expert, C. hemorrhaged into her brain between 6:00 to 6:20 p.m. when she started to become less coherent. In addition to suffering from preeclampsia with hypertension C. had HELLP syndrome which made her blood difficult to clot. According to another expert it was negligent not to give C. an anti-hypertensive in the E.R. The baby, Shane, was born healthy, without any medical problems.
RECOVERY: $12,250,000.00
D. v. Edward Hospital, et al., DuPage County, No. 04 L 13358
D. is a 44 year old female who went into the hospital to be treated for left ankle pain. At approximately 11:45 a.m., during an elective biopsy procedure, the patient was turned from the supine position to the prone position. She became hypoxic and her heart beat slowed to a bradycardic level with no pulse. The anesthesiologist, Dr. Rashidi Gani Loya, noticed the patient was turning blue. This is a late sign of hypoxia. She had the patient flipped back to the supine position and started ambu bagging her. The orthopedic doctor started chest compressions on the patient. He then started to perform manual ventilation with the ambu bag as well as chest compressions. Unfortunately, the patient had gone so long without oxygen she had sustained anoxic encephalopathy and permanent brain damage.
The plaintiff's intended on proving that from the time D. was flipped to the supine position until the manual ventilation by ambu bag along with the chest compressions, Linda was without oxygen, in whole or in part for approximately eight minutes which led to her brain damage. During discovery plaintiff learned that the ventilator alarms on the anesthesia equipment did not sound, possibly due to a problem with the automatic ventilator switch which did not automatically restart the ventilator and alarms upon activation.
RECOVERY: $12,000,000.00
O. v. Illinois Masonic Medical Center, No. 99 L 746
In February 1997, O., following the birth of her daughter, was diagnosed with post-partum cardiomyopathy, a condition which could result in blood clot formation in the heart leading to embolic stroke(s). O. was provided Coumadin, a blood thinner, as her ejection fraction was less than 35%. The Defendants were responsible for blood work monitoring (INR assessment) and management of Coumadin. On August 20, 1997, O. suffered a stroke from a hemorrhagic bleed. Plaintiffs alleged that O. was over anti-coagulated (her INR was 3.8 after the bleed) and argued that the standard of care required lesser levels of anticoagulation (INR 2 to 3) than the range established by the defendants (INR 2.5 to 3.5). O.'s hemorrhagic stroke caused left-sided hemiparesis. The defense contended, because of an earlier presumed embolic attack in May, the defendant physicians were permitted by the standard of care to have a higher INR than the
standard 2 to 3, to prevent another emboli. Additionally, they contended in Europe the INR is typically as high as 5.
RECOVERY: $12,000,000.00
D. v. UHS of Bethesda, Inc., et al. - 90 L 411
A 29-year-old employee of UHS of Bethesda, Inc. a/k/a Mount Sinai Hospital-North, was diagnosed as having migraine headaches and returned to work by a physician who examined him at the hospital on two separate occasions. A week after the last visit he had suffered a thrombosis which resulted in a stroke and left sided hemiplegia from polycythemia rubra vera which went undiagnosed. The jury found the defendants negligent for not performing a CBC on either visit which would have led to the diagnosis and that the physician was an agent of the hospital. This is the highest personal injury verdict in Illinois for 1995.
JURY VERDICT: $11,962,390.00
Offer before trial: $1,000,000.00
Offer during trial: $1,600,000.00
M. v. Northwest Community Hospital, et al., No. 05 L 2876
This case involved a water birth in which just prior to delivery shoulder dystocia occurred. Shoulder dystocia is where due to the large size of the D. M.'s shoulders his mother, C. M., was unable to deliver the baby vaginally without various maneuvers. This occurred when C. M. was still in the tub. Because they were unable to empty the tub as quickly as needed they attempted to deliver the baby in the tub. As a result, she was unable to perform the appropriate maneuvers that were recommended for shoulder dystocia. Due to the delay in delivery Plaintiff contended that D. M. became brain damaged and has suffered severe and significant injuries.
RECOVERY: $11,500,000.00
P.T. and S.T. v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, No Lawsuit Filed (Cook County)
(2017) Medical Malpractice: 55-year-old married female presented for removal of her esophagus due to difficulty swallowing and regurgitation. During the procedure, Surgical was utilized but was not removed ultimately migrating into her spinal canal compromising her spinal cord, which resulted in paraplegia and a neurogenic bladder and bowel. When imaging was ordered due to symptoms, the imaging was delayed, thereby delaying spinal cord decompression. Lead Counsel Joseph A. Power, Jr.
RECOVERY: $10,000,000.00
C. v. Rosenblum, et al. - 85 L 11905
The 39-year-old lady died as a result of the failure of a physician to perform a spinal tap which would have resulted in the diagnosis and treatment of a subarachnoid hemorrhage and aneurysm. At the time, this was the largest wrongful death verdict in Illinois history. The decedent left a husband and two children.
Verdict: $9,800,000.00
G. v. Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, No. 00 L 013478
Plaintiff, a former professor at Loyola University of Chicago, on April 20, 1999, went into Evanston Hospital for a decompressive laminectomy for severe cervical stenosis. Prior to the surgery he ambulated with a cane. On April 20th, there was an attempted C6 vertebrectomy for decompression of the spinal cord at the C5-6 level and the C6-7 level.
Plaintiffs' expert contended osteophytes left behind created internal stress to the spinal cord which affected the blood flow to the cord and its function. The large osteophytes left behind at C5 on the right side tethered the cord at the exit point as well as at C6-C7 leaving persistent compression and quadriparesis. The defense experts claimed it was within the standard of care to leave the osteophytes because removing them often leads to paralysis with someone with a severe stenosis as the plaintiff had.
RECOVERY: $9,750,000.00
M. v. CSX Transportation, Inc., et al., No. 02 L 00194
Plaintiff, a minor, was struck by a train on August 26, 2000, at the intersection of 123rd Street and Lombard Lane in the Village of Alsip, Cook County, Illinois. Plaintiff was walking in a westerly direction on 123rd Street when a southeast bound train passed the crossing. Plaintiff began to walk in a westerly direction when a train traveling in a northwesterly direction struck him while his friend tried to pull him out of the way. Plaintiff suffered a brain injury and is currently suffering from an incontinent bowel and bladder. He is permanently disabled and attending public high school in an effort to obtain a high school diploma.
RECOVERY: $9,000,000.00
K. Corporation v. Grant Thornton, et al. No. 13 L 4011
K. Corporation is a manufacturer of microphones and other electronic equipment. Sjuata Sachdeva was a senior officer at K. Corporation and fraudulently converted several million dollars for her personal use. She was found out, convicted and sentenced to a prison term of 11 years. Grant Thornton was hired by Koss Corporation to perform audits for Koss. It was alleged that Grant Thornton, through its team of auditors, should have discovered the fraud being perpetrated by Ms. Sachdeva and timely reported it to Koss.
RECOVERY: $8,500,000.00
R. vs. Christ Hospital, et al., No. 09 L 5749
53 year old female was transferred by helicopter to Advocate Christ Medical Center from another institution after being involved in an automobile accident. About two and a half hours after arrival she suffered a respiratory arrest followed by a cardiac arrest. Her chest cavity injuries should have been treated by elective chest tube insertion and intubation to avoid possible respiratory deterioration. She suffered permanent severe brain damage and the need for 24 hour care over her lifetime due to these failures.
RECOVERY: $8,000,000.00
Z. v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital - 96 L 03539
This involved a 69 year old former attorney who went into Northwestern Memorial Hospital on June 1, 1995 for triple by-pass surgery. On June 4, 1995, his chest tube was removed which resulted in a pneumothorax. This pneumothorax resulted in him becoming short of breath and eventually led to a cardiac arrest and brain damage. The defense claimed his injuries were from a heart attack from his underlying cardiac disease.
RECOVERY: $8,000,000.00
V. v. Lutheran General Hospital, No. 08 L 5859
On March 10, 2004, Plaintiff was pregnant with her first child. Plaintiff presented to the emergency room at Lutheran General Hospital at approximately 6:00am due to the onset of active labor. Her daughter's gestational age was 40 weeks and 5 days. Her daughter was delivered vaginally via vacuum extraction at 3:31pm by Isabel Gomez, M.D. Upon delivery, the baby was noted to have several serious health issues, namely the presence of meconium; neonatal depression; hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and seizure disorder. The baby spent three weeks in the pediatric intensive care unit before being discharged. Karina sustained a brain injury. As a result of her brain injury, Plaintiff's daughter has speech problems; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; deficits in fine motor and gross motor skills necessitating braces (AFO) for walking.
RECOVERY: $7,500,000.00
B. v. EVENSON EXPLOSIVES, INC. et al., No. 00 L 004450
The defendants failed to warn the plaintiff, a 28-year-old man, to use a lowering hook when placing explosives in a hole, rather than dropping them down. The resulting explosion caused him to sustain serious injuries to his arm, leading to its amputation, and the loss of an eye.
RECOVERY: $7,500,000.00
D. v. Condell Medical Center, et al. - 97 L 196
This case settled on the eve of trial in Lake County, Illinois for $7,500,000 for the negligent failure to diagnose and treat bacterial meningitis. This is the largest settlement in the history
of Lake County, Illinois, and the largest sum of money ever paid in the history of Illinois involving bacterial meningitis.
RECOVERY: $7,500,000.00
D. v. Loyola University of Chicago, etc., No. 97 L 16428
On August 29, 1996, The Plaintiffs were visiting their daughter in Lyle, Illinois when D. began complaining to severe back pain. An ambulance was called and he was transported to Edwards Hospital in Naperville, Illinois. After an initial diagnosis of descending aortic aneurysm with dissection, D. was transferred to Loyola University Medical Center on August 30th. During this hospitalization, D. was further evaluated and scheduled for cardiac surgery. On September 3rd, while hospitalized and awaiting surgery, D. experienced cardiac arrest and an anoxic episode that rendered him comatose. As a result of not being properly monitored while on Propofol. He is now 68 years old, lives with his wife, but suffers from permanent brain damage.
RECOVERY: $7,300,000.00
S vs. University of Chicago, No. 2007 L 9820
Plaintiff's Decedent was diagnosed with breast cancer. During a biopsy of her breast she experienced an anaphylaxis attack according to the defense and medical examiner or a pulmonary embolus according to plaintiff. The plaintiff further alleged a DVT or pulmonary embolus was never ruled out.
During the hospitalization she was placed on Heparin prophylaxis which was later discontinued because of a suspected adverse reaction (HIT) without ordering an alternative anticoagulant. She experienced a fatal pulmonary embolus two days later.
She was a school teacher who left surviving a husband and daughter.
JURY VERDICT: $7,250,000.00
Last Offer: $2,000,000.00
G. v. Skokie Valley Community Hospital - 81 L 25078
After sustaining numerous injuries in a motorcycle accident, including a C-2 "hangman's" fracture and bruising of his spinal cord, student ended up paralyzed as a result of the failure to adequately replace his blood lost in the accident and appropriately intubate him.
JURY VERDICT: $7,012,000.00
Affirmed on Appeal 91-1742, 269 Ill.App.3d 37, 645 N.E.2d 319 (1994)
T. v. SHAW SUBURBAN MEDIA GROUP, INC., etc., et al., No. 04 LK 000013
This case involved the trial of a defamation case on behalf of an Illinois Supreme Court Justice. This is the highest defamation verdict and the highest subsequent settlement for a judge in the United States history.
JURY VERDICT: $7,000,000.00
K. v. Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, No. 05 L 5817
On April 27, 2004, M. K., a 57 year old medical malpractice defense lawyer with the law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson, underwent a stress test at an office location near his home. The stress test was ordered by his internist at Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation. The stress test results were faxed and mailed to the Faculty Foundation. However, the test results were not reviewed due to an administrative error and K. was never advised that the results were abnormal and required cardiac catheterization. He experienced sudden cardiac death on August 9, 2004.
RECOVERY: $7,000,000.00
B. vs. Advocate South Suburban Hospital, et al., No. 13 L 8700
Decedent passed away on June 10, 2012, weeks after giving birth at Advocate South Suburban Hospital. Following birth she presented twice to the emergency department at Advocate South Suburban Hospital with complaints of shortness of breath. At both visits she was found to have leg swelling and an elevated blood pressure. The emergency room staff did not contact her obstetrician and she was discharged without diagnosis beyond shortness of breath of unknown etiology after pulmonary embolism was excluded. Urine testing was not done to assess for protein. She had normal blood pressures throughout her pregnancy and labor and delivery. She was experiencing undiagnosed pre-eclampsia that led to eclampsia on June 1, 2012 when she seized. The Decedent was survived by her husband and two children. Co-counsel with Joseph A. Power, Jr.
RECOVERY: $ 6,900,000.00
H. v. Duff - 80 L 24276
Child running into street struck by auto which failed to reduce speed to avoid an accident, resulting in brain damage.
JURY VERDICT: $6,591,344.00
M. v. Northwestern Medical Foundation, et al., No. 04 L 000944
On or about 4/20/02 a chest x-ray of the left lung was read by Dr. Wiggins as normal. Dr. Kirby saw something suspicious in the upper left quadrant of the lung and called another radiologist who also read the film as normal. No physician followed up nor advised M., a law professor, of possible abnormalities despite thirteen (13) subsequent visits to Dr. Kirby. On or about April 29, 2003, lung cancer was finally diagnosed from a follow-up x-ray. The lesion grew from one (1) centimeter to 6 x 9 centimeters and metastasized to other parts of her body. She died on April 11, 2004. M. died from the undiagnosed lung cancer with a delay in treatment of over one year. The lung cancer went from non-metastatic and curable to metastatic and non-curable due to the delay.
RECOVERY: $6,500,000.00
A. v. Advocate Health and Hospitals corporation, etc., et al., No. 01 L 09320
This case involves a minor Plaintiff who fell at school in gym class and struck the back of his head on a tile floor. A. was transported from school to Olympia Fields Hospital and transferred within a few hours to Advocate Hope Children's Hospital to receive pediatric intensive care unit monitoring and management. While at Advocate from 2:45 p.m. on December 16, 1999 until his death at 9:26 a.m. on December 18, 1999, A. did not receive a CT scan until 10:15 p.m. on December 17th. The CT scan performed at 10:15 p.m. was ordered to be done in the a.m. on the 17th. Plaintiffs alleged that there was a failure to obtain a CT scan as ordered. After obtaining the image in the late evening of December 17th, no radiologist or other physician interpreted that scan until after A. suffered a respiratory arrest at 4:30 in the morning on December 18, 1999. The scan taken in the evening of December 17th revealed a fracture of his skull in the occipital bone, a right frontal lobe hematoma and brain swelling. A. suffered an arrest on the December 18th as a result of increasing intracranial pressure and brain herniation.
RECOVERY: $6,025,000.00
E.K., As Mother and Next Friend of E.M., her minor daughter v. A Local Pediatric Hospital No. 2020 L 003616
(2020) Medical Malpractice: Three-year-old girl presented to a local pediatric hospital to undergo surgery for the removal of what was believed to be a cholesteatoma which was affecting left-sided hearing (conductive hearing). The next day she underwent a second surgery to repair physician-caused injury to facial nerve. The ENT in charge of the surgery failed to recognize that the mass was not a cholesteatoma and proceeded to explore the area causing the facial nerve damage. As a consequence, the minor now will need a Baha hearing aid affixed to her skull and has lost the real opportunity to hear on the affected side. She also has permanent facial paralysis resulting in asymmetry of her face, eyes, eyebrow, and smile. Co-counsel with Joseph Balesteri
RECOVERY: $6,000,000.00
C. v. Rush Presbyterian - St. Luke's Medical Center, et al., No. 02 L 13883
C. underwent knee surgery on March 8, 2002. After the surgery he was given full strength Fentanyl/Bupivacaine and Cloridine by epidural for pain. He remained uncomfortable so the epidural was pulled and he was started on Morphine. Thereafter the epidural position was reconfirmed and he was restarted on Fentanyl/Bupivacaine and Cloridine as well as the Morphine. At approximately 1:00 a.m. the attending physician noted the patient was comfortable, sleeping but easily arousable. At 4:00 a.m., a nurse, while administering antibiotics, noted that Plaintiff was pale and unresponsive with his pulse rate dropping from 20 to 0. He was in asystole and a Code was called and CPR commenced.
Plaintiff contends that the pain medicines administered were respiratory depressants which led to a respiratory arrest and hypoxic anoxic brain damage. Under the circumstances an apnea monitor and oximeter were required by the standard of care to prevent a respiratory arrest. This brain damage ultimately led to his death six days later, on March 14, 2002.
RECOVERY: $6,000,000.00
M. v. S&Z Development Co., et al. - 90 L 20375
A 29-year old carpenter, fell through a skylight hole 38-feet to his death while erecting a skylight on a penthouse roof at the Eugenie Terrace Development. This was the largest verdict for a wrongful death of a tradesman in Illinois. It is also the largest wrongful death verdict under the Structural Work Act in Illinois history. The decedent left a wife and a 5-year old son.
VERDICT: $6,000,000.00
P. v. WGN, No. 96 L 14740
WGN camera man ran red light and injured previously disabled Vietnam veteran.
RECOVERY: $6,000,000.00
G. vs. Keyth Security Systems, Inc., et al., No. 12 L 14365
Plaintiff decedents resided in a home in Chicago, Illinois. They installed a security system in their home through Defendant Keyth Security Systems, Inc., that included burglary and fire alarms. A fire erupted in their basement at approximately 2:48 a.m., which sent a signal to Defendant SAI for low temperature. Neither Keyth nor SAI notified the Plaintiff decedents, the fire department nor the police. Plaintiff decedents both died in the bathroom of smoke inhalation trying to escape the fire. When the police and fire department arrived, no alarms were sounding. In the opinion of Plaintiff's consultants, the alarm system violated the municipal code, and was improperly placed, wired and programmed. In addition, there were significant maintenance issues.
RECOVERY: $5,950,000.00
M. v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, No. 08 L 2061
A 53 year old disabled female underwent a planned two-stage neurosurgical procedure to correct a severe thoracic kyphosis. Following the second stage, there was progressive reflex abnormalities and loss of motor function which went unreported to physicians responsible for her care. The delay in communication resulted in a delayed diagnosis and ultimately permanent paraplegia from thoracic spinal cord compression.
RECOVERY: $5,750,000.00
U.H. v. Gidwitz
Breach of contract: After a complex trial, a Cook County Judge ordered Ron Gidwitz, Donald Trump's Illinois finance committee Chairman, to pay his former attorneys $5.7 million in unpaid legal fees. Judge Patrick Foran Lustig ruled that Gidwitz breached his contract with Ungaretti & Harris by refusing to pay fair and reasonable legal fees incurred on his behalf.
VERDICT: $5,700,000.00
S. v. Steven R. Daube, D.O., et al., No. 05 L 4140
On August 14, 2003, Decedent, a single, twenty-two-year-old female underwent laparoscopic out-patient surgery at Hinsdale Hospital. Following her surgery, Tricia was discharged from Hinsdale's post-operative recovery unit by the nursing staff despite having, what the family described as, complaints of feeling faint, nausea and severe pain in her abdomen. She was discharged from the Out-Patient Surgi Center at 7:00 p.m. on the evening of August 14, 2003. She returned to Hinsdale Hospital at 12:30 a.m. on August 15th with severe abdominal pain and was admitted. Her condition worsened throughout the day and she was eventually taken back to surgery at 6:30 p.m. Prior to beginning the exploratory surgery to determine the cause of her severe abdominal pain, she aspirated during anesthesia induction. During surgery, another surgeon identified the perforation to her small bowel and repaired it. Unfortunately, her condition deteriorated and she died the following day.
RECOVERY: $5,700,000.00
H. v. AIRBORNE EXPRESS, CO., No. 01 L 01234
H., a 13 year old minor, sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) on June 20, 2000 when he was struck by an Airborne Express / DHL delivery van at the intersection of Devon and Oakley Streets in Chicago, Illinois. At the time he was struck, H. was traveling eastbound on the northern sidewalk of Devon Street and was struck by the northbound Airborne Express delivery van as it proceeded northbound on Oakley from a Stop sign. Plaintiff maintained that H. had the right of way and that the defendant was operating his vehicle too fast for conditions and was negligent for failing to yield to a pedestrian in the crosswalk. Defendants maintained that H. emerged from behind an illegally parked vehicle and entered the crosswalk too fast for the driver to stop his vehicle. The defense further maintained that H. was not injured to the extent claimed by Plaintiffs. H. is now an adult and lives independently in a supervised living environment.
RECOVERY: $5,500,000.00
K. vs. Manitoqua Ministries, Inc., No. 14 L 3021
Plaintiff's decedent was a 15 year old camper at defendant camp. During a day trip to the beach in New Buffalo, Michigan, the camp counselors failed to supervise the campers and allowed them into the water. Red flags were posted indicating unsafe and hazardous water conditions, including rip currents. Plaintiff's decedent was swept underwater by a rip current resulting in his death. The summer camp failed to properly train its counselors and supervise its campers resulting in the drowning of a three sport athlete.
RECOVERY: $5,400,000.00
O. v. COUNTY OF COOK, No. 02 L 3242
A 50-year-old woman died in March 2001 after doctors at Cook County Hospital allegedly overlooked indications of cervical cancer that showed up in test results. Plaintiff attorneys said the woman's Pap smears in 1996 showed the possibility of cervical cancer, but the hospital failed to run additional tests that could have confirmed cancer while there was still time to treat it. Doctors identified the cancer in 2001, while the woman was undergoing a hysterectomy and when it was too late to treat it.
RECOVERY: $5,200,000.00
E. v. A Community Hospital, No. 2014 L 46
40 year old female presented to a local hospital for an elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy for her cholecystitis and cholelithiasis. During the laparoscopic surgery, the defendant surgeon placed clip(s) upon her common bile duct and hepatic duct(s)/artery which caused an iatrogenic injury (ligated and/or divided duct and artery). After a few days she presented to the defendant physician with complaints of episodic pain and discolored urine and was admitted. After her admission, she was emergently transferred to an academic hospital where she was hospitalized for months and underwent a liver transplant and multiple V-P shunt removal and/or revision procedures because bile leakage. She requires anti-rejection drugs for her transplant on a life-long basis and monitoring for liver rejection. Co-counsel with Joseph W. Balesteri.
RECOVERY: $4,500,000.00
S.S., Individually and as Independent Administrator of the Estate of M.S., Deceased v. Advocate North Side health Network d/b/a Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, No. 14 L 008156 (Cook County)
Medical Malpractice: After receiving a history of a patient falling out of a cab going 25-35 miles an hour, hospital staff, including trauma, neurosurgeons and nurses, provided inpatient care to Decedent. On the sixth day of hospitalization, the neurosurgical service and the nursing staff failed to do timely neuro checks, obtain CT scanning, and failed to diagnose increasing intracranial pressure, which had occurred in a delayed fashion following head trauma. That resulted in brain stem herniation and death. The patient was 46 years old at the time of his passing. He is survived by his wife, who remarried prior to trial, and their two minor children. Lead counsel Joseph A. Power, Jr.
RECOVERY: $4,000,000.00
G.M. and N.M. v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, No Lawsuit Filed (Cook County)
Medical Malpractice: 61-year-old male underwent a colonoscopy, and a possibly palpable nodule was identified within the colonoscopy report. The report was reviewed by the ordering primary care physician; however, no further workup was obtained, whether by urologic consultation or a PSA testing. Approximately, one year later, the primary care physician did order a PSA and urologic consult, which revealed abnormalities, prostate cancer, and lymph node involvement. Due to increased risks of mortality associated with delayed diagnosis, this case was settled without the need for filing. Lead counsel Joseph A. Power, Jr.
RECOVERY: $3,500,000.00
E. v. A Local Academic Hospital, No. 2019 L 012207
This case involved a 75-year-old male who presented for elective, minimally invasive back surgery. Postoperatively, he was provided Gabapentin at alleged improper dosing and experienced confusion and somnolence. His renal functions were not closely followed nor were his input and outtakes. As a result, a respiratory and cardiac arrest occurred due to unrecognized medication and renal effects. The decedent was survived by his wife and three adult children. Co-counsel with Joseph W. Balesteri.
RECOVERY: $3,000,000.00
H. v. Midwest Center for Women's Healthcare, Ltd., et al. - No. 2015 L 012528
After laboring, a maternal fever developed and over the next two hours abnormal heart tracing were present which resulted in a stillbirth. Defendants failed to timely perform a c-section to avoid fetal injury. The parents were the sole heirs. Co-counsel with Joseph W. Balesteri.
RECOVERY: $2,100,000.00
RM & MM V. Confidential Defendants
(2017)
In November of 2017, Power Rogers & Smith attorney Joseph A. Power, Jr., assisted by associate James Power secured a $95 million dollar verdict (reduced to $85 million after a 10% deduction for contributory negligence found on the part of the plaintiff) for Mr. Power's client who suffered massive leg injuries resulting in a double amputation.
Verdict: $95,000,000.00
C.E.G. v. 7-Eleven, Inc.
(2023) Premises Liability: In February of 2023, Joseph A. Power Jr., James Power, and Larry Rogers, Jr. obtained a $91,000,000.00 recovery on behalf of an individual who lost both of his legs while standing outside of a 7-Eleven Store waiting for a ride to work when a vehicle pulling into one of the convenient store's forward facing parking spots accidentally crashed into the building, pinning PR's client up against the side of the building. The team at PR was able to prove that these types of incidents involving a vehicle accidentally accelerating and crashing into the building while attempting to pull into one of 7-Eleven's forward facing parking spots happens more than once per day. Based on this evidence, the team at PR was able to demonstrate that the frequency of these types of incidents placed a duty on the convenient store chain to install barriers for the protection of customers and pedestrians on 7-Eleven's property. Ultimately, the overwhelming evidence discovered and developed by the team at Power Rogers, LLP led to the nation's largest convenience store operator to pay what is the largest pre-trial settlement for a single plaintiff in the history of the State of Illinois.
Settlement: $91,000,000.00
R.O. v. Confidential Defendants
(2022)
Power Rogers attorneys Joseph Power, Thomas Power, James Power and Dominic LoVerde recently secured $50,000,000.00 on behalf of their client who suffered serious injuries in an accident that occurred while trimming branches from a tree on his property, including severe burns and the loss of both arms and a leg. Joseph Power, Thomas Power, James Power and Dominic LoVerde.
Settlement: $50,000,000.00
S.V. & P.V. v. Confidential Defendants
(2017)
In November of 2017, the Appellate Court for the First District upheld the trial judge's ruling that a $25 million dollar settlement entered into in June of 2015 was enforceable. The settlement had been vacated by a Cook County Judge who found that former counsel for the plaintiffs, a lawyer from a different law firm, had engaged in misconduct by obtaining knowledge of the existence and contents of a jury note and then failing to inform the defendants of this knowledge prior to agreeing to the defendant's $25 million dollar settlement offer. The Plaintiffs were completely unaware of their former attorney's misconduct until after the settlement was revoked. As their case to enforce the settlement began to go south, the Plaintiffs' discharged the attorney who had engaged in misconduct, although with the law firm he brought for the post-settlement proceedings and hired attorneys from Power Rogers & Smith and Kralovec Jambois & Schwartz to ensure that their much needed compensation was not lost. After filing numerous motions and hearing hours of argument, the trial court agreed with the lawyers from PRS and KJS in that the settlement is enforceable where the clients agreed to accept the settlement prior to any allegation of misconduct by the plaintiffs' former attorney and were completely unaware of his misconduct at the time that it was occurring.
Settlement: $25,000,000.00
Church Group v. Eagle Express Lines
(2022)
Joseph Power and James Power recently secured $19,400,000.00 on behalf of a group of families who suffered various injuries while traveling down to Disney world in January of 2019. Plaintiffs van was heading south down I-75 nears Gainesville, Florida when a semi-truck that was heading north lost control of his vehicle, crossed over the median and struck the Plaintiff's head on. Joseph Power and James Power
Settlement: $19,400,000.00
E.T. v. Construction Firm
(2022)
Joseph Power and James Power secured a $10,000,000.00 settlement on behalf of a wife and her three children following the death of their husband/father. Plaintiff's husband was a sewer brick pipe layer working in a trench replacing old sewer lines when a large piece of clay fell from above on top of him, resulting in his untimely demise. The construction firm that was hired to provide technical advice relating to trench safety systems failed to properly account for the type of work that was required for the job and therefore failed to adequately guard against incidents such as the one that took the life of Plaintiff's husband. From the beginning of the case the construction company steadfastly denied responsibility and attempted to cast blame onto the decedent by claiming that he was working in an area where he knew he should not have been working. After intricately picking apart these defenses, the construction company was forced to recognize its responsibility and paid out the limits of its insurance coverage.
Settlement: $10,000,000.00
M.G. v. Austin Tyler Construction Company, Et. Al.
(2022)
Joseph Power and James Power secured a $7,000,000.00 settlement on behalf of a young Serbian immigrant working in the United States as a truck driver to earn money to send home to his family back in Serbia. On the date of the incident, M.G. had delivered a load of multiple bundles of 20-foot-long plastic water pipes and was waiting for his truck to finish being unloaded when one of the bundles broke open, causing two full bundles of pipes to fall onto M.G., crushing him and causing his untimely death. Power Rogers, LLP represented M.G.'s mother, sister and younger brother in suing the pipe manufacturer for the way in which the pipe bundles were loaded, the strap manufacturer for creating a product that was not fit for its intended use and the company who employed the forklift operator; each of whom was held to account for their involvement in causing M.G.'s untimely death.
Settlement: $7,000,000.00
A.K. v. Film Production Company
(2018)
Joseph Power and James Power secured a $6,500,000.00 settlement on behalf of their client who was injured on set during movie production. A.K. was working as an extra on a movie set performing acrobatic stunts during various scenes. During one said scene, A.K. landed awkwardly on his neck, resulting in paraplegia. Through thorough analyzation of the available video, as well as discussions with the various actors and extras that were on site at the time, it was shown that A.K.'s fall was the result of the way in which the scene had been marked off, as well as the actor's own improvisation as to where he was to be standing while A.K. and others performed the stunts. As a result, the production company agreed to pay the limits of their insurance policies in order to settle A.K.'s suit.
Settlement: $6,500,000.00
F.S. v. F.C.
(2018)
Joseph Power and James Power secured a $6,000,000.00 on behalf of their client after a local hospital failed to diagnosis Cauda Equina Syndrome over the course of a three-day hospital stay. F.S. was brought to the hospital via ambulance and was seen by neurologist F.C. who failed to recognize and diagnosed F.S.'s CES. As a result of this failure, compression on F.S.'s spine was not relieved until after permanent nerve damage had occurred. As a result, F.S. now has trouble walking without an assistive device and has issues with incontinence.
Settlement: $6,000,000.00
U/H v. Gidwitz
(2017)
In May of 2017, Power Rogers & Smith attorney Joseph A. Power, Jr. assisted by associate James Power secured a $5.7 million Dollar judgment on behalf of a law firm that had been wrongfully denied payment of fees incurred by the Gidwitz Family. The Gidwitz's, heirs to the multi-billion dollar Helen Curtis fortune, had engaged the firm to represent them in a condemnation action brought by the City of Joliet. After representing the Family for nearly a decade, the family refused to make payment on nearly $6 million dollars in fees incurred during the representation and denied that the individual family members could be held responsible for the debt because their names did not appear on the contract. In a bench trial, the court found that the family members operated as an unincorporated and unregistered joint venture and held them individually responsible for $5.7 million dollars owed under the contract.
Judgment: $5,700,000.00
P.O. & A.R. v. W.M.
(2019)
Joseph Power, Sean Houlihan and James Power secured $8,400,000.00 on behalf of two clients in this action. Plaintiffs were working as laborers for a demolition contractor and removing the brick face on an exterior wall without a demolition plan when the wall suddenly collapsed, crushing P.O. and resulting in injuries to A.R.
Settlement: P.O.: $8,100,000.00
A.R.:$400,000.00
About Joseph A. Power Jr.
Practice Areas
- Medical Malpractice
- Personal Injury
- Wrongful Death
Current Employment Position(s)
- Founding Partner
Qualifications
Bar Admissions
- Illinois, 1977
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, 1977
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1992
- U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 1994
- U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois, 1994
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar, 1982
Other Affiliations
- Inner Circle of Advocates, 2018 - 2019 (President)
- American Board of Trial Advocates, Illinois Chapter, 2013 - 2015 (President)
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, 1992 - 1993 (President)
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, 1991 - 1992 (President Elect)
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, 1990 - 1991 (Second Vice President)
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, 1989 - 1990 (Third Vice President)
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Board of Managers, 1984 - 1989
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Legislative Committee, 1987 - 1989 (Chairman)
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Membership Committee, 1985 - 1987 (Chairman)
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Executive Committee (Member, 1986 - 1987, 1989 - 1994)
- The Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Insurance Practices Committee, 1986 - 1987 (Chairman)
- The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (Sustaining Member)
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, 1997 - 1998 (President Elect)
- Chicago Bar Association (Member)
- Illinois State Bar Association (Member)
- American Bar Association (Member)
- American Bar Association, 1998 - 1999 (President)
- American Bar Association, 1997 - 1998 (President Elect)
- American Bar Association, 1996 - 1997 (Vice President)
- American Bar Association (Lifetime Member)
- American Bar Association, Board of Directors, 1992 - 1997
- American Bar Association (Benefactor)
- American Bar Association, 1988 - 1994 (State Captain)
- U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman's Advisory Council, 1994
- Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee, 1995 - 2003
- Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee, 1996 - 2000 (Chairperson)
- American College of Trial Lawyers, 1995 - Present (Fellow)
- International Academy of Trial Lawyers, 1996 - Present (Fellow)
Education
- Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, Illinois, 1977
J.D. - University of Notre Dame, 1974
B.A.
Honors: With High Honors
Major: Government
Major: International Relations
Pro Bono Activities
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, Board of Directors, Member, 1992 - 1997
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, President, 1998 - 1999
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, President Elect, 1997 - 1998
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, Vice President, 1996 - 1997
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, Lifetime Member
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, Benefactor
- Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, State Captain, 1988 - 1994
- ABOTA, Illinois Chapter, Past President
- Celtic Legal Society, Past President
Classes and Seminars
- Chairman, Federal Trial Bar Advocacy Program, Chicago Bar Association, 1984
Achievements
Other Sources of Feedback About Joseph A. Power Jr.
Included on the 2023 Illinois list
Past Lists
- 2022 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2021 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2020 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2019 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2018 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2017 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2016 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2015 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2014 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2013 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2012 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2011 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2010 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2009 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2008 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2007 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2006 Illinois Super Lawyers list
- 2005 Illinois Super Lawyers list
Honors
- Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award winner
- 2019 Number 1 Leading Lawyers among the Top 10 attorneys in the following areas - All Areas of Practice, Litigators, Consumer, PI Plaintiff’s, Med Mal Plaintiff’s, & Product Liability Plaintiff’s
- Top Verdict Top 10 Med Mal settlements in the United States in 2018
- Top Verdict Top 10 Jury Verdicts in all practice areas in 2018 - $21.62 million jury verdict
- TopVerdict Top 10 Verdicts and the fourth-largest plaintiff / cross-claimant verdict in the state of Illinois in 2017 - $85.9 million jury verdict
- Listed by Harvard Law Graduates Naifeh and Smith in their book The Best Lawyers in America (1987-present).
- 2016 Inducted into the Lawdragon 500 Hall Of Fame
- 2016 Leading Lawyers Magazine, #1 personal injury plaintiff’s attorney, the #1 consumer lawyer, and the #2 leading lawyer overall
- 2015 Leading Lawyers Magazine, Top Personal Injury and Consumer Lawyer based upon polling of fellow lawyers
- 2014 Leading Lawyers Magazine, Top Personal Injury and Consumer Lawyer based upon polling of fellow lawyers
- 2013 Best Lawyers in America Selected as Top Personal Injury Lawyer in Chicago
- 2013 Top vote-getter as Leading Personal Injury Leading Lawyers Network
- 2013 Leading Lawyers Magazine, Top Personal Injury and Consumer Lawyer based upon polling of fellow lawyers
- 2012 Top vote getter as Leading Personal Injury Leading Lawyers Network
- 2012 Public Justice, Champion of Justice Award
- 2011 Leading Lawyers Network, Top Ten Personal Injury and Consumer Attorney in Illinois
- 2011 LawDragon, selected as One of the Best Lawyers in the country
- 2010 Jury Verdict Reporter, Award for Record Medical Malpractice Verdict and for having Over Five Jury Verdicts of Eight Figures or More
- 2010 Best Lawyers in America, selected as Top Personal Injury Lawyer in Chicago
- 2010 Leading Lawyers Network, Top Personal Injury and Consumer Lawyer in Illinois
- 2009 Chicago Lawyer Magazine, named in Chicago Lawyer Settlement Survey as one of the top 4 Plaintiff's law firms in Chicago
- 2009 Leading Lawyer Network, Top Vote-getter as Leading Consumer and Personal Lawyer
- 2009 Super Lawyer Magazine, One of Top Ten Lawyers in Illinois
- 2008 Chicago Lawyer Magazine, named in Chicago Lawyer Settlement Survey as one of the top 4 Plaintiff's law firms in Chicago
- 2007 Chicago Lawyer Magazine, named in Chicago Lawyer Settlement Survey as Number 1 Plaintiff's law firms in Chicago
- 2006 Chicago Lawyer Magazine, named in Chicago Lawyer Settlement Survey as one of the top 4 Plaintiff's law firms in Chicago
- 2005 Chicago Lawyer Magazine, named in Chicago Lawyer Settlement Survey as one of the top 4 Plaintiff's law firms in Chicago
- 2005-Present, recognized as Illinois Super Lawyer
- 2004 The Top Vote-getter in a Poll of Illinois Lawyers of the Top Attorneys in Illinois. Published in Chicago Magazine.
- 2004 Chicago Lawyer Magazine, named in the Settlement Survey as the No.1 Plaintiff's Law Firm in Chicago
- 2004 Awarded Illinois Bar Foundation's Distinguished Award for Excellence
- 2003 Awarded Illinois State Bar Association, Medal of Merit
- 2003 Awarded Tribute for Leadership on behalf of social justice and progressive change by US Action and US Action Education Fund
- 2003 Awarded Medal of Excellence by Loyola University School of Law
- 2003 Chicago Magazine, October 2003, named in Chicago Lawyer Settlement Survey as No. 1 Law Firm in Chicago
- 2003 Awarded Citizen of the Year, June 2003, by the City Club of Chicago
- 2002 Chicago Magazine, "30 Tough Lawyers," named one of the 30 toughest lawyers in all fields in Chicago. Those listed are, according to the magazine, attorneys you want "for you, not against you."
- 2001 Awarded "Protector of the Working Man" by the Illinois State Crime Commission
- 2000 Awarded the Civil Justice Foundation's Special Commendation Award for his thoroughness, tenacity, and courage in uncovering and disclosing the "License for Sale" scandal in the State of Illinois secretary of state's office as part of the Willis case.
- 1999 National Law Journal named as one of the top trial lawyers in the United States and one of the top four plaintiff's personal injury trial lawyers in Illinois.
Office Information
Address
70 West Madison StreetSuite 5500 Chicago, IL 60602
Phone
Publication
Articles
- Loss of Society in Illinois, Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, 1990
Representative Cases
- Harrington v. Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hosp., 569 N.E.2d 15 (Ill.App. 1 Dist. 1990)
- Carlson v. City Const. Co., 606 N.E.2d 400 (Ill.App. 1 Dist. 1992)
- W. v. Transamerica Leasing, Inc.- 98 L 3127
- R. M. v. Metal-Matic Inc.
- M. v. Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation, No. 96 L 05681
- M v. A Local Community Hospital, No. 2017 L 10109
- L. v. Active Transportation Company, LLC, No. 00 CV 8448
- A. v. Burdock, et al. - 14 L 2727
- T v. Elmhurst Hospital, et al., No. 2008 L 7156
- M.M. v. Allied Barton
- K. vs. Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, et al., No. 11 L 10860
- G. v. LHP, No. 2008 L 2333
- D. and S. v. Syntex
- D. v. Nettleton Specialized Carriers, Inc. and J.W. Peters, Inc., No. 08 L 6731
- R. v. Trinity Hospital, No. 99 L 6539
- C. v. Thorek Memorial Hospital, No. 07 L 7771
- F.P. v. John Burns Construction
- T. v. LaGrange Memorial Hospital, 85 L 3581
- R. v. Trinity Hospital, No. 99 L 13178
- K. vs. Lutheran General Hospital, et al., No. 08 L 5522
- S. v. HMD Trucking, Inc., et al., No. 07 L 1922
- H. v. Rush University, et al., No. 03 L 9289
- R. v. Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hosp., No. 05 L 1137
- R. v. United/Goedecke Services, Inc., No 00 L 4797
- R. v. Seadog Ventures, Inc., et al., No. 97 L 16158
- P. v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, et al., No. 00 L 008622
- S. v. Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center, et al., No. 98 L 14847
- C. v. Victory Memorial Hospital, et al.,Court No. 98 L 0081
- D. v. Edward Hospital, et al., DuPage County, No. 04 L 13358
- O. v. Illinois Masonic Medical Center, No. 99 L 746
- D. v. UHS of Bethesda, Inc., et al. - 90 L 411
- M. v. Northwest Community Hospital, et al., No. 05 L 2876
- P.T. and S.T. v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital
- C. v. Rosenblum, et al. - 85 L 11905
- G. v. Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, No. 00 L 013478
- M. v. CSX Transportation, Inc., et al., No. 02 L 00194
- K. Corporation v. Grant Thornton, et al. No. 13 L 4011
- R. vs. Christ Hospital, et al., No. 09 L 5749
- Z. v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, 96 L 03539
- V. v. Lutheran General Hospital, No. 08 L 5859
- B. v. Evenson Explosives, Inc. et al., No. 00 L 004450
- D. v. Condell Medical Center, et al., 97 L 196
- D. v. Loyola University of Chicago, etc., No. 97 L 16428
- S vs. University of Chicago, No. 2007 L 9820
- G. v. Skokie Valley Community Hospital, 81 L 25078
- T. v. Shaw Suburban Media Group, Inc., etc., et al., No. 04 LK 000013
- K. v. Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, No. 05 L 5817
- B. vs. Advocate South Suburban Hospital, et al., No. 13 L 8700
- H. v. Duff, 80 L 24276
- M. v. Northwestern Medical Foundation, et al., No. 04 L 000944
- A. v. Advocate Health and Hospitals corporation, etc., et al., No. 01 L 09320
- C. v. Rush Presbyterian - St. Luke’s Medical Center, et al., No. 02 L 13883
- M. v. S&Z Development Co., et al., 90 L 20375
- P. v. WGN, No. 96 L 14740
- G. vs. Keyth Security Systems, Inc., et al., No. 12 L 14365
- M. v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, No. 08 L 2061
- U.H. v. Gidwitz
- S. v. Steven R. Daube, D.O., et al., No. 05 L 4140
- H. v. Airborne Express, Co., No. 01 L 01234
- K. vs. Manitoqua Ministries, Inc., No. 14 L 3021
- O. v. County Of Cook, No. 02 L 3242
- E. v. A Community Hospital, No. 2014 L 46
- S.S., Individually and as Independent Administrator of the Estate of M.S., Deceased v. Advocate North Side health Network d/b/a Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, No. 14 L 008156
- G.M. and N.M. v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital
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