Areas of Practice:
Commercial Litigation; Products Liability Law; Professional Malpractice Law; Medical Malpractice; Construction Law; Transportation Law; Trucking; Railroad; Mass Transit; Toxic Torts; Class Actions; Contracts; Insurance Law; Bad Faith; Asbestos.
Bar Admissions:
Illinois, 1961
U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, 1961
U.S. Supreme Court, 1970
U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 1970
U.S. District Court Central District of Illinois, 1989
New Mexico, 2000
U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit, 2001
Education:
The University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1961
Doctor of Jurisprudence
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, B.A., 1956
Honors: cum laude
Recognitions and Listings:
Selected for listing in the Leading Lawyers Network in the specialty areas of Catastrophic Injuries, Nationwide Class Actions, Toxic Torts, Commercial Litigation and Professional Liability.
Listed: Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory A.V. (highest) rating.
Listed: Illinois Super Lawyers.
Listed: The Guide to Leading Illinois Attorneys.
Listed: Who's Who in American Law.
Listed: National Registry of Who's Who.
Classes/Seminars Taught:
"The Impact of Court Decisions Dealing with Litigation Guidelines and Outside Bill Audits," Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, 2001.
"Mass Tort Litigation and Class Actions," Excess & Surplus Lines Claims Association, 2000.
"Viable Defenses in Diet Drug Cases," Mealy's Fen-Phen Litigation Conference, 1999.
"They Didn't Teach Us That In Law School: How to Get Legal Bills Paid in Full and On Time," Law Office Economics & Management Techniques, DRI Defense Practice Seminar, 1996.
"Practical Examples in Alternative Billing," Alternative Billing Seminar, Economics of Tort & Insurance Law Practice Committee, 1996.
Professional Associations and Memberships:
Fellow,
International Academy of Trial Lawyers
Fellow, The Illinois Bar Foundation
American Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association
Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel
Society of Trial Lawyers
Trial Lawyers Club of Chicago
The Lawyers Club of
Chicago (former director)
American Board of Trial Advocates
American Arbitration Association
Tower Club of Chicago (president, 1994-1995)
Published Works:
"Conflicts of Interest in Defense Litigation: Common Sense in Changing Times," Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 2, 1981.
"The Plaintiffs' Arsenal: Emerging Theories of Liability in Managed Health Care Claims," Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 2, 1998.
"Challenges to File Handling and Billing Guidelines," Co-author, June, 2000.
"Getting It Together--A Guide to Understanding Mass Tort Litigation," Business Law Today, Vol. 11, No. 1, September/October, 2001.
Representative Cases:
Diet Drug Litigation, USDC, Philadelphia, PA, and in multiple state courts. Defending a drug distributor as national coordinating and trial counsel in the fen-phen class action Multi-District Litigation. Obtained dismissal of most federal court cases, and thousands of state court cases, without payment. A thousand other cases still pending.
Ephedra Products Liability Litigation, USDC, Chicago, IL and USDC, SD, NY, MDL 1598. Represent sellers of ephedra products in multiple personal injury cases. Pending.
Firestone Tire-Explorer Rollover Litigation, District Court, Stuart, FL. Represented Ford Motor Co. in cases involving death and injury alleged to be due to defective tires, and unstable vehicles. Pending.
Railroad Derailment, USDC, Chicago IL. Represented General Signal Corporation, manufacturer of a railroad crossing signal device at a crossing at which a train collided with a truck in Bourbannis, IL, resulting in 61 lawsuits alleging deaths multiple deaths and injuries. Obtained a dismissal of General Signal. Cases still pending as to other defendants.
Asbestos Litigation, various courts in Midwest. Defended Eagle Picher and Standard Asbestos as regional counsel in thousands of cases claiming death and injury from inhalation of asbestos. Eagle Picher declared bankruptcy and Standard went out of business. Also defended 13 other defendants in the litigation at various times, including Brand Insulations, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and Soo Line Railroads.
Toxic Shock Syndrome-Tampon Litigation, multiple jurisdictions. Acted as national coordinating and trial counsel for Kimberly-Clark Corp, maker of Kotex tampons, in multiple death and injury claims due to contraction of toxic shock syndrome while using the product. The only two cases tried (by local counsel) resulted in defense verdicts. Remainder settled.
Hyatt Hotel Skywalk Collapse, Kansas City, MO. Represented an insurer in suits for multiple deaths and injuries arising out of defective design of a hotel skywalk which collapsed. Settled.
Garcez v. Dr. Fritz Michel, Cook County, IL. Defended an obstetrician in a medical malpractice case alleging misdiagnosis of a placental abruption resulting in severe cerebral palsy. Verdict for the defendant. Listed in the National Law Journal as one of the year's top defense verdicts in the country. Reversed for evidentiary errors and retried, resulting in another defense verdict. Listed again in the National Law Journal as one of the year's "Most Notable Defense Verdicts."
Estate of Gradman v. Drs. Bernstein and Bailey, Cook County, IL. Defended two internists in a wrongful death medical malpractice case alleging improper drug prescription and inadequate management of a cardiac arrest allegedly resulting therefrom. Verdict for the defendants. Listed #1 among the 20 Top Illinois Jury Verdicts for the year by the Chicago Law Bulletin .
In the Matter of the Rules of Professional Conduct and Insurer-Imposed Billing Rules and Procedures, Supreme Court of Montana, Helena, MT. Case of original jurisdiction in which the court was asked to rule whether attorneys could agree to abide by insurer file handling and billing guidelines and send their bills to outside auditors without violating the Code of Ethics. Co-authored brief and presented oral argument on behalf of the nine insurance company respondents advocating a positive answer. Court ruled for the petitioners.
Genetically Altered Corn Cases, USDC, Chicago, IL. Defended the seller of flour contaminated with genetically altered corn (Starlink) in consumer class actions. Defense assumed by another defendant (upon reimbursement for our defense costs) and settled for $10m.
Oxford Capital v. Sterling Financial Payroll, USDC, Chicago, IL. Defended a provider of professional employer services against the claims of multi-million dollar breach of contract from its lender. Case abandoned.
Bagley v. Auto-Owners Insurance Co., Muscogee County, GA. Defended a class action seeking retroactive payment of diminution in value claims under automobile property damage coverage for all Georgia policyholders in the six years prior to filing suit. Settled.
Countryman v. Iowa Double Circle, District Court, Des Moines, IA. Advised excess insurer in defense of propane gas suppliers in a house explosion, which killed seven and burned five. Settled.
Peek v. Goldblatt Brothers, Cook County, IL. Defended a department store whose truck, per an eyewitness, allegedly struck the plaintiff's vehicle in the rear and left the scene, rendering him a quadriplegic. Verdict for the defendant.
Zurich Insurance Co. v. Raymark, Cook County, IL. Defended Commercial Union Insurance Co. in a claim for coverage for asbestos litigation. Lost. Trial resulted in creation of "triple trigger" theory of coverage in asbestos litigation.
Dinon v. Shoup Buses, Cook County, IL. Defended tour bus in collision and turnover near Branson, Missouri resulting in death, blindness and other injuries among 46 passengers. Verdict for defendant.
Epstein v. A.F.C. Fence, District Court, Naples, FL. Represented an automatic gate installer in a wrongful death product liability case arising out of the alleged malfunction of a gate, which crushed the decedent, a Chicago Circuit Court judge. Settled.
On Air v. National Indemnity, USDC, Philadelphia, PA. Defended a Berkshire-Hathaway company in a bad faith case for wrongful refusal to defend, fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress, seeking punitive damages. Directed verdict for the defendant; affirmed on appeal.
Eichholz v. Kritsas, Cook County, IL. Defended a urologist in a medical malpractice action in which the plaintiff suffered paralysis of his leg as a result of a prostatectomy. Verdict for defendant.
Hua v. Quest Laboratories, Cook County, IL. Represented testing laboratory, which is alleged to have falsely reported drug use of a United Airlines stewardess, resulting in her wrongful employment discharge.
Est. of Slager, Dec. v. Farmer's Grain Service, Cook County, IL. Defended a truck driver who struck and killed a driver attempting to leave a plant through picketing strikers. Verdict for the defendant. $1.5m verdict against co-defendant.
Est. of Shields v. Lake Park Rentals, Cook County, IL. Defended a trailer lessor, charged with renting a vehicle with an inadequate hitch, resulting in a turnover and death. Verdict for the defendant.
Kooyenga v. Hertz Equipment Rentals, Cook County, IL. Defended a scaffold supplier in a building construction accident where a worker was rendered a paraplegic when the scaffold fell. Directed verdict for the defendant. A record-setting verdict for the injury was returned against a co-defendant.
U.S. Fire Ins. Co. vs. Zurich Insurance Co., Cook County, IL. Represented Zurich in an action by an excess insurer claiming liability for a multi-million dollar settlement of a building defect case for failure to make a timely offer of its policy limit. Won in trial court and on appeal.
Hannahs v. Jack's Campers, Inc., District Court, Elk Point, SD. Defended a camper seller of a camper with an allegedly defective tire and hitch mechanism, resulting in a rollover and quadriplegia to the driver. Settled.
Country Classic Dairies v. Tetra Pak, Inc., USDC, Butte, MT. Defended a milk processor distributor in a product liability case involving the loss of 95,000 gallons of contaminated milk. Settled.
Cooling Tower Collapse, state court, West Virginia. Represented the insurer of Research-Cottrell, a defendant-construction engineer and employer of 48 of 51 men killed when a nuclear reactor cooling tower they were constructing collapsed. At the time, this was the largest number ever killed in a construction accident in the U.S. All cases settled for an average of $100,000 per case.
Berner v. Jones Pharma Incorporated, Joplin, MO. Represented a drug manufacturer charged with failure to warn of the risk of stroke. Plaintiff suffered a disabling stroke. Dismissed without payment.
Oil Refinery Fire, Cook County, IL. Represented Nooter Corporation, a St. Louis tank fabricator, sued in connection with 31 deaths and multiple burn injuries resulting from a tank explosion and fire at the Union Oil Co. refinery in Romeoville, IL. Settled.
Chaney v. Quest Laboratories, District Court, St. Louis, MO. Represented a diagnostic testing laboratory in a wrongful death case arising out of an alleged misreading of pathology slides.
Social Worker Malpractice, District Court, Missoula, MT. Represented a local county government charged with improper placement of a child in foster care, resulting in abuse and hemiplegia. Settled.
Porter v. Northeast Guidance, District Court, Detroit, MI. Represented the driver of an auto, which killed a child pedestrian. Lost ($5.5m). Reversed on appeal. Settled.
Wessner v. David Tosh, Cook County, IL. Defended a baseball coach charged with negligently running a practice drill, resulting in blindness in one eye to a player hit by a thrown ball. Verdict for the defendant.
Crawford v. Infinity Ins. Co., USDC, Cheyenne, WO. Defended a bad faith case for failure to settle within policy limits. Hung jury (5-1 for defendant). Lost on retrial.
Johnson v. iPCS Wireless, LaSalle County, IL. Defended the owner of a wireless telephone tower in a suit brought by the operator of a crane who suffered totally disabling burns when the crane came into contact with power lines during the construction of the tower. Settled.
Freund Equipment v. Rusing, Cook County, IL. Defended an insurance agent charged by an employer with negligently constructing a health insurance plan for its employees. Settled.
City of Dubuque, Iowa v. Davis, Hockenberg, District Court, Des Moines, IA. Represented Iowa's largest law firm in a legal malpractice claim arising out of the theft by a trust manager of $61m in assets from a trust allegedly improperly drafted by the firm. Lost on liability as to trust beneficiaries; won as to claims of trustees and on apportionment of damages claimed by co-defendant trust administrator, Bankers Trust. Settled for $2m.
Estates of Anne and Michelle Cox, Dec. v. Dr. James Smith, Cook County, IL. Defended an obstetrician, alleged to have been negligent in not ordering the transfer of a woman pregnant with premature twins from a Level II to a Level III hospital for delivery and post-natal care, resulting in their deaths. Lost, but only nominal damages awarded.
Young-Peterson v. Potomac Insurance Co., USDC, Chicago, IL. Defended an insurance company in a claim by a road-construction company for theft of four of its trucks allegedly embezzled by the company president. Verdict for the defendant; affirmed on appeal.
Choi v. Greenview, Cook County, IL. Defended an apartment building owner, charged with improper maintenance and security resulting in an attempted rape and stabbing attack on a tenant. Hung jury (10-2 for defendant); settled for nominal amount.
Rocco v. Hickory Telephone Co., Pittsburgh, PA. Defended a company whose server allowed access to an Internet site alleged to contain material which defamed the plaintiff and inflicted emotional distress. Settled.
Binder v. Heidelberg, Cook County, IL. Defended a printing press manufacturer in a design defect case involving the loss of a foot by a pressman while cleaning the press. Dismissed without payment.
Taylor v. Nett, Cook County, IL. Defended an insurance agent charged with negligent failure to procure an insurance policy prior to the death of the proposed insured. Settled.
Broussard v. Huffman, Will County, IL. Defended a portable gas can manufacturer charged with defective manufacture resulting in an explosion and severe burns to the plaintiff. Verdict for $1,350,000 reversed without remandment on appeal.
Mooneyhan v. Dixie Insurance Co., Coahoma County, MS. Defended an insurance bad faith action based on failure to settle a minor property damage claim. Dixie Insurance Co., defended by another attorney in the initial trial, obtained an appellate reversal of a $1,000,000 verdict. Case settled for $350,000 prior to second trial.