Hanson L. Williams - Partner

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Biography

Hanson L. Williams is a partner of Williams Montgomery & John Ltd. and a member of the firm's transportation, product liability, professional liability and tort defense practice groups. He focuses his practice on defending commercial trucking, product liability, professional liability, wrongful death, construction and commercial matters. He is "AV Preeminent" peer review rated by Martindale-Hubbell, reflecting the highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability.  Mr. Williams has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Illinois Leading Lawyers for general personal injury defense, products liability, and transportation defense law including aviation/FELA/maritime.

Mr. Williams has successfully tried, mediated and arbitrated high-exposure cases on behalf of individuals and corporations in state and federal courts around the country.

Mr. Williams has litigated multiple cases in several states for commercial transportation companies, both large and small, involving catastrophic injuries and death. He currently serves as regional counsel for one of the largest trucking companies in the United States.

In the product liability area, Mr. Williams has litigated cases on behalf of domestic and foreign companies involving presses, molding machines, pharmaceuticals, asbestos, toxic chemicals, conveyer systems, heat exchangers and other manufacturing equipment.

Mr. Williams has served as regional counsel for a national testing laboratory. He also has represented several corporations in large-scale employee embezzlement and accounting malpractice lawsuits that have resulted in substantial judgments and settlements against the defendants.

Mr. Williams is a former prosecutor with the Cook County, Ill., State's Attorney's Office, where he tried numerous cases to verdict and argued several appeals before the Illinois Appellate Court.

Education/Bar Admissions

Mr. Williams received a B.A. in history, with honors, in 1990 from Colgate University. He received his J.D. in 1994 from the University of Denver College of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review.

Mr. Williams was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1994 and also has been admitted to the following state and federal trial and appellate courts:

  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois

Professional Activities

Mr. Williams is active in various professional organizations, including:

  • Chicago Bar Association
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • International Society of Primerus Law Firms
  • Trucking Industry Defense Association
  • Truckload Carriers Association
          

Representative Matters

  • Abbott v. Maplan/Starlinger

    U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
    Obtained summary judgment on behalf of German manufacturer in a product liability lawsuit brought by a machine operator who had his hand amputated in an injection molding machine. Summary judgment was granted for defendant based on modifications made to the machine by plaintiff's employer.

  • Binder v. Heidelberg North America

    Circuit Court of DuPage County, Ill.
    Obtained dismissal, without payment, of design defect lawsuit against a printing press manufacturer. Plaintiff, a pressman, lost a foot while cleaning the press.

  • Brandon v. Diversey Corporation

    Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill.
    Negotiated favorable settlement on behalf of defendant, a national supplier of industrial wash formulas, in a wrongful death lawsuit. Case arose out of an explosion of an industrial washing machine during laundering of flammable printer's towels, resulting in death of an employee.

  • Burton v. Yellow/A.W. Chesterton

    Circuit Court of Madison County, Ill.
    Obtained dismissal, without payment, of wrongful death lawsuit against trucking company client alleging asbestos exposure on defendant's premises.

  • CBS Broadcasting v. Fogarty

    Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill.: Obtained summary judgment on liability and damages on behalf of plaintiff television station in lawsuit to recover more than $1.8 million in funds embezzled by station employee.

  • City of Chicago v. Werner Sobek

    Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill.
    Obtained dismissal of breach of contract and negligent representation claims against structural engineering firm Werner Sobek, which was engaged by the City of Chicago to develop structural steel plans and specifications for the renovation of the domestic terminals at O'Hare Airport. The City sought several million dollars in damages from the defendant for full scale remediation of faulty welds.

  • Colfax Envelope v. Detterbeck

    Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill.
    Achieved favorable settlement on behalf of plaintiff in accounting malpractice lawsuit. Case arose out of the discovery during annual audits of employee embezzlement of nearly $1 million.

  • Country Classic Dairies v. Alfa Laval / Tetra Pak
    U.S. District Court, District of Montana
    Obtained favorable settlement on behalf of defendant, a milk processor manufacturer and distributor, in a product liability lawsuit involving a pasteurizing heat exchanger and the loss of 95,000 gallons of contaminated milk.
  • Fears v. Yellow Freight

    Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill.
    Won jury verdict for trucking company Yellow Freight and its driver in lawsuit arising from a truck-automobile accident. The 19-year-old plaintiff sustained a severe brain injury and quadriparesis, requiring 24-hour care, and sought $45 million in damages.

  • Hua v. Quest Laboratories

    Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill.
    Represented a diagnostic testing laboratory in a wrongful discharge lawsuit brought by a United Airlines flight attendant. Plaintiff alleged that Quest falsely reported drug use, resulting in her termination.

  • Sanchez v. Dedicated Transport, Inc.

    Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill.
    Successfully resolved lawsuit against trucking company client involving a truck-automobile accident. Plaintiff was an eight-year-old who claimed post-traumatic stress disorder and severe emotional distress following impact with defendant's tanker truck. The jury awarded damages to the plaintiff, but the award was reduced to zero following a motion for remittitur.

  • Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp. v. The Shaw Group, Inc. and Stone & Webster, Inc.

    U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, Rock Island Division (2004)
    Won summary judgment for Siemens, defeating $7 million claim for liquidated damages based on the alleged delay in delivering a turbine to a power plant in Cordova, Ill.