Chicago Attorney, Robert Clifford, Elected Head of ABA's Litigation Section for 2001

Chicago's own, Robert Clifford, was elected Sunday to the position of Vice Chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Litigation at the organization's annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Clifford will accede in 2001 to Chair the ABA's largest group of litigators, numbering about 60,000 nationally, dedicated to promoting justice domestically and around the world as well as enhancing the public's understanding and respect for the legal profession.

Clifford has been recognized by his peers before for his excellence in the profession. He was named one of the Top Ten Litigators of 1993 by the National Law Journal. He has consistently been voted one of the Best Lawyers in America by his peers since 1992.

He is Past President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and has been inducted into the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers and the exclusive International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has been selected to be a part of the National Judicial College, a select assembly of legal and corporate leaders from across the country dedicated to furthering the education and training of judges. Mr. Clifford also serves on the Board of the Rand Institute for Civil Justice, a "think tank" based in California.

Mr. Clifford consistently garners multi-million dollar awards, the most recent a $30 million verdict for Rachel Barton, an internationally-acclaimed violinist injured by a commuter train, as well as a $14 million verdict in 1999 for a woman injured in a car accident. He has been involved in litigation involving every major commercial airline crash in the last 20 years and has received record awards including a $28.2 million verdict in the United Airlines crash at Sioux City, Iowa, for a 70-year-old woman in 1994, as well as a record $15 million settlement in a wrongful death case stemming from that crash. As lead plaintiff's counsel in the 1994 crash of Flight 4184 in Roselawn, Indiana, on Halloween night, he received a record $110 million for about two dozen families who lost loved ones on the aircraft.

As an attorney representing many high-profile clients, Mr. Clifford frequently is asked to appear on television programs on a wide variety of legal issues. He has appeared on "Oprah," "Good Morning, America," "Wall Street Week" and "Chicago Tonight." He has authored a number of articles for national newspapers including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times and the National Law Journal.

He represents many high-profile clients including Girl X, a little girl accosted and left for dead at a Chicago housing project; baby Michael McKinney who died after negligent treatment at Cook County Hospital; and Nancy Clay, the young woman killed in a Chicago high-rise after firefighters were unable to reach her despite frantic calls to 911. That case resulted in significant changes in Chicago's 911 response system.

An ardent opponent of tort reform, Mr. Clifford endowed the first Chair on Tort Law and Social Policy to his alma mater, De Paul University College of Law. This generous gift provides for an annual symposium where academicians, lawyers and judges from across the country gather to speak on a timely topic of interest in the area of tort law. Now in its fifth year, the symposium, which is free to the public, has hosted academicians from Stanford Law School to Harvard, from United States Senator John McCain to television commentator/attorney Bill Kurtis. Mr. Clifford also spearheaded the organization of a victims' group in Illinois which helped to successfully combat tort reform in the state. Mr. Clifford shares his knowledge as a frequent lecturer for various bar associations and legal groups throughout the country.

Robert A. Clifford is the principal partner of Clifford Law Offices , a nationally recognized personal injury law firm in Chicago concentrating in aviation, transportation, personal injury, medical negligence and product liability law.