Trials and Tribulations

Clifford Makes Top-10 List For Attorneys in U.S.

"Woman awarded $14.5 million after botched surgery on back."

"Boy struck by bus gets $24 million."

"Injured Scout to collect $14 million."

These are the headlines that personal injury lawyer Robert A. Clifford generates. He has brought in about $75 million in verdicts over the last two years alone, and was named one of the nation's 10 winningest trial lawyers in a recent issue of The National Law Journal.

"I'm really excited about my life," said the super lawyer from Inverness. "At the age of 41, I'm an up-and-coming lawyer. If I were a ball player, I'd be a has been." Clifford has since turned 42.

A glimpse inside Clifford's dark green carpeted office on North LaSalle Streets hints of a man who is richly successful. Photos of Clifford's two daughters, Erin, 13, and Tracy, 10, and his wife, Joan, are displayed behind his desk.

His office is neat, but not excessively so. Papers are gently scattered and stacked on the wooden desk, and piles of research documents from the Sioux City, Iowa, DC-10 crash -- his latest high-profile case -- are on the floor along the wall.

It will be a year or longer before that case goes to trial, said Clifford , a 1976 graduate of DePaul University's College of Law.

"General Electric and McDonnell-Douglas may have known more about the problem than we thought."

Trial Tutor

Clifford's teacher was Philip H. Corboy, one of Chicago's most prominent personal injury trial lawyers. He spent 10 years at Corboy's firm, then left in 1984 to start his own.

Even though he has a successful firm bearing his name, Clifford's friends and peers say he makes time to lead a complete life.

"Bob is dynamic when he needs to be, and low-key when he needs to be," said Thomas A. Demetrio, president of the Chicago Bar Association.

Demetrio said that although he admires his friend's legal abilities, it is Clifford's focus on family that impresses him most.

"I respect his priorities," Demetrio said. "He understands that his professional life is secondary.

"When I had dinner with him last night," he said, "family was the center of our conversation."

John Roberts, Dean of DePaul's law school, said Clifford is very civic minded, particularly for someone so young.

"He's one of these people who gives back to the community," Roberts said, naming off groups Clifford is involved with such as the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, DePaul's Law School, his church and daughter's school.

Time and money

Clifford not only gives his time, but also his money.

He made a $1 million commitment to DePaul to establish a faculty chair in tort law and social policy, Roberts said. And that was not the only monetary gift Clifford has made to the college, he added.

Roberts said that Clifford brings credibility to the profession of personal injury law.

"It's an area where people think that trial lawyers are slippery," he said. "He has helped to counter this negative image."

During a time when personal injury lawyers are castigated for clogging the justice system with frivolous cases and driving up insurance rates with costly verdicts, Clifford speaks proudly of his vocation.

"I really feel the stuff I do is important to my clients and the community," he said.

His aim in many cases is not just to win, Clifford said, but to change inadequate systems that result in injury.

For instance, the highly publicized lawsuit involving Nancy Clay, who died in a Chicago office high-rise fire on May 13, 1987, when firefighters were unable to reach her. Clifford's case focuses on glitches in the city's 911 emergency system.

"What a hollow victory if we can't change the law," he said.

Current discussions with the city of Chicago in that case are leaning toward passing legislation that will change the way the city's fire department handles 911 calls, Clifford said.

The Clay family has already won a partial victory thanks to their attorney.

They recently reached a settlement of about $1.75 million with the corporate defendants in that suit, such as the elevator company and the building management company.

Plaintiff's Defense

Clifford said people criticize the system unless a tragedy happens to them.

"I don't think they realize how devastating physical harm or death can be to those who experience it," he said.

Like the Clays, Terry Brown of North Barrington has suffered the tragic loss of family. His wife, Janice, and 11-year-old daughter, Kimberly, were two of the victims of the 1989 DC-10 crash in Sioux City Iowa.

Brown said although it has been years since the crash, feelings of tremendous loss have not abated.

He is relying on Clifford for atonement.

The two were friends before the plane wreck took the lives of his loved ones.

"My daughter and his daughter were in an Indian Princess group," Brown said. Indian Princess is a father-daughter club similar to Boy Scouts.

"I thought Bob was very knowledgeable, qualified and capable of handling the case for me," he said.

"I'm interested in seeing justice being done, and Bob Clifford is the man to help me get that solution," Brown said.

Whether or not Clifford achieves another settlement in the DC-10 case remains to be seen. but it is certain that his victories in court often result in prodigious monetary gains for his clients. For that, he has critics.

Clifford has been part of a crusade against advocates for tort reform who aim to curb the number and costs of personal injury cases.

Former Vice President Dan Quayle condemned the cost and delay of litigating civil cases, and pushed tort reform as an answer.

Clifford said tort reformers gained some ground in 1985 when sweeping changes were made in medical malpractice cases. He said it is more costly now for smaller claims to prosecute "yet those are legitimate claims," he said.

"What about the wrongful death of an 85-year-old person?" asked Clifford .

"Everybody is for reform until it's their relative," he added.

Clifford said he will continue to fight tort reform that works against the public.

"The tort system I hope will keep corporations on the square."