Press Releases

Families of the victims of two Boeing 737 MAX8 crashes filed a brief today, Friday, August 23, 2024, asking a federal court judge to reject a proposed plea agreement presented by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Boeing to resolve the pending criminal case. The judge has previously ruled that Boeing’s crime caused the deaths of 346 victims in the two deadly crashes. The families argue that the agreement improperly conceals the deadly consequences of…

CHICAGO, IL (August 2025) – Twenty lawyers at Clifford Law Offices are recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2025 edition. Clifford Law Offices’ reputation of success is led by founder and senior partner, Robert A. Clifford, who has been listed by Best Lawyers for more than thirty years. He is joined by partners Richard F. Burke, Kevin P. Durkin, Keith A. Hebeisen, and Shannon M. McNulty, who have all been recognized by The Best…

CHICAGO, IL (August 2024) – Kevin P. Durkin, partner at Clifford Law Offices, has been recognized by Best Lawyers® as the 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” for Aviation Law and the 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” for Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs in Chicago. He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® since 2011 and this is his eighth recognition as “Lawyer of the Year.” Since it was first published in 1983, Best…

Families of crash victims of two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashes filed today a 48-page motion in Texas federal court, asking the judge to reject the plea agreement the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed last week. Today’s motion asks the court to reject the plea agreement with Boeing on nine grounds including that it is too lenient given the criminal sentencing guidelines and that “it surreptitiously exonerates Boeing’s then-senior leadership.” The Justice Department announced…

The Justice Department announced in a court filing that Boeing will plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the FAA about the safety of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft late Sunday (July 7, 2024). The Justice Department announced the agreement in a filing with federal district court Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas. Families who lost loved ones in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes quickly filed in that same court an objection to the deal….

Attorneys and families reacted vehemently during a near two-hour meeting Sunday (June 30, 2024) with the head of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Fraud Division and other DOJ lawyers regarding the next steps it intends to take regarding Boeing following two crashes and other safety concerns at the aircraft manufacturer. The DOJ presented what families and lawyers termed a “sweetheart deal” that will be asking Boeing to accept several terms that they disagreed with and…

Keith Hebeisen, partner at Clifford Law Offices, obtained a $6.35 million verdict on June 26, 2024, on behalf of a west suburban man who had a heart transplant following undiagnosed coronary ischemia. The patient’s wife also was a plaintiff in the lawsuit. For more than six months, Edgardo Lopez, 56, saw his physician, Dr. Peter Yoon, who failed to undertake proper testing that would have discovered Lopez’s heart condition despite initial tests that indicated further…

As the families await word from the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding its next steps in the criminal prosecution of Boeing following two deadly crashes five years ago, the attorney for families on Monday, June 24, 2024, filed a motion for reconsideration before the Texas federal judge to reconsider his earlier ruling denying an independent corporate monitor of Boeing’s facilities. Citing recent safety incidents and concerns since the ruling of Judge Reed O’Connor in February…

Several family members of the 157 crash victims of a Boeing 737 MAX8 in Ethiopia attended a U.S. Senate hearing on June 18, 2024, when Boeing CEO David Calhoun testified before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations regarding “Boeing’s Broken Safety Culture.” Families from various countries stated they wanted to hear Calhoun “face to face” on the current state of Boeing’s safety culture. Chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the hearing was held at the Hart…