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    Kevin P. Durkin, partner at Clifford Law Offices, traveled to Mexico with the Chicago Bar Association and CBA President Ray J. Koenig III for the association’s 2024 CLE Abroad in Mexico.

    The educational trip included continuing legal education programming on comparative law topics and various tours and cultural experiences. Mr. Durkin, an established personal injury and aviation attorney with extensive experience in international litigation, was the moderator for the program’s session titled Comparing the U.S. & Mexican Legal Systems on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

    Known for his exemplary results stemming from high-profile cases, Kevin Durkin has obtained many record-breaking settlements and verdicts throughout his career including a $35 million verdict in the highly publicized case of the internationally acclaimed violinist, Rachel Barton, who was severely injured when a Chicago commuter train dragged her for more than 300 feet. In addition, he has been involved in nearly every major commercial airline crash of the last four decades, often serving as lead counsel.

    To learn more about the Chicago Bar Association and its programs, click here.

    Kevin P. Durkin speaks at CBA Continuing Legal Education Program in Mexico.

    Kevin P. Durkin speaks at the Chicago Bar Association’s Continuing Legal Education Program in Mexico on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

    Clifford Law Offices filed a lawsuit against NASCAR, various construction companies involved in the 2023 Chicago street races, as well as the Chicago Park District on behalf of an electrician who was killed during construction of the 2023 summer event.

    Kevin P. Durkin, partner at the firm, along with co-counsel Daniel L. Clayton of Nashville, Tennessee, filed the case in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago on behalf of the family of Duane Tabinski, 53, who was electrocuted June 30, 2023, as he worked to put together necessary audio components near Grant Park as part of the activities. Duane was retained by NASCAR as a contractor to work on the event’s race stage and racetrack, and to provide the speakers and microphones for the announcers and grandstands near Buckingham Fountain.

    The complaint, filed on March 19, alleges that NASCAR, the Chicago Park District, and others in charge of the construction were negligent in their failing to take proper safety precautions to protect Tabinski. The lawsuit was filed by his widow, Kristin Tabinski. Duane, founder of his own audio company out of Nashville, Tennessee, also left behind two children.

    “This was a horrible tragedy for the Tabinski family. What happened last summer in the course of the setting up of the NASCAR race in Chicago was entirely preventable and it cannot happen again,” Durkin said. “There was a terrible lapse in safety that led to the unfortunate death of Duane Tabinski.”

    The lawsuit claims NASCAR failed to properly maintain a safe condition, failed to inspect the premises, and failed to comply with industry standards related to the event’s production. The lawsuit also names United Rentals, the company that provided the electrical equipment for the event; Four Lead Productions, an event services provider; Malo Communications Services, an electrical company; and McGuire Scenic, a set design company. The Chicago Park District is named for negligence by engaging in willful and wanton misconduct in its failure to ensure both Four Lead and NASCAR provide proper staging and production of the event.

    Chicago is expected to hold a second NASCAR street race July 6-7, 2024, on what appears to be the same 2.2-mile course.

    For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).

    Boeing’s top executive will step down this year amid a broader shakeup of the airplane manufacturer’s top leadership announced on March 25, 2024. Still, it is disappointing that it took CEO David Calhoun to leave because of the MAX9 door mishap. He told the press that the Alaska Airlines door plug flying off in January was a “watershed moment.”

    “Two Boeing MAX8 planes crashed within five months while Calhoun was at a top executive spot at the company, yet it takes the sloppy design of a different aircraft — grounded in greed — to lead him to want to leave early,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and Lead Counsel in the federal litigation pending in the 2019 crash in Ethiopia. “The watershed moment should have been when nearly 400 people died in the Boeing Max 8 disasters years ago. Taken seriously, it is likely that the Alaska Air debacle could have been averted, and the company would be on the way to healing itself, and ensuring the safety of the flying public. The families knew that the culture of profit over safety would not change when Calhoun took over in January 2020 because he was raised on that principle.”

    Calhoun, 66, has served on Boeing’s Board of Directors since 2009. Its Board of Directors changed company bylaws in 2021 to extend the retirement age to 70 to allow Calhoun to take over until April 2028.

    This latest announcement comes on the heels of a tumultuous five-plus years, with most travelers losing faith in the 108-year-old plane manufacturer. It also was announced that effective immediately the CEO of the commercial airline unit, Stan Deal, is leaving to be replaced by Boeing’s chief operating officer Stephanie Pope. Boeing Chairman of the Board Larry Kellner also is stepping down. He will be succeeded as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing announced.

    “This exodus is just a start. As the victims’ families of the Boeing crash have stated, the company needs a complete cleanout. Competent people who value safety must be running that company to send a message throughout the entire industry that it is serious about making planes that are safe. All Boeing workers must take pride in what they are doing with the lives of every passenger in their hands. That simply isn’t the case as dozens of whistleblowers and previous employees have complained,” Clifford said. “Boeing must come to terms that the MAX aircraft must be totally re-certified. Boeing engineers must work on the latest state-of-the-art design of a new plane instead of retooling a plane that has been in the air for 50 years for the purpose that the FAA conducts less scrutiny. There’s just too much wrong with that aircraft.”

    For further information or to speak to Robert Clifford, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).

    The topic of the 2024 Annual Clifford Symposium on Tort Law and Social Policy is “The Legacy of Industrywide Deadly Conduct.” The free two-day program will be offered as a webinar and a live event at DePaul University College of Law June 6-7.

    Academics from around the country will gather to discuss the impact of entire American industries that have united in a coordinated and sustained effort to advance their financial interests by knowingly promoting products with deadly consequences for enormous numbers of individuals exposed to them. The three industries involved in these activities have been asbestos manufacturers, tobacco sellers, and opioid purveyors.

    DePaul Law School Professor Stephan Landsman, Director of the symposium, will offer introductory remarks. Various panels will be conducted over the two days among more than two dozen law school faculty including professors Robert Rabin, Stanford Law School, John C.P. Goldberg, Harvard Law School, and Rachel Rothschild, University of Michigan Law School.

    Each speaker writes a thought-intensive article that will appear in a special edition of the DePaul University School of Law Review. Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices, endowed the tort law and social policy chair in 1994 at DePaul Law School, his alma mater. Since then, it has produced the most-quoted law reviews in courts nationwide on tort topics.

    The Clifford Symposium is free and open to the public and offers up to 10.5 hours of general CLE credit. In-person attendance is limited at the DePaul Conference Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., 8th Floor, Chicago. The program also will be offered as a webinar. Registration is required. To register, please click here.

    Other topics over the past quarter century have included “Civil Litigation in a Post-COVID World,” “New Torts,” and “Privacy, Data Theft, and Corporate Responsibility.”

    For further information, click here, or contact Nicole Pinkey at npinkey@depaul.edu.

    Clifford Law Offices was a Bar Sponsor of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois’ (WBAI) 25th Annual Judicial Reception. The event took place Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at The Chicago Cultural Center in Chicago, IL.

    Sarah F. King, partner at Clifford Law Offices, currently serves as the WBAI’s First Vice President. She is involved in numerous bar association activities and will be sworn in as the association’s President in June 2024.

    The WBAI was established in 1914 by nine women lawyers practicing in the Chicago area with the intent to promote the interests and welfare of women lawyers. It is one of the oldest and largest bar associations in Illinois. The annual reception celebrates representatives of the association’s mission who serve as a voice for justice advocating for women, children, and families, and promoting the success and growth of women in the legal profession.

    Honorees of the 25th Annual Judicial Reception included: Hon. Janet Adams Brosnahan (ret.), Circuit Court of Cook County Law Division; Hon. Maryam Ahmad, Circuit Court of Cook County Pretrial Division; Hon. Mary M. Rowland, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; Hon. Sanjay T. Tailor, Illinois First District Appellate Court; Hon. Ann Claire Williams (ret.), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; Hon. James P. Flannery, Jr. (posthumous), Fmr. Presiding Judge Circuit Court of Cook County Law Division.

    To learn more about the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, click here.

    Clifford Law Offices Sponsors Women’s Bar Association of Illinois’ 25th Annual Judicial Reception

    Sarah F. King, partner at Clifford Law Offices, with her fellow WBAI officers and directors – Katherine Twardak, Molly Wells, Kelly Sabo and Caroleann Gallagher.

    Sarah F. King and Yvette C. Loizon, partners at Clifford Law Offices, joined women lawyers in the Illinois capital on March 5, 2024, for the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) Women’s Caucus Lobbying Day.

    The attorneys met with Speaker Welch, Leader Hoffman, and Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, among other elected officials.

    Co-founded by King in 2018, the primary goal of the ITLA caucus is to ensure women have greater representation in the organization generally as well as in leadership positions, whether that means recruiting more women for the board of managers or having more women responsible for planning programming for continuing legal education opportunities. In addition, the group has served as an integral part of the organization’s fight to preserve the right to trial by jury and access to justice for all.

    To learn more about the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and ways to be involved with the organization’s Women’s Caucus, click here.

    Yvette C. Loizon (left) and Sarah F. King (right), partners at Clifford Law Offices join ITLA Women's Caucus Lobbying Day in Springfield, IL.

    Yvette C. Loizon (left) and Sarah F. King (right), partners at Clifford Law Offices join ITLA Women’s Caucus Lobbying Day in Springfield, IL.

     

    Yvette C. Loizon and Sarah F. King, partners at Clifford Law Offices pose in the Illinois capitol with other members of the ITLA Women's Caucus.

    Yvette C. Loizon and Sarah F. King, partners at Clifford Law Offices pose in the Illinois capitol with other members of the ITLA Women’s Caucus.

     

    Four Clifford Law Offices attorneys joined the American Association for Justice’s (AAJ) Student Trial Advocacy Competition as judges in the 2024 Regional Tournament. One hundred sixty teams from law schools nationwide competed for the Student Trial Advocacy national title in a mock trial tournament that tests their trial advocacy skills.

    The competition began with Regional Tournaments taking place virtually March 7-10. Teams selected for The National Finals will compete in person April 4-7 in Chicago. Each year the tournament depends on experienced, practicing attorneys to evaluate the trial performances and determine which teams will advance to the finals.

    Advocates for furthering legal education through real-world application, Robert P. Walsh, Keith A. Hebeisen, and Joseph T. Murphy, partners at the firm, and Nicholas T. Motherway, associate, are excited to use their trial experience to support the association, its competition, and students from across the country.

    Clifford Law Offices has a long-standing connection with the American Association for Justice and its mission to provide fair jury trials and justice for individuals. The firm wishes all of the 2024 competitors good luck in the tournament!

    To learn more about the upcoming competition, click here.

    Bradley M. Cosgrove and Charles R. Haskins, partners at Clifford Law Offices, obtained a $39.9 million record verdict on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, on behalf of a man left permanently disabled following the failure to treat his apparent symptoms that could have prevented a stroke. The verdict is a record in the state of Illinois for a stroke victim, according to the Illinois Jury Verdict Reporter.

    Antonio DeAngelo of Hoffman Estates, then age 37, is permanently disabled following Advocate Physician Partners’ failure to treat DeAngelo’s abnormally high blood pressure that led to his suffering a debilitating stroke. Instead, the physician treated him with an antibiotic for flu-like symptoms in January 2015 and failed to follow up with any care despite knowing of the patient’s hypertension.

    THE FAMILY AND LAWYERS SPOKE TO THE PRESS ON FRIDAY, MARCH 1, AT 2 P.M. AT 120 N. LASALLE ST., 36TH FLOOR, CHICAGO. THE PRESS CONFERENCE WAS ALSO HELD LIVE VIA ZOOM. SEE THE FOOTAGE BELOW.

    “This man should be enjoying life to the fullest now. Instead, he finds himself struggling to get through every day,” Cosgrove said following the verdict. “The negligence of the medical providers here and their lack of accountability simply is uncalled for, and the jury did what was right and just. He will need a lifetime of care that his family simply cannot undertake.”

    The six-man-six-woman jury deliberated four hours before Judge Preston Jones, Jr., of the Cook County Circuit Court before rendering its verdict late Thursday evening at the Daley Center. Devin J. Piper, associate at Clifford Law Offices, assisted at trial.

    DeAngelo, a landscaper and landscape designer in the western suburbs, was suffering from a persistent cough when he went to a local pharmacy for care in 2015. It was there that it was discovered he had an elevated blood pressure of 132/82, and it was recommended he see a doctor to determine if he was suffering from hypertension. DeAngelo did so through his HMO plan seeing a primary care physician and complaining of trouble breathing in late January 2015. At that time, DeAngelo’s blood pressure had spiked to 190/102. The primary care physician’s diagnosis included acute bronchitis, elevated blood pressure, tachycardia, and morbid obesity. He did not treat DeAngelo’s high blood pressure or other diagnosed medical conditions.

    About four weeks later, on March 11, DeAngelo’s co-workers observed him in distress and called 911. He was taken by ambulance to Loyola University Health System with blood pressure measuring 290/190, and it was discovered he suffered a hemorrhaging stroke. The jury found that the primary care physician failed to properly test or treat the patient including ordering an EKG, urinalysis, blood work, lab tests, or referring him to a cardiologist, despite his family history of hypertension.

    After spending more than a year at the RIC/Shirley Ryan Ability Lab where he underwent physical, occupational, and speech therapy, DeAngelo has hemiparesis, and still is unable to walk long distances, unable to drive, dress, bathe or eat without assistance, and suffers speech issues from brain damage from the stroke. His right dominant hand is non-functioning. He is unable to work the rest of his life and requires lifetime care for what is expected to be a normal life span.

    The verdict includes $20 million for disability. The couple have two children who then were aged 8 and 5.

    For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).

    Case: DeAngelo v. Advocate Health Partners, d/b/a Advocate Physician Partners, No. 2020 L 2605.

    Defense Counsel:

    On behalf of Advocate Health Partners d/b/a Advocate Physician Partners: (Guilty)
    Marni Slavick
    Kipp Cornell
    Cunningham, Meyer & Vedrine, P.C.
    One E. Wacher Dr., Suite 2200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    On behalf of Advocate Health and Hospitals Corp., d/b/a Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital (found Not Guilty):
    Stetson Atwood
    Scott Kater
    Donohue, Brown, Mathewson & Smyth, LLC
    140 S. Dearborn St., Suite 800
    Chicago, IL 60603
    312-422-0900

    Media

    • Photos Courtersy of Clifford Law Offices (click on the images below):

    On March 12th, Sarah F. King, partner at Clifford Law Offices, addressed the DePaul University College of Law community as the featured alumni speaker at its reception honoring the alumni named to the Illinois Super Lawyers® lists, which King has been on for years.

    King graduated from DePaul University College of Law summa cum laude as a member of the top 5 percent of her class and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. She was a published member of the DePaul Law Review on post-death maintenance obligations and life insurance. She has published several articles, some of which have been published in highly regarded national publications such as the  American Bar Association Litigation Journal. She was also recognized for her writing skills in law school and received the CALI Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy II, Legal Writing III, and Commercial Paper.

    King is involved in numerous bar association activities. In June 2024, she will be sworn in as President of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She also serves on the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Board of Managers where she is co-author of its Medical Malpractice Trial Notebook, used by trial lawyers throughout the state.

    Since graduating from DePaul in 2011, King has received numerous awards and recognition for her tireless work ethic and pursuit of excellence as a personal injury attorney. She has been listed by Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2016-2022 and was listed by Illinois Super Lawyers in 2023 and 2024.

     

    Sarah F. King Addressed the DePaul College of Law Super Lawyers Reception

    Sarah F. King (left), partner at Clifford Law Offices, with Dean Jennifer Rosato (center) at the DePaul College of Law Super Lawyers Reception.