Pfaff & Gill News

Bruce Pfaff recently discussed a $13M victory he won for his client and the concept of connecting with the jury during an interview with SuperLawyers: Watch the interview.

Bruce R. Pfaff and Matthew D. Ports successfully tried a product liability case to verdict in the Circuit Court of Tazewell County, Illinois.  The jury awarded $13,544,172 to a 19-year-old young man who suffered an above-knee amputation when the MiTek Roof Glider machine he was working on catastrophically failed trapping and crushing his leg.  See the complete Verdict Report and news article by Michael Smothers of The Pekin Daily Times for further details.

Michael Gill successfully tried a motor vehicle collision case to verdict in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.  The jury awarded $148,997.44 to a 29 year-old man who suffered multiple injuries in a crash on the Edens Expressway near the Wilson Avenue exit.  The case was tried August 26-31, 2011 before the Hon. Susan McDunn.

Michael Gill successfully tried a construction negligence case to verdict in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.  The jury awarded $185, 871.13 to a  29 year-old bricklayer’s assistant who suffered a trimalleolar (ankle) fracture when a box fell onto his ankle while emptying a storage crate.  The case was tried June 13-21, 2011 before the Hon. Barbara McDonald.  The case was settled post-trial for $202,500.00.

January 8-15, 2011:  Michael Gill served as adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.  Michael was one of seven practicing lawyers and judges who taught 60 second and third-year law students the week long “Trial Practice-Intensive”.  Michael has taught this class for the past two years.

Bruce R. Pfaff was named one of Illinois’s Top Ten Lawyers for 2011 by Super Lawyers, a lawyer rating service.

Bruce R. Pfaff recently received one of six Trial Lawyer Excellence Awards at the 50th Anniversary Celebration for the Cook County Jury Verdict Reporter.

Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named Bruce R. Pfaff as the “Chicago Best Lawyers Product Liability Litigator of the Year” for 2011. After more than a quarter of a century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating “Lawyers of the Year” in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.” Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 17th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2011) is based on more than 3.1 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers. The lawyers being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in our surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.

Bruce R. Pfaff reports that his clients, the survivors of a 52-year-old Chicago area woman, settled their wrongful death case against the anesthesiologist who failed to intubate her and the hospital where he was on staff. The doctor will pay his full policy proceeds of $2,000,000 and the hospital, sued under the principle of apparent agency, will pay $6,000,000.  See the full settlement report on our blog.