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| Selected by peers as a Leading Lawyer in: | Extensive Experience in: |
| Aviation Law | Transportation: Railroad |
| Personal Injury Law: General | Transportation: Automobile |
| Personal Injury Law: Professional Malpractice | Medical Malpractice |
| Personal Injury Law: Transportation Including FELA & Maritime | Commercial Litigation |
| Advisory Board Member | |
| County: Cook | |
| Litigator: Yes | |
| Practice Description: Mr. Demetrio represents individuals and their families in personal injury and wrongful death cases resulting from aviation tragedies, railroad and motor vehicle collisions, medical negligence, product liability, premises liability, and construction tragedies. He also handles business and commercial litigation. Notable Cases and Results: In the Fall of 2003, Tom obtained a $20 million settlement in a medical negligence case after almost three weeks of trial. The child of a suburban couple was delivered at Evanston Hospital on June 8, 1998. During her delivery, she suffered permanent brachial plexus nerve injuries and a tear in her phrenic nerve resulting in paralysis of her right diaphragm. During trial, Tom presented evidence that the baby was delivered vaginally in a frank breech presentation , meaning that her delivery was buttocks first followed by her arms, abdomen and lastly her head. Evidence established that the mother's cervix was not completely dilated, and the baby's head became entrapped in the cervix. Evidence also established that the maternal fetal medicine physician delivering the baby applied excessive traction or pulling during delivery resulting in the brachial plexus and phrenic nerve damage. Tom argued that a Cesarean section should have been performed which would have totally prevented all of the injuries. He further argued that the parents were not properly informed of the risks to their baby from a vaginal delivery of a frank breech. The child is in need of continuing physical, occupational and speech therapy, as well as attendant care. Her settlement will provide her the ability to maximize her capabilities and attend college. In 2002, Tom, as lead counsel, obtained, after two weeks of trial, a $17.5 million settlement on behalf of the plaintiff, now age 37, in a medical negligence case against the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation. The settlement was acquired the day before he was to deliver his final argument. The plaintiff, age 33 at the time of the occurrence, suffered a hemorrhagic stroke on June 14, 1998, when a large aneurysm in one of the arteries in her brain ruptured. The catastrophic hemorrhage which followed caused extensive damage to the plaintiff's brain, leaving her with only limited movement of her left arm, and her memory and her cognitive abilities severely impaired. Plaintiff is currently a resident in a local nursing home. A former fashion model and manager for MAC Cosmetics at Marshall Field's, plaintiff now struggles to reclaim the most basic aspects of speech and the ability to navigate in her electric wheelchair on her own. Ten days prior to the catastrophic aneurysmal rupture and hemorrhage of June 14, 1998, plaintiff had presented to the Emergency Room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital with complaints of the "worst headache" of her life, nausea, vomiting and neck stiffness, all of which occurred suddenly that day. Trial testimony of two eminent neurosurgeons established that plaintiff had suffered a "warning leak" from the aneurysm on June 4, 1998. Tom established that this triad of symptoms (sudden onset of "worst headache," vomiting and neck stiffness) is considered highly suspicious for an aneurysmal leak (bleeding into the protective layers of the brain, known as "subarachnoid hemorrhage") and why the applicable standard of care required that the emergency room physician, an employee of Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, who saw plaintiff on June 4, 1998, should have ordered a CT scan and lumbar puncture which would have confirmed with 100% accuracy the diagnosis of the leaking aneurysm. This, according to expert testimony, would have allowed for timely surgical intervention which would have assured a greater than 90% likelihood of a full and complete recovery for the plaintiff. Even in the face of this testimony, the emergency room doctor continued to maintain at trial that his diagnosis of "acute neck sprain" was the only diagnosis he was required to make, after he had discharged the plaintifff on June 4, 1998 with Tylenol for her "neck sprain." Using a textbook authored by one of the defense experts and the electronic textbook published by the treating emergency room physician himself, Tom systematically extracted and occasionally hammered out testimony on cross-examination from the defendant's own witnesses in support of his argument that the failure to elicit a proper medical history regarding plaintiff's chief complaint of "worst headache" had lead to the mis-diagnosis of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a condition that even medical students and resident physicians are trained to recognize as a "medical emergency" on the basis of plaintiff's presenting symptoms. Settlements totaling more than $48 million were reached in four of the final five local cases stemming from the crash of Boeing-manufactured U.S. Air Flight #427 outside Pittsburgh on September 8, 1994. The cases were set to go to trial. One of the cases handled by Tom settled for $25.2 million, the highest amount ever negotiated in a wrongful death case involving commercial aviation. The victim was a CEO and chairman of a major manufacturing concern who left behind a wife and three children. In December, 1998, a Cook County jury returned a record verdict of $40 million on behalf of a woman seriously injured in a truck collision, and her husband. The family was represented at trial by Tom as the lead attorney. The plaintiff, now 51, was driving her car on a ramp leading to the outbound lanes of the Stevenson Expressway at LaGrange Road. At the same time, a large overseas container loaded on a semi-tractor flatbed traveling in the opposite direction struck the LaGrange overpass, causing the container to drop onto the expressway. The truck continued on and crossed over to the opposite lanes and up the ramp, striking plaintiff's car. The plaintiff suffered a traumatic brain injury in the occurrence and has lived in numerous medical facilities since the occurrence. In assessing damages, the jury awarded plaintiff damages of $34 million. Her husband, now 48, was awarded damages of $6 million for the loss of his wife's consortium. Circuit Court of Cook County Judge Leonard R. Grazian entered judgment on the verdicts, which were paid without an appeal. Tom represented Chevron Chemical Company in a breach of contract case against General Electric Company which resulted in a confidential multi-million dollar settlement for Chevron. General Electric had supplied resin pellets to Chevron to be fashioned into plastic piping to carry flue/furnace gasses out of homes. However, the resin supplied by General Electric cracked and separated when it made contact with sulfuric acid, which is a natural by-product from venting gasses. The General Electric resin could no longer be used for vent pipes. Consequently, Chevron pursued its available remedies for breach of contract. Tom, along with his brother and partner, Michael, tried a case to verdict in which the jury found in favor of the plaintiff and assessed damages in the amount of $22 million. The plaintiff was a young woman rendered a quadriplegic when the car she was driving was hit from behind by a semitrailer truck in north suburban Chicago. In 1997, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the verdict, and it remains the largest compensatory verdict for an individual ever upheld by the Court. A verdict in the amount of $16 million was rendered in favor of the plaintiff in a case tried by Tom. After the case was settled, a hospital attempted to enforce its lien after accepting assignment from Medicare and Medicaid for payment of its bill. This case was appealed and argued, where it was established that a health care provider cannot collect money from a lawsuit pursued by an injured victim if that health care provider already collected monies from Medicare or Medicaid. Tom assumed responsibility for a case following the death of the plaintiff's previous attorney. The case had laid dormant for 18 years. After defeating motions to dismiss based on the doctrine of laches (applied in circumstances where plaintiffs have sat on their rights to the prejudice of a defendant), Tom, as the lead trial lawyer, tried the case to verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, two brothers who had been burned in an industrial dust explosion) ($6.2 million). The appellate court affirmed the trial court's decision not to apply the doctrine of laches and upheld the verdicts in favor of plaintiffs. In a case tried by Tom and Philip Harnett Corboy, Jr., a verdict was reached in favor of the plaintiff, who was brain-damaged after being struck by the defendant's limousine driver, in the amount of almost $17 million. The issue of insurance coverage resulted in a post-trial action filed on behalf of plaintiff and defendant driver against the insurers. A Cook County Circuit Court judge found that there was, in fact, coverage for the defendant driver. The insurance company appealed the decision, and the appellate court upheld the trial court's finding that the insurance policy in question covered the defendant driver for his off-duty activities. The case subsequently settled, with the insurance company paying far in excess of the $6 million policy limits. Bar Admissions: Illinois State,1973 Florida State,1973 United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois United States Court of Appeals - 5th, 7th and 9th Circuits Hourly Rate: Contingent Fee Date of Birth: 1947 Law School: Chicago-Kent College of Law--Illinois Institute of Technology,J.D. Law School Honors/Involvement: Alumni Merit Award, 1989 Professional Achievement Award, 1990 Distinguished Service Award, 2000 Undergraduate School: University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana Representative Clients: Severely injured individuals and families in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Employment History: Corboy & Demetrio, P.C. - Partner, 1982 - present Philip H. Corboy & Associates - Associate, 1973 - 1982 Bar/Professional Association Involvement: Chicago Bar Assocation (CBA): President, 1992-1993 Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA): President, 1988-1989 Inner Circle of Advocates (top 100 plaintiff trial lawyers in U.S.) American College of Trial Lawyers (top 1% of trial lawyers in U.S.) The International Academy of Trial Lawyers (top 500 trial lawyers worldwide) American Bar Association (ABA) Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) The Seventh Circuit Bar Association American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys The Society of Trial Lawyers The Lawyers Club of Chicago Leading Lawyers Network Advisory Board American Bar Foundation: Fellow Chicago Bar Foundation: Life Fellow; Lend A Hand Advisory Board, 1994-present The Illinois Bar Foundation: Life Fellow Chicago Inn of Court: Master of the Bench Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Pattern Civil Jury Instructions, 1978-1997 University of Notre Dame Law School: Advisory Council, 1987-2002 IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law: Board of Overseers, 1992-present Trial Lawyers for Public Justice: Board of Directors, 1988-1997 Community Involvement: Center for Elder and Disability Law: Board of Directors, 1990-present St. Ignatius College Prep: Board of Trustees, 1990-1995 Mundelein Seminary: Board of Advisors, 1992-1997 Big Shoulders - Archdiocese of Chicago: Board of Directors, 1993-present Legal Aid Society, United Charities: Board of Directors, 1991-present Dispute Resolution Research Center Advisory Committee, J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Chicago: 1993-present Chicago Neurosurgical Center Leadership Committee: Chairman, 1991-1995 Metropolitan Family Services: Associate member, Legal Aid Society, 1992-present Handgun Committee on Violence: Member, 1998-present Vatican Restoration Committee: 2000-present The Institute of Medicine of Chicago: Patient Safety Forum, Committee Member, 2002-present Published Legal Writing: "Demetrio on Trial Practice - Daubert, Its Early Years," CBA Record, April 2001 "More Cases We Remember - A Lesson In Credibility," Trial Magazine, April 2000 "Demetrio on Trial Practice - Offers of Proof, Why, When & How," The CBA Record, June/July 2000 "Loss of Consortium - A Continuing Evolution," Trial Magazine, September 2000 Legal Lectures: "Views of a Trial Lawyer," Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, 2000 "How to Value the Personal Injury Case: Negotiating Strategies & Settlement Techniques," American Bar Association, Washington, DC, 1998 "Trial Practice in the '90s: Jury Selection, Focus Groups and Computer Graphics Animation," IICLE, Chicago, Illinois, 1998 Computer Graphics and Animation, International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Annual Convention, Chicago, Illinois, 1998 "Proving Damages in Wrongful Death, Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury Cases," Chicago Bar Association, Chicago, Illinois, 1998 "Lessons Learned at Trial," CBA/YLS Seminar, Trial Superstars, CBA, Chicago, Illinois, 1997 "Shaping the Jury's Verdict -- Winning in the Age of Tort Reform," ICLE's 48th Annual Advocacy Institute, The Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1997 "Closing Arguments," Ultimate Mentor Interactive Seminar, ITLA, Chicago, Illinois, 1996 "The Obligations of Lawyering in Today's World," Featured Speaker at the Annual Luncheon Meeting of the Franklin County Trial Lawyers Association, Columbus, Ohio, 1996 "Jury Selection in the Industrial Product Liability Case," The 13th Annual Conference on Product Liability Law - National Practice Institute, Chicago, Illinois 1995 "Direct and Re-Direct Examination -- Trial Demonstration," ICLE's 46th Annual Advocacy Institute, The Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1995 "House Bill 20 - Redefining Tort Practice in Illinois," CBA, 1995 "Litigation Management: Manage Dollars or Activities?," Johnson Controls Annual Law Department Meeting, Chicago, Illinois 1995 Defense Research Institute, Trial Techniques Seminar, "The Art of Persuasion," Demonstration: Plaintiff's Closing Argument, Chicago, Illinois, 1995 Annual American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education, "Litigating Medical Malpractice Claims - Plaintiff's Perspective," Charleston, South Carolina, 1995 "Winning with the Masters," Last Chance Seminar - Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1995 "Product Liability Litigation - A Practical Approach," Summation Strategies, Plaintiff's Perspective, ITLA, Chicago, Illinois, 1994 "Emerging Issues in Motor Vehicle Product Liability Litigation," The debate over New Restatement 2nd of Torts 105 -- discussion about changing the burden of proof in product liability cases. ABA National Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, 1994 "Effective Direct and Cross-Examination," Summer Boot Camp for Aspiring Litigators, CBA, Chicago, Illinois, 1994 "Closing Arguments," Young Lawyers Section Trial Practice Course, CBA, Chicago, Illinois 1994 "Jury Selection: Plaintiff's Perspective," Point/Counterpoint Seminar, ITLA, Chicago, Illinois, 1992 and 1993 "Medical Experts: Effective Direct and Cross Examination - Plaintiff's Perspective," Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, 1993 "Winning Closing Arguments," ITLA Annual Seminar, 1993 "Aspects of American Product Liability Law," International Institute, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, 1993 "Art of Summation," New York State Trial Lawyers Institute, New York, 1992 "Plaintiff's Perspective: Closing," Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel Winter Program - Boca Raton, Florida,1992 "Bad Faith in the '90s -- How to Avoid It," Rollins Burdick Hunter Co. National Leadership Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 1992 "Discovery Practice in the 90's: -A How-to Seminar Focusing on Competency, Efficiency & Civility," (Moderator) CBA, Chicago,Illinois, 1992 Presentation of Plaintiff's Perspective in a Product Liability Case (Opening Statement,) Federal Bar Association, 1992 National Convention, Cleveland, Ohio, 1992 "Is a Cap on Damages Socially Desirable?," Plaintiff's Perspective, Illinois Provider Trust Annual Risk Management Meeting, Bloomington, Illinois, 1992 "A Collection of Great Closing Arguments: -Techniques and Demonstrations," California Trial Lawyers Association 26th Annual Tahoe Seminar, 1991 "1991 Best Evidence Seminar," ABA, Section of Litigation, Chicago, Illinois, 1991 "Developing and Defending Employment Discrimination Cases," 42nd Annual Advocacy Institute, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1991, San Francisco, 1992 "Final Argument," Joint Seminar of the Association of Florida Trial Lawyers and Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, Bermuda, 1991 "Effective Trial Techniques - From Pre-Trial Proceedings Through Summation," CBA Seminar - Chicago, 1991 "Delivering a Knock-Out Punch in Opening Statement," Third Annual Tort Masters Seminar, sponsored by Alabama Trial Lawyers Association, Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, and Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, Atlanta, 1991 "Winning with the Masters," Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association "Last Chance Seminar," New Orleans, 1991 "Using Final Argument to Enhance Damages," Alabama Trial Lawyers Association 38th Annual Mid-Winter Conference, 1990 "Dos and Don'ts of Direct Examination," Trial Notebook Series, ITLA, 1990 "Trial Symposium - Advocacy into the '90's," Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers Thirty-Third Annual Convention, 1990 Address to the Professional Liability Committee of the ABA, ABA Annual Meeting, Chicago, 1990 "How to Address Damages in the Opening Statement and Closing Argument," CBA, 1990 "Arguing Medical Negligence," ITLA, 1990 "Arguing and Maximizing Damages," Kansas Trial Lawyers' Association, 1990 "Proving and Disputing Liability in Tort Cases," CBA-YLS, 1989 "The Persuasive Final Argument," ITLA, 1989 "Ideas on Final Argument," A Weekend with the Masters, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, 1989 The 46th Annual Belli Seminar, Boston, 1989 "Negotiations," CBA-YLS, 1988 "Finding and Using Experts in Crash Cases," ABA-TIPS, Massachusetts, 1988 "Comparative Fault," Indiana State Bar Association, 1988 "The Medical Malpractice Case," The 39th Annual Advocacy Institute, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1988 "ITLA College of Advocacy," 1988 Seminar Chair: ATLA's National College of Advocacy, Specialized Courses, Colorado, 1988 "Closing Argument," CBA-YLS, 1988 "Litigating Medical Malpractice Claims," ALI-ABA, South Carolina CLE, 1988 Tort Expo "Masters of Advocacy," Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, 1988 "Tort Reform or Deform?: A Public Debate," ISBA, 1988 Firm Description: Corboy & Demetrio is one of the nation's premier law firms. It represents individuals and their families in serious personal injury and wrongful death cases and is renowned for its achievements in the courtroom and contributions to the community. The rights and concerns of its clients are at the core of Corboy & Demetrio's practice. That commitment, dedication, compassion and relentless drive has resulted in exceptional service and exceptional results for its clients. The firm has acquired over $3 billion in settlements and verdicts and has attained over 500 settlements and verdicts in excess of $1 million. It has ranked first in the Chicago Lawyer Settlement Survey for the highest settlements in Illinois 8 out of 14 times, leading all other firms. Thirteen attorneys in the firm have been chosen by peer review for inclusion in the Leading Lawyers Network, which recognizes the top five percent of all Illinois lawyers. In addition, all the partners have been recognized as "Super Lawyers," an honor given to only the very best lawyers by other Illinois attorneys. Corboy & Demetrio is the only Chicago law firm to include four former Chicago Bar Association Presidents. They are: Philip H. Corboy, Thomas A. Demetrio, René A. Torrado and Michael K. Demetrio. It is also the only law firm to have four attorneys serve as President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, namely, Philip H. Corboy, Thomas A. Demetrio, Robert J. Bingle and the current President, Philip Harnett Corboy, Jr. Corboy & Demetrio is committed and dedicated to serving the community. The firm has established and funded scholarships, fellowships and endowments at local and national mentoring programs, high schools, and universities, including all six Chicago law schools. Partners, associates and office staff contribute by serving on boards, raising funds, tutoring and lending a hand wherever needed for a variety of charities and nonprofit organizations. Parking: Theatre Self-Park on Dearborn Street between Randolph and Lake Streets. Parking garage can be accessed from either Dearborn or Lake Streets. 1004820 | |
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