Articles Posted in Firm News

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Chicago attorney Bob Kreisman attended the American Association of Justice (AAJ) annual meeting in San Francisco, July 25 through July 29, 2009. The meetings presented a variety of educational forums including those concentrating on medical negligence, birth trauma litigation, product defects and trial practice. The subset of the educational programs was nursing home litigation, truck and auto/vehicle collisions, and other areas of trial practice including pharmaceutical defect litigation.

In addition, the meetings included seminars on trial practice. One of the most popular is called the Advocacy Track which had speakers from morning until well into the late afternoon of each conference day. Most valuable is the time spent with other lawyers from around the country sharing their different experiences in jury trial techniques. The meetings represent a kind of re-charging that allows lawyers, judges and paralegals to apply new ideas to our cases.

Justia.com CEO Tim Stanley and staff were exhibiting at the convention center. The event, as always, was very well attended.

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This past Sunday, Illinois attorney Bob Kreisman participated in the 10th Annual Race Against Hate held in Evanston. The Chicago race couldn’t have asked for a better backdrop than the beautiful, sunny day. Over 3,500 persons gathered for the 5k walk, 5k run, 10k run and youth mile race. This is Bob Kreisman’s third year participating in the Race Against Hate and each year he is struck by the positive attitude and community spirit that surrounds the race.

It was a celebration of diversity to promote racial harmony in Evanston, Illinois. The annual race is held in memorial to Ricky Byrdsong, a former Northwestern University basketball coach who was murdered by a white supremacist in 1999. To mark the 10 year anniversary of the Chicago coach’s death, three Northwestern seniors created the documentary “Fly Like The Byrd” in his honor.

The event is underwritten by the YWCA Evanston/Northshore, an organization that actively works at eliminating racism. For more information on the race, contact the YWCA Evanston/Northshore by email or at 847-864-8445. Online donationsto the cause can also be made to the YWCA Evanston/Northshore.

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When perusing Chicago and Illinois lawyer websites it is common to encounter pages listing the firm’s successes, particularly if it involves large verdicts and big settlements. The purpose of this seems to be to motivate those browsing the web page to contact the lawyer or law firm and become future clients with success stories.

Yet these success stories often fail to recognize the families who suffered so much and rose to new heights in their devotion to correct the wrongdoing. For example, in the medical malpractice case of Mary Smith I represented the family members who were aggrieved to have lost a loved one in a tragic and unnecessary manner.

Mary Smith was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor in September 2003. However, soon thereafter her condition worsened resulting in the unexpected death of the 50 year-old mother of four, a recent grandmother, and a wife for over 30 years.

From the very first contact I had with the Smith family they were focused on setting up a foundation to educate people about brain tumors. They have fulfilled this dream in the form of the Mary E. Smith Foundation, a not-for-profit organization set up to alert the public about brain tumors, advances in medicine, and health tips for those in need. In addition to providing information the foundation also provides financial assistance for medical screening, grants for research in the field of brain tumors, and scholarships for students excelling in math and science.

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Former Illinois 18th District House of Representatives Congressman, Ray LaHood, now the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, was the honored speaker at the luncheon held at the Union League Club of Chicago on May 15, 2009. Mr. LaHood served 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and became the 16th U.S. Secretary of Transportation on January 23, 2009.

The U.S. Department of Transportation that Mr. LaHood now leads boasts more than 55,000 employees and a budget of $70 billion. As Secretary of Transportation, he oversees air, maritime and surface transportation missions.

In a prepared statement, Mr. LaHood spoke about the Department of Transportation’s many goals, including high speed rail between Chicago and other Midwestern cities, rebuilding the transportation infrastructure, and other stimulus programs designed to modernize America’s transportation systems.

Robert Kreisman is a member of the Union League Club’s Public Affairs Committee, which sponsored the booking of Secretary LaHood for this event was attended by more than 300 Union League members and guests. Mr. LaHood generously took questions from the audience following his talk.

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Recently my wife was called to serve as a juror in a Chicago-Cook County jury case. Although she was ultimately not called, it reminded me that we must never take this process for granted.

The 7th amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives the right of trial by jury that no other country guarantees.

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Our civil justice system is derived from the English Magna Carter. Our Constitution is designed so that each case is tried by a group of one’s peers, in this case a representation of our Cook County community, that is responsible for judging what is right or wrong in each case.

As a civil justice attorney I am aware of the sacrifice each juror makes to this system, even if it is not voluntary. The jury system allows our country to continue to uphold the principles of freedom and individual rights established in the Constitution. Without jurors our legal system would be unable to function.

As a representative of the party with the burden of proof, the Plaintiff, I do my best to provide the jurors with a steady flow of evidence without overloading issues or repeating obvious evidence with cumulative witnesses. I appreciate that jurors are sacrificing their time and I would like to extend my thanks to all Cook County jurors for allowing our legal system to function smoothly.

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The Moot Court Team of the John Marshall Law School of Chicago headed by Mary Nagel, their faculty sponsor, argued their moot court competition at Chicago’s Kreisman Law Offices before Civil Justice Attorney Robert Kreisman.

Moot Court is an activity where law students participate in simulated appellate court proceedings. However, moot court is actually more challenging than real appellate proceedings because students have to argue both sides of the critical issues in the case. The John Marshall Law School law students will be arguing both the appellant’s position and the appellee’s position in the national competition to be held in Cincinnati.

The issues of the fictional case involved pharmaceutical preemption by federal law, similar to those at issue in Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc and Wyeth v. Levine. The federal preemption issue revolves around whether or not warning language as to medical devices or pharmaceuticals approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) are open to medical device liability lawsuits or product liability lawsuits under state law if those medical devices or drugs had been approved by the FDA. The law students also argued issues of punitive damages and constitutional law. The underlying case was on appeal to the supreme court from appellate level after a jury verdict of $900,000 was entered against the defendant pharmaceutical company. The appellate court denied a reversal of the compensatory damages, but remittur was allowed on the punitive portion of the verdict.

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On February 26, 2009, CHANGE Illinois, Coalition for Honest New Government Ethics, met for a news conference in downtown Chicago wherein it laid out its program to change Illinois politics. CHANGE Illinois’ statements of principles included a pledge to the citizens of Illinois for fair, open and honest government and for the efficient conduct of state business.

CHANGE Illinois is represented by leaders of civic, business, professional and philanthropic organizations and other leaders of Chicago and Illinois communities.

The purpose of CHANGE Illinois is to overhaul Illinois’ campaign finance systems, one of the most permissive and least regulated in the United States. The coalition urges that the General Assembly of Illinois adopts reasonable limits on individual and political action committee contributions to candidates and parties. CHANGE Illinois recommended implementing limits on fund transfers among political committees and instituting an aggregate limit on the amount of campaign money an individual donor can give to a political committee during an election cycle. CHANGE Illinois recommends that Illinois either prohibit the use of corporate and union treasury funds for political contributions or impose strict limits on direct contributions from corporate and union treasuries. Campaign finance limits are currently in place at the federal level and in most other states.

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On Sunday, March 1, 2009, citizens of Evanston, a north Chicago suburb, gathered at the Levy Center to discuss and focus on issues of energy, education and healthcare. Civil justice attorney Robert Kreisman facilitated as a group leader on healthcare.

The impetus behind the meeting was to promote ideas from the citizenry of this north Cook County area on local, state and national movements to improve the status of healthcare eligibility and coverage. The attendees were divided into small discussion groups that focused on different topics.

Also discussed was the pressing need to abandon reliance on foreign oil and to develop green energy projects. More than 150 enthusiastic and motivated participants were on hand for this first of several events centered on these subjects.

The Democratic Party of Evanston sponsored the event.

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“You want to know my philosophy?” Illinois’ new governor Patrick Quinn asked. “One day a peacock. The next day a feather duster.”

Given what the last 6 years has brought the state, most would agree that the new Illinois governor, its 41st, has the right attitude for the job. But Illinois’ political history is brimming with stories of corruption dating back decades. The time for reform is ripe.

Today I attended a meeting of the Illinois Reform Coalition as an observer and member of the Union League Club of Chicago’s Public Affairs Committee. The Illinois Reform Coalition is composed of some of Illinois leaders from the ranks of business, religion, associations, government and labor. By the enthusiasm displayed, these members are keenly aware of the need to break the mold of Illinois political corruption highlighted by the “sale to the highest bidder” the senate seat of President Obama.

However, there are many opinions on what path Illinois government should take and it’s unrealistic to expect a group to reach unanimity on such a delicate issue. Most of the discussion centered around campaign financing. Some argued that the implementation of a limit on contributions could not completely remove the taint of Illinois politics. Skeptics in the group argued that labor and others will oppose restrictions on campaign contributions, including those sitting in Springfield now.

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Kreisman Law Offices recently added two sculptures by Zimbabwe artists to its reception area in a show of support for the struggling people of Zimbabwe and the incredible economic woes facing its citizenry.

The two pieces were created by Chapungu artists and represent the vast wealth of human talent among the Zimbabwe people. This talent has long been recognized throughout the world and Chicago. In 2003 Chicago’s Garfield Park and the Botanic Gardens of Chicago displayed similar sculptures by Chapungu artists, along with other exhibits and presentations celebrating Zimbabwe’s culture.

Unfortunately, most of the world has been ignoring the agony of Zimbabwe, a once prosperous and medically advanced nation in southern Africa that is suffering from political and economic turmoil under the brutal rule of its government head, Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe which was once known as the bread basket of Africa is now a country that can’t feed its own people. The unemployment rate is higher than 80%. Malnutrition is wide spread. It’s a nation overwhelmed by poverty, the HIV/Aids epidemic and hyperinflation.

The current living conditions in Zimbabwe are dire and the life expectancy is the lowest in the world: just 37 years for men and 34 years for women. Cholera is an epidemic. People have become ill with anthrax after eating the decaying flesh of animals. Power has been lost in the city morgue in the capitol city of Harare leaving corpses to rot.

Doctors and nurses are doing what they can under these most difficult circumstances. There are many facilities with no water, no functioning toilets and barely enough medicine or supplies to treat the very ill.

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