Friday, September 5, 2008

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Our Attorneys

Bennett J. Baker

Since 1978 Bennett J. Baker has been privileged to represent injured people in their struggle for justice against insurance companies and large corporations. During this time he has also given time back to his profession by lecturing at numerous seminars pertaining to personal injury and trial practice as well as chairing various bar association groups in this field.

Bennett has devoted his career to helping injury victims with all different types of injuries, and from numerous different types of causes. The skills and experience developed over 27 years of practice have become invaluable in Bennett’s pursuits as an arbitrator of complex litigation matters as well as a participant in both arbitrations and mediations.

Bennett has consistently produced successful results for his clients that have come as a result of his hard work and dedication as a litigation attorney for over 27 years.

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Joel Block

Joel Block has been with the law firm of GWC since February 1995, and concentrates in the area of Workers’ Compensation. Since joining the firm, Joel has been able to negotiate settlements in hundreds of cases for his clients. Joel has consistently made it his practice to maximize the value of his clients’ cases, whether that is accomplished by settlement, trial or appeal.

Joel is a ten-year police department veteran, who attended The John Marshall Law School while working as a full time police officer. He earned his J.D. degree in January 1986. After graduation, Joel was hired by the Cook County States Attorneys Office, and served as a prosecutor in the Criminal Division for three years. While there, he was assigned for a short period of time to the traffic division, before being transferred to Suburban District 3. As a prosecutor, Joel prosecuted cases in the criminal trial division, as well as being assigned to felony review, where he would review cases brought by police departments, for approval of felony charges. He conducted felony preliminary hearings, and acted as first chair prosecutor in over 20 jury trials.

Joel left the State Attorney's Office in 1990 to enter private practice. Since that time, his area of focus has been representing the injured worker in Workers’ Compensation cases. In addition to being licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois, Joel is licensed to practice by the Federal Court for the Northern District of Illinois and is also a member of the Federal Trial Bar. In April 1995, he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

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David L. Caplan - Partner

David L. Caplan has been a practicing lawyer for the past 26 years with a concentration in Workers’ Compensation Law. He has been a member of GWC since 1990. In addition to handling a full caseload of complex Workers’ Compensation clients, Mr. Caplan co-manages the Workers’ Compensation section of the firm making sure that all Workers’ Compensation clients are handled as efficiently and as expeditiously as possible, without compromising the quality of legal representation.

David has established himself as a respected member of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Bar. He has diligently represented the interests of injured workers with tenacity and integrity before the Workers’ Compensation Commission, Circuit Courts and Appellate Courts in the State of Illinois. As the senior Workers’ Compensation trial lawyer in the firm, Mr. Caplan concentrates his practice on seriously injured individuals in all trades and occupations employing a fresh, creative litigation style. David emphasizes vocational rehabilitation to include re-education at trade schools or colleges for those individuals permanently disabled from returning to their careers.

David Caplan is licensed to practice in Illinois and Pennsylvania. He is a member of The Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association, The Illinois Bar Association and The Pennsylvania Bar Association.

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Gerald Doll

Gerald concentrates his practice in the area of Workers’ Compensation. With over twelve years of experience in litigating claims before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, he has represented working men and women throughout the State of Illinois.

Gerald received both his bachelor’s and juris doctorate degrees from Loyola University of Chicago. He is licensed to practice in the state of Illinois and before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He is also a member of The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Chicago Bar Association and The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyer’s Association.

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Kirsten M. Dunne

Kirsten M. Dunne is a tireless advocate of justice for injured plaintiffs whose cases proceed to the appellate level. While attending Notre Dame Law School, Kirsten published two articles in the Journal of Legislation, for which she was later named an Editor. She also wrote regularly as an editorial columnist for the school’s newspaper, The Observer. She graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 1995.

Kirsten first worked for Goldberg Weisman Cairo, as a law clerk during the summer of 1994, and joined the firm as an attorney following graduation. Kirsten has extensive experience and is in charge of prosecuting and defending appeals on behalf of the firm’s clients. She has been instrumental in preparing the appeals that have led to the many victories won for our clients in a number of seven-figure and eight-figure cases before both the Appellate court and the Supreme court. She is also proud of having filed a winning brief in the United States Supreme Court in opposition to an opponent’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari. In addition to her Illinois licensure, Kirsten Dunne is licensed to practice before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. She is an active member of The Illinois Trial Lawyers’ Association; The Association of Trial Lawyers of America; The Appellate Lawyers’ Association, and The American Bar Association. Kirsten lives in Chicago, where she spends much of her free time volunteering at the Red Door Animal Shelter.

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Michael E. Fezekas

Michael E. Fezekas has practiced exclusively in Workers’ Compensation for 24 years. He has spoken at seminars covering numerous aspects of the Workers’ Compensation Act. He has represented thousands of injured workers throughout the State of Illinois and attained excellent awards and arbitration verdicts. He has practiced before the Northern Illinois Circuit Courts as well as the Appellate Court of Illinois.

Michael has been married for 32 years and has four children. He graduated from The University of Missouri-Columbia in 1972 and graduated from John Marshall Law School in 1978. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.

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Michael D. Fisher - Partner

Michael began working at GWC as a law clerk while attending law school in 1983, and then as a lawyer in 1985. Over his 20 plus year career with the firm he has litigated a wide variety of cases, including product liability, motor vehicle, wrongful death, brain injury, premises and municipal liability. His primary area of litigation and trial experience is in the field of construction negligence.

Michael Fisher has handled and tried cases in numerous counties throughout the State of Illinois, including Cook, Dupage, Lake, Will, McHenry and Winnebago Counties. He has obtained numerous multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements on behalf of his clients. In fact, in 2002 the Chicago Lawyer Magazine noted Michael as one of the Leading Attorneys in the entire state for his outstanding achievements in reaching multiple 7-figure settlements for cases filed outside of Cook County.

Michael has conducted many seminars across the state educating construction tradesmen and their unions about their rights under the Workers’ Compensation Act and construction negligence laws. Michael is very active in training law clerks and young lawyers at GWC and has administrative oversight in many aspects of the firm’s prestigious litigation practice.

Michael is a member of The American Trial Lawyers Association, The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and The Illinois Bar Association. He received his law degree from The DePaul University College of Law and his undergraduate degree from The University of California at Davis. Michael is married with 3 children.

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Corey B. Goldberg

Corey B. Goldberg is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and DePaul University College of Law. Corey joined Goldberg Weisman Cairo after graduating from DePaul. While attending law school, Corey worked as a law clerk for the firm being actively involved in all aspects of client representation, including all stages of personal injury and Workers’ Compensation litigation.

As a student at DePaul, in conjunction with DePaul’s Street Law Program, Corey instructed inner city students on the basics of the American Justice System. Corey was also a member of Phi Alpha Delta.

Corey is involved in numerous charitable endeavors. He is the attorney for the Geneva Scott Outreach Services, an organization that provides needed services to Chicago’s inner city. Corey is also active on the Jr. Board of The Children’s Brittle Bone Foundation where he serves in a leadership position.

As a member of GWC, Corey will concentrate his practice in Workers’ Compensation representing working men and women throughout the State of Illinois.

Corey is a member of The Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association, The American Bar Association, The Illinois State Bar Association, and The Chicago Bar Association.

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James B. Hardy

Jim graduated from Northwestern University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He then spent seven years as an Aide to U. S. Congressman William O. Lipinski, one of organized labor’s strongest supporters in Congress, prior attending Law School at Valparaiso University. Born in Chicago to a firefighter and a teacher, Jim’s early upbringing was uniquely ingrained with the importance union organization and solidarity when his father, as Local 2 Trustee, helped organize the famous 1980 Chicago firefighters’ strike, one of the most bitterly fought in Chicago history.

Since graduating from law school, Jim has worked exclusively on behalf of the injured worker. Jim has handled hundreds of Workers’ Compensation cases, arguing vigorously on behalf of his clients before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, Cook County Circuit Court, and the Illinois Appellate Court. Jim is an active member in the Chicago Bar Association, Illinois Bar Association, Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and the American Bar Association.

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Christopher P. Hughes

Christopher joined the firm as a law clerk in 2001 while attending Chicago-Kent College of Law. He became an attorney at the firm in 2003. Since becoming an attorney, he has been an important member of numerous trial teams involved in catastrophic cases, with principle responsibility for drafting and arguing many trial motions. He has been involved in a number of serious personal injury cases, including construction negligence cases. He has been responsible for numerous GWC clients receiving fair and equitable compensation for their injuries.

Christopher is a member of The American Trial Lawyers Association, The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and The Illinois Bar Association. He was born and raised in New Jersey before moving to Chicago after obtaining his undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame and his law degree at Chicago-Kent College of Law. Christopher lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter.

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Janine M. Johnson

Janine M. Johnson started at the firm as a law clerk while attending Chicago-Kent College of Law. She joined the firm in 2003. Since becoming licensed to practice law, she has participated in numerous trials, arbitrations, and settlement negotiations. She graduated from Western Illinois University with a Bachelor in Law Enforcement. Janine works as co-counsel on numerous files and is instrumental in pre-trial and trial preparation for many substantial damage cases for the firm.

Janine is an active member of The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and The Illinois Bar Association.

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Nazar Kashuba

Nazar Kashuba joined the firm in 2007 after he graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Prior to joining GWC, Nazar practiced law in Ukraine until 2002, where he concentrated in business litigation and general corporate law.

Nazar is an active member of The Chicago Bar Association, The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and The Ukrainian American Bar Association. He received his law degrees from Chicago-Kent College of Law (2007) and Ivan Franko Lviv National University, in Ukraine (1999).

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Kitra K. Killen

Kitra Killen graduated from Western Illinois University in 1981 and the John Marshall Law School in 1985. Kitra is a member of The Workers’ Compensation Lawyer’s Association and her practice focuses on representing individuals who have been injured in the course of their employment.

Kitra has nearly 20 years experience in the area of Workers’ Compensation and has litigated cases at the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission and at the Illinois Appellate Court. She has successfully litigated a variety of cases including highly disputed matters and cases causing severe injuries, loss of trade, and deaths.

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Argy Koutsikos

Argy Koutsikos is one of GWC’s bilingual attorneys, fluent in Greek. Licensed in 1987 she has spent her career litigating on behalf of the injured. Prior to joining our firm in 1997 she was a plaintiff's trail attorney with several jury trials to verdict. She has practiced in the Circuit Court as well as in Federal Court. She has in the past represented her client's at the EEOC as well on issues of employment discrimination. As a member of the Federal Trial Bar since 1996 she has been appointed to pro bono work in the past. As an accomplished litigator she has pursued her client's claims all the way to the Appellate Court.

Since joining the firm, she has exclusively concentrated in the handling of Workers’ Compensation claims. As an effective negotiator she is able to bring a claim to a favorable disposition for her clients. Argy has handled one of the longest on-going appeals in the firm from an Arbitration award that the insurance company refused to honor, the appeal having been reviewed twice by the Industrial Commission, twice before the Circuit Court and successfully before the Appellate Court.

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Donn P. LaHaie

Donn P. LaHaie is a dedicated workers compensation attorney with over 12 years experience in that area. Prior to joining the firm, Mr.LaHaie represented the Chicago Teachers Union in labor arbitrations, criminal matters, state administrative hearings, bargaining matters, and workers compensation cases. Since 1994, Donn has exclusively concentrated his practice in workers compensation law where he regularly appears before the Illinois Industrial Commission.

Since joining Goldberg Weisman, Donn has represented hundreds of injured employees, obtaining excellent settlement and trial awards. Donn grew up in Wisconsin and obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. He received his Juris Doctor degree from John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Donn is also a member of the Florida Bar.

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Louis Lang

Louis Lang is the Assistant Majority Leader of the Illinois House of Representatives, and is considered the “Voice of Labor” in Springfield. Lou is also of counsel to Goldberg Weisman Cairo and has been affiliated with them since 1995. It is as a result of this relationship that he is able to spend a significant amount of his time doing work for the people of the State of Illinois in government service. Lou is most proud of the fact that he is associated with a law firm that shares his commitment to working men and women and to organized labor. He is also proud of his efforts in helping the law firm maintain its excellent ties to the lawmakers in Springfield.

Lou has lived in Skokie for 50 years and represents the same district he grew up in since the age of 6. Lou graduated with high honors from the University of Illinois, Champaign. He then attended DePaul University, College of Law, Chicago and graduated in June 1974 with honors.

Lou acted as the Attorney for Niles Township from 1977 — 1987, and was the Chief Attorney for the Cook County Emergency Telephone Systems Board. Lou is married and is the proud father of 5 children and 2 grandchildren.

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Amanda Martin

Amanda Martin, an associate in the firm's Chicago office, is a zealous and dedicated advocate for the rights of injured persons. She received her law degree from DePaul University College of Law while working as a law clerk for the firm. As a student at DePaul, Amanda served as a captain of the DePaul Trial Team, participating nationally in Mock Trial competitions. She also litigated federal cases on behalf of the disabled through DePaul’s Center for Law and Justice ADA Clinic. She also received the “best in class” award in Advanced Trial Advocacy and upon graduation was awarded the distinction of Order of Barrister.

Since joining the firm in 2001, Amanda has worked on numerous types of personal injury litigation, including: automobile accidents, slip and fall injuries, product liability matters, and construction-related accidents. She has an impressive winning trial and arbitration record and has recovered over a million dollars in awards for her clients over the course of her early career.

Amanda is an active member of The American Trial Lawyers Association and The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. In her free time, she is an avid competitor in the sport of karate and is the 2004 National Champion in the Women’s lightweight division.

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Walter J. Mrozinski

Walter J. Mrozinski is one of the firm’s most experienced Workers’ Compensation attorneys, having practiced before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission since October of 1980. He has arbitrated more than 400 cases before the Commission. He has successfully argued several cases in both the Circuit and Appellate Courts. He is a past chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. Since joining the firm in March of 1994 he has proven himself to be an invaluable asset to the firm by utilizing his knowledge and expertise in the Workers’ Compensation field.

He has been a member of The Chicago Bar Association for the last 25 years and is a member of the Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association. He is a life-long resident in the Chicago area. He earned his Bachelor’s degree at Loyola University of Chicago in 1969 and his Juris Doctor from DePaul College of Law in 1976. He resides in the suburban Chicago area with his wife of 33 years and their beautiful daughter.

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Jim Nawrocki - Partner

The courtroom is Jim Nawrocki’s natural habitat. He has consistently litigated highly disputed and complex Workers’ Compensation cases and was then either at the trial or appellate levels. Persistence, coupled with attention to detail and the desire for total client satisfaction are what motivate him.

Jim is a native Chicagoan and son of a union teamster. He graduated DePaul University in 1981 and John Marshall Law School in 1985. Jim served in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps 1984 — 1990 and distinguished himself as the Navy’s top criminal defense counsel 1989 — 1990. (One client even named his firstborn son “James” after his acquittal).

Jim joined Goldberg Weisman Cairo in 1995. His caseload is primarily in Chicago, DuPage, Macon, Sangamon, and Morgan Counties. Jim has been instrumental in training young lawyers at GWC and has been instrumental in successfully resolving some of the most difficult and complex Workers’ Compensation cases in the firm.

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Colin J. O’Malley

Coming from a family of over 20 lawyers, including his father who had the honor of being presiding judge in Kansas City, Missouri for multiple terms, there is little wonder why Colin has established a reputation as a tenacious trial lawyer who brings passion and dedication to his work. He started at the firm as a law clerk while attending DePaul University College of Law. Despite working and taking a full course load while in law school, Colin found time to earn a spot on DePaul’s Moot Court Honor Society, and served as an executive board member of the National Appellate Team. He joined the firm as an Associate in 1999 and had an immediate impact with the level of his trial work.

In his first four years as a lawyer, Colin has amassed numerous multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts. Regardless of the complexities of any given case, Colin has been able to obtain fair and equitable settlements for his clients, collecting total settlements in the millions. He is an active member of The American Trial Lawyers Association, The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and The Illinois Bar Association. Colin grew up in Kansas City, and earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Missouri. He lives in Chicago with his wife and their two children.

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Lawrence Ruder - Partner

Lawrence Ruder has recovered millions of dollars in compensation for victims of catastrophic injury and their families during his career. For the past 25 years, he has been a passionate advocate for the rights of people whose lives have been torn apart by debilitating injury and wrongful death.

Larry holds the record for the largest compensatory award ever handed down in the history of McHenry County, Illinois in a product liability case. This verdict has stood as the record in McHenry County for the last 16 years. The success Larry achieved in that case, where he represented a young Hispanic factory worker, is a true reflection of the dedication, skill and legal expertise he provides his clients.

Lawrence Ruder has tried over two-dozen jury trials to verdict and his closing arguments have been widely published in numerous law books, from Closing Arguments: the Art and the Law to Cyclopedia of Trial Practice. Additionally, Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory has distinguished Larry Ruder with the highest ranking for legal ability and adherence to ethical standards and he has been listed in Who’s Who in American Law for the past six years.

A graduate of the John Marshall Law School, Larry is active in The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (Member: Product Liability and Civil Practice Committee), The American Association for Justice (Member: Product Liability Committee), The Chicago Bar Association, The Illinois State Bar Association and The Lake County Bar Association (Member: Civil Trial and Appeals Committee).

Known for his contributions to the community, Larry has proudly sponsored the Ruder Scholarship for Hispanic Law Students. He has also provided extensive pro-bono counseling at many Chicago area Churches, including Holy Family Catholic Church of Waukegan, St. Mary Catholic Church of West Chicago, St. Rita Catholic Church and St. Claire of Montefalco of Chicago. He regularly speaks on the rights of injury victims across the community.

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Joseph P. Sorce - Partner

Joseph P. Sorce is one of the firm's senior litigators. He has tried a wide variety of cases including construction, products liability, medical malpractice, vehicular, premises, FELA and municipal liability. He has obtained multiple million-dollar verdicts including the largest ever worker injury verdict in Macon County.

Joe grew up in Chicago, the first U.S. born son of a physician who emigrated here from Italy after WWII. Joe graduated with distinction from The John Marshall Law School. He was in the top 7% of his class and on the Law Review, earning the Dean's Scholarship and Justinian Society Scholarship. He wrote articles on securities law for the Securities Law Journal.

He began his legal career at one of the city's top defense firms before he was recruited to join GWC in 1990 as the 12th lawyer in our rapidly growing firm. He belongs to the Illinois State BAR Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association, and the Justinian Society. Away from work, Joe likes to read, run, and repair things around the house, and spend time with two great (now adult) kids.

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Daniel H. Streckert - Partner

Daniel H. Streckert joined Goldberg, Weisman and Cairo in 1979 and has been involved in the prosecution of all types of personal injury cases. For the past 20 years, he has focused his practice on the development and litigation of catastrophic construction injury and death cases representing victims and their families. Daniel has prosecuted and tried numerous multi-party negligence, products liability and industrial injury cases. Daniel takes a personal approach with each of his clients. He develops each case taking into account how an injury impacts an individual physically, vocationally and socially.

Daniel received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and his Juris Doctorate from Chicago-Kent College of Law. He has been licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois since 1976, is admitted to practice in the Federal District Court for Northern Illinois, and is a member of the Federal District Court Trial Bar. He is admitted to practice before numerous other Federal District Courts and is admitted to practice before the United States 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of The American Bar Association, The Illinois Trial Lawyers’ Association, and The Chicago Bar Association. Daniel is on the approved panel for the American Arbitration Association and regularly serves as an arbitrator in contested insurance disputes.

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Stephen M. Thacker - Partner

Born and raised in Chicago, Steve attended Saint Ignatius High School, Western Illinois University and The DePaul University College of Law. He has been with the firm since 1988. His area of concentration is all of the non-injury legal matters for the firm.

Since his grandfather and father were union carpenters, Steve brings a unique understanding of the legal issues that often arise for our tradesmen clients. He is experienced in transactional matters such as real estate closings, corporate filings and estate planning as well as non-injury litigation such as divorce and breach of contract. Steve’s experience gives our personal injury and workers compensation clients an opportunity to have all of their legal matters taken care of by the same law firm. This is important because so many of our clients’ cases are inter-related. He is married with four children.

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Philip E. Turcy - Partner

Philip E. Turcy co-manages GWC’s Workers’ Compensation Division. Since joining us in 1989, he quickly became recognized as one of Illinois’ pre-eminent Workers’ Compensation attorneys, successfully arguing several important cases before the Illinois Appellate Court. He was asked to serve on Governor Rod Blagojevich’s Transition Team, advising on Workers’ Compensation law and insurance issues. In 2002, Philip was elected to the Board of The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association where he then served two terms as Treasurer, and in 2007 was honored with the distinction of being elected as President of this esteemed organization.

After graduating from the University of Connecticut, he enrolled in DePaul Law School, graduating in 1982. Following law school, he was commissioned as a Captain in the United States Air Force and served 4 years on active duty as an Attorney in the Judge Advocate General Corp. Growing up as the son of a union elevator constructor and working his college summers in the trade, Philip brings a valuable perspective to the job of representing injured union tradesmen. He and his wife live in Chicago with their daughter.

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Scott C. Weisman

Scott C. Weisman joined Goldberg Weisman Cairo after graduating from Chicago-Kent College of Law. While in law school, Scott spent three years working as a law clerk for the firm.

As both a law clerk and as an attorney, Scott has handled all aspects of litigation — from investigation of the case to trial. Concentrating in personal injury litigation, Scott has experience handling cases in the areas of construction negligence, premises liability, wrongful death, automobile accidents, transportation litigation, and product liability.

Scott is a member of The American Bar Association, American Association for Justice, The Illinois State Bar Association, The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and The Chicago Bar Association.

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Ian M. Zenziper

Ian was admitted to the Bar of the State of Illinois and to the Bar of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 2003.

As an attorney tirelessly dedicated to the advancement of plaintiff’s rights, Ian has handled numerous areas of complex litigation including medical malpractice, wrongful death and vehicular collisions.

He attended the University of Arizona and graduated Cum Laude. While attending Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, he served as the Captain of the American Bar Association Moot Court Team in 2003. He received the prestigious Joan Marie Corboy Scholarship for leadership qualities and superior ability in trial advocacy. Upon receipt of his Juris Doctor, Ian also received a certificate in trial advocacy reflecting his dedication and specialization toward trial work.

Ian is a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyer Association, Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.

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