For Immediate Release: July 14, 1998

For More Information Contact: TLPJ, 202-797-8600

1998 Public Justice Achievement Award Presented to the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Constitutional Challenge Committee

The Illinois' Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) Constitutional Challenge Committee, which coordinated the successful constitutional challenge to Illinois' Tort Reform Act in Best v. Taylor Machine Works, Inc. and Isbell v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. was presented the 1998 Public Justice Achievement Award at the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) Foundation's 16th annual party in Washington, D.C. on July 13. ITLA Executive Director Jim Collins and committee Chair Geoffrey Gifford accepted the award on behalf of the committee. The Public Justice Achievement Award is presented periodically to attorneys who win exceptional victories for the public interest in cases concluded during the past year.

"The committee did an extraordinary job on this issue that will positively affect injury victims all across the country," said outgoing TLPJ Foundation President Fred Baron of Baron & Budd in Dallas. "We are proud to honor this committee for its tireless work."

The entire litigation team, which was also named as a finalist for the 1998 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, was honored at the party, and included:

Jon G. Carlson and Eric J. Carlson of Carlson Wendler & Associates in Edwardsville, Illinois; Chicago attorneys Devon C. Bruce and Todd A. Smith of Power, Rogers & Smith; Bruce M. Kohen and Curt Rodin of Anesi Ozmon & Rodin; Kevin J. Conway of Cooney & Conway; Geoffrey L. Gifford and Gary Laatsch of Pavalon & Gifford; Jeffrey M. Goldberg of Jeffrey M. Goldberg & Associates; William J. Harte of William J. Harte, Ltd.; Keith A. Hebeisen of Clifford Law Offices; Bruce R. Pfaff of Bruce R. Pfaff & Associates, Ltd.; Howard Schaffner of Hofeld & Schaffner; Kenneth Chesebro of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Jonathan Massey of Washington, D.C.; Ned Miltenberg, Associate General Counsel for ATLA, Washington, D.C.; and Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe.

These attorneys won a major victory for Illinois citizens and created an important precedent for injury victims nationwide by getting Illinois' Tort Reform Act struck down as unconstitutional. The law arbitrarily capped non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, at $500,000; abolished joint and several liability; and compelled plaintiffs to disclose all their medical records from the time of birth, regardless of their relevancy to the lawsuit.

The litigation sought a declaratory judgment to strike down the entire statute as unconstitutional, and was successful at the trial court level. Defendants then appealed directly to the Illinois Supreme Court, and the state's attorney general intervened on their behalf. Professor Tribe successfully argued the case before the Illinois Supreme Court.

In a landmark opinion, the court found Illinois' Tort Reform Act unconstitutional in its entirety, ruling that the law trespassed on the judiciary's domain and discriminated against plaintiffs who have suffered the most serious of injuries. This decision will not only benefit the plaintiffs in these cases – one of whom was killed at a dangerous railroad crossing and the other of whom was severely burned after becoming engulfed in a fireball while operating a defective forklift – but will help all injured plaintiffs in Illinois whose rights had nearly been eviscerated by the tort reform law.

We also acknowledge and thank David A. Decker of Decker & Linn in Waukegan, Illinois; Theodore R. Diaz and David W. Dugan, both of Pitts, Dugan & Diaz in Wood River, Illinois; Terrence J. Lavin of Terrence J. Lavin & Associates in Chicago, Illinois; and Gary D. McCallister of Gary D. McCallister & Associates, Ltd. in Chicago, Illinois for their work on this important case.

The other finalists for the 1998 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award were also honored at the Foundation party -- and the winners were named. Attorneys Michael V. Ciresi and Roberta B. Walburn of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi in Minneapolis, and Minnesota Attorney General Hubert H. Humphrey III won the award for their work on State of Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield v. Philip Morris Inc., et al. The nationally prestigious award is bestowed annually upon the trial lawyer or lawyers who have made the greatest contribution to the public interest by trying or settling a precedent-setting case.