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| Selected by peers as a Leading Lawyer in: | Extensive Experience in: |
| Aviation Law | Medical Malpractice |
| Commercial Litigation | Railroad Accidents |
| Personal Injury Law: General | Aviation/Airplane Crashes |
| Personal Injury Law: Professional Malpractice | Car/Truck Accidents |
| Personal Injury Law: Transportation Including FELA & Maritime | |
| Advisory Board Member | |
| County: Cook | |
| Litigator: Yes | |
| Practice Description: Mr. Clifford was selected in 2004 as one of the country's five most respected and feared plaintiffs' attorneys by Corporate Legal Times, which called him the "best of the bad." The National Law Journal named Clifford Law Offices on the Plaintiff's Hot List: 25 Go-To Teams in 2003 and one of the 20 firms on the Plaintiff's Hot List of 2004. American Lawyer Media recognized Clifford as one of the Top 10 Most Influential Lawyers in Illinois in 2000. He has represented victims of every major US commercial aviation crash in the last 25 years. He obtained a $29.6 million verdict for a violinist who was severely injured and is consistently listed as one of the top PI firms in Chicago. He was named one of Chicago's "30 Toughest Lawyers" by Chicago Magazine in 2002. In 2005, he was inducted into the International Society of Barristers, an organization of outstanding trial lawyers chosen by their peers on the basis of excellence and integrity in advocacy. Mr. Clifford was named one of the 2005 Super Lawyers in Illinois by Law and Politics, a national organization that conducted independent research among thousands of his peers across the state. In the initial announcement of the top five percent of the state's lawyers, Mr. Clifford was selected as the cover photo of the inaugural issue, which dubbed him "Chicago's Most Likeable Tough Guy." The feature story headlined him as "Chicago's Most-Feared Attorney - Bob Clifford is a lamb who turns into a lion when he's confronted by injustice." Mr. Clifford consistently garners multi-million dollar awards, including a $30 million verdict for Rachel Barton, an internationally-acclaimed violinist injured by a commuter train, as well as a $12.6 million verdict in 2002 for a physician partially paralyzed following spinal anesthesia. Clifford Law Offices topped the Chicago Lawyer Magazine's annual settlement survey of Illinois law firms in 2005 as well as in 2002, with the firm's settlements totaling more than $86 million and $136 million respectively. He has been involved in litigation involving every major commercial airline crash in the last 20 years and has received record awards including a $28.2 million verdict in the United Airlines crash at Sioux City, Iowa, for a 70-year-old woman in 1994, as well as a record $15 million settlement in a wrongful death case stemming from that crash. As lead plaintiff's counsel in the 1994 crash of Flight 4184 in Roselawn, Indiana, on Halloween night, he received a record $110 million for about two dozen families who lost loved ones on the aircraft. He was co-lead counsel in the litigation stemming from the 2000 crash of an Alaska Air flight. Mr. Clifford frequently is asked to speak on television programs on a wide variety of legal issues. He has appeared on The Today Show, CNN American Morning, Oprah, Good Morning, America, CNBC Power Lunch, Wall Street Week, and Chicago Tonight. He also has authored articles for national newspapers including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times and The National Law Journal. Mr. Clifford was elected chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Litigation from 2001 - 2002. With more than 70,000 members, it is the largest section of the ABA. Mr. Clifford also was appointed by the president of the ABA to Chair the American Bar Association Task Force on Terrorism and the Law, where he served in an advisory role to congressional, executive, state and local leaders on the legal ramifications in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attack on America. In 2005, he was elected the Illinois state delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates. He is past president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and a past president of the Chicago Inns of Court. He was selected to be a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, an invitation-only group of 100 trial lawyers from around the country. He has been inducted into the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers and the exclusive International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has been selected to be a part of the National Judicial College, a select assembly of legal and corporate leaders from across the country dedicated to furthering the education and training of judges. He was asked to be a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Professionalism in 2003. Mr. Clifford also serves on the Board of the Rand Institute for Civil Justice, a "think tank" based in California. Mr. Clifford endowed the chair on Tort Law and Social Policy to his alma mater, DePaul University College of Law. This generous gift provides for an annual symposium where academicians, lawyers and judges from across the country gather to speak on a timely topic of interest dealing with the relationship between tort law, popular culture and societal needs. Founded in 1994, the symposium, which is free to the public, has hosted legal experts from Stanford Law School to Harvard, from United States Senator John McCain to television commentator/attorney Bill Kurtis. Mr. Clifford shares his knowledge as a frequent lecturer for various bar associations and legal groups throughout the country. Mr. Clifford is the principal partner of Clifford Law Offices, a nationally recognized personal injury law firm in Chicago concentrating in aviation, transportation, personal injury, medical negligence and product liability law. Bar Admissions: Admitted to Supreme Court of the United States November, 1981 Admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, May 10, 1996 Admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, June 29, 2005 Admitted to U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, February 19, 1993 Admitted to U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, October 20, 1976 Admitted to Trial Bar of the United States District Court Admitted to Illinois Bar, October 5, 1976 Date of Birth: 1951 Law School: DePaul University College of Law, J.D., 1976 Law School Honors/Involvement: Research Editor, DePaul Law Review, 1975-76 Undergraduate School: DePaul University, College of Commerce, B. S., 1973 Bar/Professional Association Involvement: American College of Trial Lawyers International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL) The American Law Institute Inner Circle of Advocates The National Judicial College International Society of Barristers American Bar Association (ABA) Chair, Section of Litigation, 2001-2002 Chair Elect, Section of Litigation, 2000-2001 Vice Chair, Section of Litigation, 1999-2000 American Inn of Court American Judicature Society, Illinois Committee For Judicial Independence American Society of Law and Medicine Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Chicago Bar Association (CBA) Fellow, Chicago Bar Foundation Master, Chicago Inn of Court President, Chicago Inn of Court (1994-1995) Special Supreme Court Committee on Professionalism Federal Bar Association (FBA) Illinois Attorneys for Criminal Justice Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) Illinois State and Chicago Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Kane County Bar Association Lake County Bar Association Northwest Suburban Bar Association Society of Trial Lawyers of America Trial Lawyers Club of Chicago The Executives' Club of Chicago FACULTY: Law Schools, Universities and Colleges (Adjunct Professor) DePaul University College of Law, Chicago IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago John Marshall Law School, Chicago Loyola University of Chicago, School of Law University of Chicago College of Law, Chicago University of Wisconsin School of Engineering, Madison, Wisconsin William Rainey Harper College Faculty Chairman, Federal Trial Bar Advocacy Program, Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association, 1983 National Institute for Federal Trial Advocacy, a division of the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Trial Bar Skills for Practicing Attorneys, 1983 Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Regional Trial Advocacy Program, 1982 Court Practice Institute, Chicago Trial Advocacy, 1980 IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, Products Liability Course, 1979 Firm Description: Robert A. Clifford founded a personal injury law firm in his name in 1984. For more than 25 years, he has worked to establish a national reputation. Clifford Law Offices now boasts 22 attorneys, who, combined, represent hundreds of years of practice in personal injury law. Since its inception, the entire staff of Clifford Law Offices has been dedicated to the goal of representing the rights of plaintiffs concentrating on: *Aviation liability which includes general and commercial aviation *Transportation liability *Product liability *Medical negligence *Construction liability *Premises liability *Federal Employers' Liability Act *Personal injury and wrongful death litigation Every member of the firm upholds the highest principle of the legal profession in placing the individual client first. The firm often is said to set the standard in professional excellence. Moreover, it is important to note that as a result of the litigation handled by the firm, many defective products and dangerous practices have been changed or abandoned altogether. 1003603 | |
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