CHICAGO LAWYER
October 2002
A Publication of the Law Bulletin
“BIG FOUR”
Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Robert A. Clifford and Richard F. Burke, Clifford Law Offices, Chicago: George Bellas, sole practitioner, Park Ridge, IL.
A Ford Explorer collided with Plymouth Sundance and rolled over on the Eisenhower Expressway, June 23, 1992, ejecting four females from the vehicle. Two Glen Ellyn teenagers were killed; another became quadriplegic: and a medical student was blinded in one eye. Lawsuit alleged that the Explorer is inherently unstable. Plaintiffs faulted Packey Webb Ford and Cassidy Tire Co. Because the Explorer’s factory tires had been replaced with a size and type that were imporper according to the owner’s manual
Paid: $8 million self insured Ford:
$10.5 million Federated Mutual for Packey Webb Ford
$3 million Fireman’s Fund for Cassidy Tire: $500.000 self-insured Michelin.
Defense Attorneys: John Krivicich, Donahue Brown Mathewson & Smyth, Chicago: Michael Progar, Landau Omahana Tucker & Progar, Chicago; James Dupree, Aronson & Cross, Chicago; Samuel Isaacson, Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe, Chicago.
