Chicago, Illinois / Belleville, Illinois / Peoria, Illinois / Springfield, Illinois /Schererville, Indiana / Ft. Lauderdale, Florida / Jacksonville, Florida / Minneapolis, Minnesota; June 23, 2006 – National law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP has elected 12 attorneys to partnership. They are, by state:
Florida
Richard S. Unger (Ft. Lauderdale) is experienced in diverse areas of legal practice, including workers’ compensation, bankruptcy litigation, real estate, personal injury and general commercial litigation.
Illinois
David J. Alfini (Chicago) focuses his practice on general tort litigation, including automotive and product liability related cases. He is the co-author of “Medical Information and Communication Network: A Case Study on the Use of Health Systems Research in the Czech Republic,” which was presented at the Third General FICOSSER/WHO Conference in Helsinki, Finland, in 1994.
Raylene DeWitte Grischow (Springfield) has a wide-ranging practice, which includes civil litigation, professional malpractice and workers’ compensation. She is a member of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, the Illinois State Bar Association and the Colorado Bar Association. She is a member and president of the Central Illinois Woman’s Bar Association. She is the communications director of the Sangamon County Bar Association where she is also the president of the Young Lawyers Division. In addition, Ms. Grischow is a fellow of the Illinois Bar Foundation
Heidi Eckert (Belleville) focuses on the defense of municipal liability and employment law. A substantial portion of her practice involves the defense of municipalities in a wide variety of claims, including excessive force claims and civil rights actions. She has tried numerous cases involving these issues to verdict in the state and federal courts. In addition, Ms. Eckert’s practice includes general tort liability and insurance coverage disputes.
Chad D. Kasdin (Chicago) has a broad-based litigation practice, which includes professional malpractice, commercial and corporate tort liability, premises liability, construction and real estate. A substantial portion of his practice involves the defense of the Chicago White Sox in civil disputes. He also focuses a large portion of his practice on the defense of hospitals and medical professionals.
James M. Lydon (Chicago) has a broad-based litigation practice with an emphasis on construction, medical malpractice, municipal and criminal litigation. He has extensive trial experience in both federal and state courts. His professional memberships include the Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Inn of Court. He is also a panel attorney with the Federal Defender Program in the U.S. District Court.
Christopher J. Spanos (Peoria) has successfully tried jury and bench trials involving automobile liability, premises liability and insurance coverage matters. He has prepared numerous coverage opinions on liability and property issues, including mold and toxic tort claims. He also has been actively involved in the defense of professional liability, product liability, sexual discrimination, infringement, contract and other commercial litigation matters. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, Peoria County Bar Association, Illinois and the National Society of CPCU.
Clay Ullrick (Chicago) is a commercial litigation attorney who concentrates his practice on employment litigation and counseling. In addition, he is also experienced in the areas of construction, fidelity and surety law. He is a contributing author to the North Dakota section of “Payment Bond Manual”, Third Edition, which was published by The American Bar Association in April 2006.
William Yu (Chicago) concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial litigation, products liability, professional liability and civil rights defense litigation. Mr. Yu is a Regional Governor for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. He is a Past President of the Asian American Bar Association. He also is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Alliance of Minority Bar Associations and the Korean American Bar Association. He also is an appointed member of the City of Chicago's Commission on Human Relations, Advisory Council on Asian Affairs.
Indiana
Scott B. Cockrum (Schererville) has an active litigation practice focused primarily in the area of professional liability defense. He particularly focuses on medical malpractice defense for physicians, hospitals and other health care providers. He also handles legal malpractice matters. In addition to his professional liability practice, Mr. Cockrum also handles insurance coverage litigation, products liability litigation and complex general tort liability matters.
Minnesota
Michelle D. Mitchell (Minneapolis) focuses the majority of her practice on complex insurance coverage matters. She provides advice and counseling on coverage issues and has been involved in litigating and mediating coverage disputes in jurisdictions across the country. Ms. Mitchell also has substantial experience in health law matters with a particular emphasis in regulatory counseling, complex commercial litigation and civil defense litigation including personal injury and products liability defense. She has been involved in a variety of professional associations and is currently a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association.
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is a national law firm with 475 lawyers in 25 offices coast-to-coast. The firm offers a full-service practice, with an emphasis in litigation, corporate, environmental, employment and construction law, as well as professional liability matters. The firm provides services to a range of clients in financial services, construction, health care, not-for-profit, insurance, legal, manufacturing, real estate, retail, transportation and other industries. Firm clients also include government agencies, municipalities and schools.
Hinshaw was founded in 1934. The firm is headquartered in Chicago, and maintains offices in 12 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.