Philip Kujawa practices primarily in the areas of commercial and tort litigation, with particular emphasis on the representation of security and alarm companies in catastrophic claims and contract matters. He also handles insurance coverage matters, environmental litigation, products liability and business transactional work. Mr. Kujawa's clients include national and regionally based security and alarm companies, governmental entities, insurance companies, their insureds and small business owners. His representative matters include:

• Successful defense of an alarm company in an industrial fire loss with claimed property damages in excess of $290 million (the second largest property loss in 2001 following only the damages to the World Trade Center in New York City). The settlement obtained for the alarm company was 10% of the applicable insurance coverage limit. The case resulted in a $39.5 million jury verdict against a non-settling defendant, the largest jury verdict in Iowa's history.
• Successful defense of an alarm company in theft suit seeking in excess of $7.5 million and punitive damages. After a complete victory at the trial court level, the case was remanded by the appellate court for further proceedings on a narrow issue. The case was settled for 10% of the applicable insurance coverage limit.
• Successful representation of alarm companies in numerous cases involving exposure beyond the applicable insurance coverage limits without formal litigation by pressing enforceability of contract terms and through the utilization of leading experts in the alarm industry.
• Successful representation of a governmental land owner seeking recovery of costs voluntarily expended in the remediation of environmental contamination. After obtaining successful rulings from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court, a significant settlement was obtained from the parent corporation of a former tenant.

Mr. Kujawa joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in January 1992. He holds the AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for ethics and legal ability.

He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, the Trial Lawyers Club of Chicago and the Practising Law Institute. 

Mr. Kujawa is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Committee, which investigates and rates current and prospective judges. Mr. Kujawa has authored or co-authored numerous published articles, including:

• “Changing of the Guard,” Security Management, July 2011.
• “The Other Edge of the Sword: The Employee Free Choice Act,” The NCISS Report, Fall 2009.
• “The Professional Liability and Reinsurance Supplement,” Liability Insurance IICLE.
• “Issues Involving Excess Insurance,” 10th Annual Insurance, Excess, and Reinsurance Coverage Disputes, Practicing Law Institute.
• “The Casualty Claim File: Protection And Disclosure,” CPCU Journal, September 1993. 

He has also authored numerous in-house training manuals for Hinshaw University, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP's continuing education program.

Mr. Kujawa’s presentations include:

• "Legal Issues that Will Affect your Business in 2010 and Beyond,” National Counsel on Investigation and Security Services (NCISS) Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, April 2010.
• “Managing Your Risk in Future Litigation,” Electronic Security Expo, Nashville, Tennessee, June 2008.
• “Litigation Action Plan,” Security Network of America, Rosemont, Illinois, May 2007.

Mr. Kujawa is actively involved in the community, having served two terms as President of the Beverly Improvement Association, a civic group representing the interests of small business owners and approximately 1,400 homeowners in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood. He also served on the Beverly Improvement Association’s Board of Directors and is active in other civic and charitable organizations, including the Chicago Principal for a Day program in 2009.

He has volunteered with the Wills for Heroes program, which provides essential legal documents free of charge to police, fire and other first responders.