Steven Klaczynski is an experienced trial attorney with a practice focused in products liability, toxic tort, construction, commercial, environmental, commercial, medical malpractice and municipal liability defense. Mr. Klaczynski has experience with mass tort and multi-district litigation (MDL) and has handled cases in numerous jurisdictions, both federal and state, across the country.

Mr. Klaczynski has successfully represented manufacturers, distributors and service firms in a variety of industries including: food flavorings, heating/air-conditioning/ventilation equipment, pest control, trucking/transportation, lawn care and construction. He has also represented medical facilities and physicians in medical malpractice lawsuits, and municipalities and municipal employees in various Section 1983 civil rights actions. Mr. Klaczynski has tried more than 50 jury trials. His representative cases include:

• Obtained a defense verdict for a truck seat manufacturer in a product liability lawsuit wherein the plaintiff alleged injury due to design and manufacturing defects and asked the jury for $8 million in damages.
• Represented a food flavoring distributor in numerous high-profile toxic tort/product liability lawsuits involving the chemical diacetyl, which produced favorable settlement and jury trial results.
• Represented a pest control company in a product liability/toxic tort jury trial in which case settled during cross-examination of the plaintiff for less than five percent of plaintiffs’ original demand.
• Obtained summary judgments for a major brass and copper mill product company in two separate product liability lawsuits wherein both plaintiffs claimed severe burn injuries due to faulty flexible connectors that caused fires.
• Obtained summary judgment for a plumbing fixture company wherein plaintiff sued company claiming severe injuries caused by design and manufacturing defects in a bathroom fixture.
• Obtained defense verdicts for three of four physicians in a medical malpractice lawsuit wherein all four physicians were sued for failure to diagnose.
• Obtained dismissal for a physician in a medical malpractice lawsuit wherein plaintiff took a voluntary dismissal after court granted defendant’s motion to bar plaintiff’s expert rebuttal physician. After plaintiff refiled the case two weeks later and listed the same expert rebuttal physician, successfully argued that plaintiff took voluntary dismissal to improperly circumvent the previous court’s ruling.
• Obtained a defense verdict for seven Cook County Correctional Officers in a high-profile, media-intensive civil rights jury trial wherein Plaintiffs’ original demand was for several millions.
• Obtained dismissal for an attorney in a federal civil rights lawsuit wherein plaintiff alleged that the attorney conspired with the prosecutor to deprive plaintiff of his constitutional rights.
• Represented a taxi cab driver, cab company and cab association in a wrongful death lawsuit in which summary judgment was obtained for the cab company and association and wherein case settled against cab driver during jury trial for less than five percent of the plaintiff’s original demand.

Mr. Klaczynski holds the AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, its highest rating for ethics and legal ability.

Mr. Klaczynski joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP as an associate in October 2004 after previously practicing at the Chicago law firm of Clausen Miller, P.C. He became a partner at Hinshaw in 2007.

From September 1990 to April 2000, Mr. Klaczynski was a Cook County Assistant States Attorney. He was the lead prosecutor in several courtrooms and supervisor in the Felony Review Unit. During his tenure as an Assistant States Attorney, Mr. Klaczynski prosecuted in excess of 1,000 felony bench trials, and more than 40 felony jury trials, including murders, rapes, armed robberies, hate crimes and other serious forcible felonies. He also wrote 22 appellate briefs and successfully argued seven times before the Illinois Appellate Court.

Mr. Klaczynski has been a trial advocacy coach at Loyola University Law School in Chicago and has taught classes on the American judicial process and evidence at Triton College in Forest Park, Illinois. He has been an instructor for Hinshaw University, the firm’s nationwide attorney training and education program, conducting classes on cross-examination, rules of evidence and making proper objections. Mr. Klaczynski’s presentations include:

• “Admissible Evidence: Gathering and Preservation for Third-Party Claims,” Vericlaim Casualty Claims Training Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 2005.
• “How to Effectively Handle a Cross-Examination,” Michael Reese Hospital medical malpractice issues seminar for residents, Chicago, Illinois, 2002.

Steve is married to the Honorable Carmen Aguilar, a Cook County Circuit Court Judge. They have three children, Antonio, Samuel and Rafael.