Premises Liability

For 65 years, we have represented victims in complex and serious personal injury and wrongful death cases arising from the negligence of others in designing, building, maintaining, and repairing homes, apartments, porches, decks, bridges, buildings, structures and industrial sites.

Our highly skilled and successful attorneys have experience in all areas of premises liability.  We combine that exceptional experience with a deep commitment, dedication, and compassion for our clients, a relentless drive to achieve justice, and the resources necessary to pursue such serious cases. Our work has resulted in outstanding results for our clients and many record-setting settlements and verdicts.

Our Record of Success

• On the eve of trial, 10 victims injured or killed by the scaffolding that collapsed and fell from the John Hancock building in Chicago received $75 million in a global settlement for their personal injury and wrongful death claims. Thomas Demetrio was a lead attorney on the case;

• A $16 million verdict was obtained by attorney Thomas Demetrio for a roofer who was severely injured when he came in contact with power lines as he was inspecting a roof;

• The family of a young mother killed by a window that fell from the CNA Plaza building in Chicago received an $18 million settlement for a lawsuit filed against the architects, construction company and maintenance company by Corboy & Demetrio attorney Philip Harnett Corboy, Jr.;

• A $16.6 million global settlement was obtained for the victims of the Lincoln Park porch collapse. Attorney Francis Patrick Murphy represented 14 of the victims or victim's family - the largest number of victims represented by one law firm.

• A $7 million record-setting settlement for an 81 year-old woman who was injured when an automatic door at a Target store malfunctioned and knocked her to the ground was obtained by Philip Harnett Corboy, Jr. and Kenneth Lumb;

• In an important major premises liability case tried by Thomas Demetrio, a Cook County Circuit Court jury awarded $6.2 million - an award later upheld by the Illinois Appellate Court - against Swift and Company for injuries suffered by two brothers who were severely burned in a chemical dust explosion at the grinding mill plant at which they worked;

• A $5 million settlement for a college student who was standing at a bus stop and was injured by a car that slid on ice formed from a broken water main, which the City of Chicago failed to properly maintain.  The student, who had to have his right leg amputated, was represented by Philip Harnett Corboy, Jr. and Edward G. Willer.

• Corboy & Demetrio attorneys secured a record-setting $4 million settlement for a young woman who fell from a porch when a railing broke away. It is the highest settlement in Illinois for an injury resulting from a defective porch structure; 

• In a case involving a J.C. Penney store, we secured a $5.2 million settlement - believed to be the largest ever for a slip-and-fall case with J.C. Penney - for a 74-year-old woman who tripped over a step in a fitting room at the department store, hitting her head on the fitting-room mirror, seriously injuring her;

• Two young people, represented by Francis Patrick Murphy, agreed to settle their lawsuit for $2.15 million against the owners of an apartment building for the injuries they sustained when they fell four stories after a porch railing collapsed;

• Attorney Murphy also settled a case for $1.5 million on behalf of the family of a 4-year-old boy who was killed when a 500-pound tombstone fell on top of him during the family's visit to a grave site in a cemetery. The cemetery was sued for negligently maintaining its grounds and tombstones;

• A $1.3 million settlement was reached by attorney Philip Harnett Corboy, Jr. with the Guest Quarters Suite Hotels in Chicago following the murder of a guest who was shot and killed while staying at the hotel. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Chicago, alleged that the hotel failed to provide adequate security;

• In other cases involving attacks at hotels, we represented guests who had been attacked and injured during their hotel stays. The theories of liability involved failure to provide adequate security, to properly screen hotel employees, and to warn of the danger of attacks.

Our representation includes, but is not limited, to the following areas:

Apartment Building Injury	Porch/Deck/Railing Collapse
Industrial Site Injury	Commercial/Store Injury
Office Injury	Property Damage
Residential Injury	Bridge/Structural Collapse and Defect

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Successes