General Information
Overview
Putting our clients first has resulted in unparalleled success — Corboy & Demetrio has acquired more than $4 billion in verdicts and settlements, of which more than 600 were $1 million or higher.
Co-founder Thomas A. Demetrio was ranked the #1 Super Lawyer in Illinois in 2022 – the top attorney out of over 94,000 lawyers in the state. It’s the sixth year in a row Thomas has been ranked number one by IL Super Lawyers, also having attained the top ranking in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Partner Philip Corboy, Jr. was named to Top 100 Attorneys by Super Lawyers in 2022 for the tenth year. Nine other Corboy & Demetrio attorneys, all partners, were also named Illinois Super Lawyers for 2020, which are limited to the top 5% of all Illinois attorneys.
In 2019, Thomas was ranked the top aviation lawyer in the state by Illinois Leading Lawyers, and Michael K. Demetrio was ranked in the Top Ten. Philip was named to Top Ten Product Liability Attorneys in Illinois by Leading Lawyers in 2019.
Thomas, Michael and the firm currently represent the families of passengers killed in the crashes of Ethiopian Airlines #302, Lion Air #610 and Aeroméxico #2431. In 2017, Thomas obtained a confidential settlement from United Airlines on behalf of passenger Dr. David Dao within just 18 days of the incident that went viral on the Internet.
In 2021, Corboy & Demetrio was named to “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News & World Report for the 11th consecutive year in the areas of plaintiffs’ personal injury, plaintiffs’ medical malpractice and commercial litigation.
A record nine Corboy & Demetrio partners were named to Best Lawyers in America, 2021 Edition. Thomas, who was named for the 33rd year, was joined by Philip, Michael, David “Chip” Barry, Jr., Daniel S. Kirschner, Michelle Kohut, Kenneth T. Lumb, Francis Patrick Murphy and Susan J. Schwartz.
The National Law Journal selected Corboy & Demetrio to Elite Trial Lawyers in 2018 for its representation of Dr. Dao in the United Airlines settlement, and in 2015, for its achievements in the area of medical malpractice. The National Law Journal also selected Thomas to its inaugural “Top 50 Litigation Trailblazers and Pioneers” in 2014, noting that he, alone, has negotiated more than $1 billion in settlements and that Corboy & Demetrio, in its representation of victims of the Tylenol cyanide poisonings in 1982, was a catalyst for today’s tamperproof packaging of drugs and nearly every other product intended for consumption.
In 2019, for the third year in a row, the National Trial Lawyers selected Thomas as one of the nation’s “50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers.”
Twelve of our lawyers were given the prestigious designation of Illinois Leading Lawyer in 2019, which is more than any other personal injury firm in Illinois. The peer-reviewed network recognizes only the top 5% of all lawyers in the state.
In 2015, Lawdragon named Thomas to “50 Legends of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America,” calling him “the dean of the Chicago trial bar.” As a “Legend,” Thomas was one of only 50 attorneys nationwide who earned a spot on the elite Lawdragon 500 every year since the award’s inception more than a decade ago, joining a select group that includes U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
In 2021, Thomas Demetrio was inducted into the Lawdragon Hall of Fame, one of only 37 lawyers nationwide. In 2019, Lawdragon hailed Thomas “one of the country’s most renowned lawyers” and “a rare courtroom giant” in the profile entitled Titan of the Trial Bar. Also, in 2019, Philip, Michael, Chip, Ken, Patrick and Susan were selected to the prestigious Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America.
Outside of the courtroom, our attorneys show extraordinary leadership in the legal community. Corboy & Demetrio is the only law firm in Chicago to have had four former Chicago Bar Association Presidents. We are also the only Illinois firm to have had four past Presidents of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, including Thomas and Philip.
We are and always have been dedicated to serving the community. Thomas is the founder of the Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth and funds the Thomas A. Demetrio Lend-A-Hand Award of Excellence, which is given annually to the most exemplary established Chicagoland area tutor/mentor program.
Philip Corboy, Jr., is a Past President of the Board of Directors of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, a not-for-profit agency that provides free civil legal services to low income and elderly people in Chicago and suburban Cook County.
Since 1995, the Philip H. Corboy Fellowship in Trial Advocacy program at Loyola University Chicago School of Law has supported and trained law students to become trial lawyers. As a result of the program, hundreds of Loyola law students have received scholarship assistance, in addition to advocacy training.
In 2009, Loyola University Chicago School of Law renamed its law school building the Philip H. Corboy Law Center after Philip H. Corboy and his wife Mary Dempsey made the largest single gift ever to the law school.
Our firm is a longtime Corporate Work Study Partner of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, providing internships to students from low-income families. To speak with one of our lawyers, call 312-346-3191. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To learn more about our firm, visit www.corboydemetrio.com.
Firm News
Rankings
Corboy & Demetrio is nationally ranked in 1 practice areas and metro ranked in 4 practice areas. Best Law Firms rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process.
Read how Best Law Firms ranks firmsNational Rankings
Metro Rankings
Firm Leadership
Rankings
National Rankings
Metro Rankings
Practice Areas
- Aviation Litigation
- Commercial Litigation
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs
- Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs
- Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs
- Premises Liability
- Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
- Railroad
- Sports Law
- Trucking Accidents
- Workers' Compensation Law - Claimants
Individuals Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®
Client Comments
Awards
- Patriot Award - U.S. Department of Defense
- Best Law Firms - Medical Malpractice - Chicago
- Best Law Firms - Personal Injury - Chicago
- Best Law Firms - Commercial Litigation - National Tier 3
- Cook County JVR Trial Lawyer Excellence Award: Phil Corboy, Jr. & Edward G. Willer
- National Law Journal 2018 Elite Trial Lawyers
- National Law Journal: Elite Law Firms - Medical Malpractice
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Significant Matters
Throughout our history, we have fought against some of the largest and most powerful corporations, hospitals, manufacturers, insurance conglomerates, construction companies, national trucking firms and municipalities in the world.
They include railroads, the National Football League, City of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, Johnson & Johnson, American Airlines, Hyatt Corporation, Amoco Oil, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the University of Chicago Hospitals, State Farm, Allstate, Turner Construction and Schneider National Trucking. And we have been successful in holding them accountable for the injuries and deaths that have occurred because of their actions.
Our firm has secured record-setting verdicts and settlements against these and other defendants in all types of cases, including: airplane crashes; work place injuries; defective products; birth injuries; car crashes; medical malpractice; and railroad accidents.
In one such record-setting case, a $25.2 million settlement for the death of a passenger in the US Air jet crash outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the largest compensatory damages recovery ever awarded for the death of a person in an aviation wrongful death action. The previous record - a $25 million settlement in a case stemming from the 1989 crash of a United Airlines jet in Sioux City, Iowa - was one also set by our firm.
Our attorneys tried a case on behalf of a 25 year-old who was rendered a quadriplegic after a semi-trailer truck struck her car on Thanksgiving morning that resulted in a $22 million verdict that became the largest jury award ever upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court. We also acquired a total of $40 million for a woman injured in a car collision and her husband: $34 million for the woman and $6 million for her husband for the loss of his wife’s companionship. Both awards were record-setting.
In a case against Canadian National Railway, our attorneys obtained a $22.5 million settlement in 2011 for the family of a woman who was killed as a result of a derailment of a train in Rockford, IL, which was carrying dozens of CNR cars filled with ethanol.
In a case where a mother died shortly after giving birth because the doctor and nurse failed to properly treat her high blood pressure, Corboy & Demetrio attorneys secured a record-setting jury verdict of $22 million. It is the largest verdict ever for the death of a woman in Cook County, Illinois.
Our attorneys obtained an $18 million settlement for a Mexican national who was killed by a piece of falling glass from Chicago's CNA Tower.
In addition to our extraordinary success on behalf of our clients, our work has affected public policy, raised public awareness, and improved public safety.When the country was fearful of taking any over the counter medicine because of the tampering with Tylenol, our firm negotiated a settlement on the eve of trial with Johnson & Johnson, the product’s manufacturer, that led to regulations requiring tamper-resistant packaging on all over-the-counter medicines.
The attorneys at Corboy & Demetrio prosecuted two separate cases where innocent drivers were seriously injured at the same dangerous intersection. As a result of the substantial awards - over $30 million - and the public outcry that resulted from the horrible injuries needlessly suffered, the State of Illinois completely reconfigured the intersection and the adjoining roads to prevent further injuries to innocent victims.
Using a cell phone while driving is a very dangerous practice.
After our firm was hired to represent a street crossing guard who was injured when a motorist hit her while talking on a cell phone, the attorneys handling the case became actively involved in persuading the Chicago City Council to enact a ban on using a cell phone while driving. Chicago was one of the first major municipalities to enact the ban.