Insurance Real Estate

James Smith

Email: *********@********.***

Address: **** ***** ******

City: Morton Grove

State: IL

Zip: 60053

Country: USA

Phone: 312-***-****

Skill Level: Director

Salary Range: $60,000

Primary Skills/Experience:

See Resume

Educational Background:

See Resume

Job History / Details:

JAMES A. SMITH

Attorney at Law

70 W. Madison Street, Suite 1400

Chicago, Illinois 60602

312/372-4952 (Office) - 312/372-0609 (Fax) - 312/369-9692 (Cell)

*********@********.***

CAREER PROFILE: Experienced civil litigator with appellate, insurance coverage and jury trial experience. Well versed in the litigation of commercial, real estate, personal injury and business tort claims. Excellent research and writing skills and persuasive oral advocacy. Proud to have participated in the trial and appellate litigation of landmark cases.

EMPLOYMENT:

Law Offices of James A. Smith, Chicago, Illinois 2002 - Present

General civil litigation

Aronberg Goldgehn Davis & Garmisa, Chicago, Illinois 1983 - 2002

Coverage analysis and litigation; general litigation

Law Offices of Mitchell S. Goldgehn, f/k/a Goldgehn 1982 - 83

Leonardo Goldgehn & Isaacson, Chicago, Illinois

Civil and insurance defense litigation

Law Offices of Kenneth S. Rosenblum, Chicago, Illinois 1977 - 81

Plaintiff personal injury litigation; appellate practice

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1. Civil and Claims Litigation - 2002 to Present

Practice focus is on (1) representation of individual and corporate policyholders in first party claims and declaratory judgment actions; (2) litigation involving commercial, property damage and real estate disputes, and (3) personal injury cases. Negotiated settlements of $450,000 in a CTA premises liability claim, $140,000 for a pedestrian knockdown near U. S. Cellular Field and $120,000 in a dental malpractice claim. Has taken nine cases to jury verdicts. Represented homeowners in fire-repair fraud case reported on local news program.

2 Excess Coverage and Related Litigation - 1983 to 2002

On behalf of excess insurers, handled claims and issues of national scope and significance:

$ In litigation involving whether the so-called Aincorporation trigger@ should be applied to polybutylene claims aggregating over a billion dollars, drafted the brief and argued the case in the Appellate and Supreme Courts of Illinois on behalf of insurers with over $200 million at risk. Travelers

Insurance Co. v. Eljer Industries, Inc., et al., 197 lll.2d 278, 757 N.E.2d

481 (2001).

$ In a coverage appeal involving over $20 million in claims arising out of failures of a Fortune 500 manufacturer=s feed grain storage units, wrote the briefs at trial and on appeal for the principal insurer defendant, who successfully contended that fraud does not constitute an Aoccurrence.@ A. O. Smith Corp. v. Allstate Insurance Co., et al., 222 Wis.2d 475, 588 N.W.2d 285 (App. 1998).

$ In a lawsuit arising from the failure of a multimillion dollar wastewater treatment plant, wrote the winning brief for an insurer who successfully contended that its policy expired prior to the Aoccurrence@ at issue. Hormel, Inc. v. Twin Cities Ins. Co., et al., No. LR-C-88-886 (U.S.Dist.Ct. - E.D.Ark. - Slip op. dated 2/16/93).

3. Appellate Litigation

Wrote the winning briefs in Milwaukee Mutual Ins. Co. v. J P. Larsen, Inc., 2011 Ill.App. (1st) 101316, Ross-Berger Cos., Inc. v. Equitable Life Assurance Society, 872 F.2d 1331 (7th Cir. 1989), Combined Network, Inc. v. Equitable Life Assurance Society, 805 F.2d 1292 (7th Cir. 1986), Bank of Hickory Hills v. Hammann, 108 Ill.App.3d 834, 439 N.E.2d 1048 (1st Dist. 1982), Arthur Rubloff & Co. v. Drovers Nat=l. Bank of Chicago, 80 Ill.App.3d 867, 400 N.E.2d 614 (1st Dist. 1980), Thorne v. Elmore, 79 Ill.App.3d 333, 398 N.E.2d 591 (1979), Farnor v. Irmco Corp., et al, 73 Ill.App.3d 851, 392 N.E.2d 591 (1st Dist. 1979) and Stavins v. Stavins, 70 Ill.App.3d 622, 388 N.E.2d 928 (1st Dist. 1979).

LICENSES/MEMBERSHIPS

Licensed to practice in the State of Illinois, U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and in the U. S. Courts of Appeal for the Fifth and Seventh Circuits. Member, ISBA CBA and ABA. Past Chairman of the CBA Insurance Law Committee; past co-chair, CBA YLS Insurance Law Committee; past member of the CBA Judicial Evaluation Committee.

EDUCATION

University of Illinois College of Law, Champaign, Illinois - J.D., 1976

Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland - BA., History, 1973.

PERSONAL

Married, with two children; resides in Morton Grove, IL

PRESENTATIONS & PUBLICATIONS

PRESENTATIONS

-The Insurer=s Duty to Defend in Illinois- -- Paper presented at the CBA/YLS Seminar, AThe Insurance Litigation Process,@ 2/1/00

"Excess Insurers and the Duty to Defend: 'Supplemental Defense Provisions and 'Follow Form Situations" -- Paper presented at the 1999 Lorman Education Service, Inc. seminar, AFocus on Excess Insurance," 2/12/99

"Personal Injury and Advertising Liability Coverages - A General Overview" -- Paper presented at Lorman Education Services, Inc. seminar, "Business Insurance," 2/29/96

"Necessary and Indispensable Parties in Illinois Insurance Coverage Litigation" -- Paper presented at the CBA Young Lawyers Section seminar, "Insurance Coverage Litigation: The Basics and Beyond," 2/21/96

"The Allocation of Occurrences Causing Injury During Multiple Policy Periods: A Short Primer" -- Paper presented at the CBA Insurance Law Committee, 4/5/95

"Personal Injury Liability Coverage: Past, Present and Future" - Paper presented at the CBA Insurance Law seminar, "Cutting Edge Issues in Insurance Law," 5/27/93

PUBLICATIONS

"Court Decides Multiple Coverage Issues In Asbestos Property Damage Case," The Policy (ISBA Insurance Law Section newsletter), Vol. 39, No. 2 (12/94)

"Intentional interference with Contractual Relations and Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Relations: An Illinois Primer,@ Illinois Tort Reporter, Vol II, Nos. 10 & 11 (10/88 and 11/88)

AWhere Does Your Client File a Claim Against An Insolvent Insurance Company

@ 15 CBA YLS Journal, No. 4, p. 12 (1986)

Case-Note, "Securities Law - Supreme Court Upholds Birnbaum Purchaser-Seller Requirement - Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores,95 S.Ct. 1917 (I 975)" - 64 Illinois Bar Journal 248 (12/76)

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