Bingle, Robert J.

Robert J. Bingle joined the Chicago law firm of Corboy & Demetrio in 1983, became a partner in 1991 and Managing Partner in 1995. Over the last 26 years, he has been involved in every type of personal injury and wrongful death case and has obtained numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlement for his clients.

As a result of Bob's extensive legal experience, he has acquired leadership positions on mass tort litigation arising from railroad collisions, gas explosions and fires and other disasters. In 2011, Bob secured a $22.5 million settlement for the family of a Rockford woman killed in a train derailment.  He was lead plaintiffs' counsel for the litigation stemming from the collision of a train and school bus in Fox River Grove, Illinois, which settled in excess of $25 million and was one of the lead attorneys in a $10 million settlement stemming from a collision at a Union Pacific rail yard that resulted in the death of the three men.  He was also the lead trial attorney and directed the mass litigation stemming from the Quantum Chemical explosion which settled for more than $20 million.

Bob has secured a number of record-setting verdicts. In a Federal District Court lawsuit Bob tried a $6.6 million verdict was awarded to a family injured in an automobile collision. It was the largest verdict ever in that Court. In a railroad negligence case, the jury returned a $6.8 million verdict, the highest amount ever awarded in Illinois to an individual for the loss of his leg.

A few of Bob's other notable cases include an $18 million settlement for the family of a Mexican national who was killed by a piece of falling glass from Chicago’s CNA Tower, a $4.5 million settlement for a young man burned at a chemical refinery and a $3.9 million verdict for the family of a 10-year-old girl who drowned at a municipal water station.

In addition to his trial work, Bob is the Managing Partner at Corboy & Demetrio and is very active in bar association work. He is a past President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) and is now on its Board of Managers and serves on the Executive Committee. He served as Chairman of ITLA's Membership and Legal Education Committees and Co-Chairman of its Legislative Committee. By appointment of the Illinois Supreme Court, Bob has served since 2004 on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions in Civil Cases. He is a past board member of the Illinois Supreme Court Character and Fitness Committee.

Bob has also been a faculty member at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and a member of the Loyola University Chicago School of Law Alumni Board.

He lectures extensively throughout the United States at bar association and interest group seminars and has published chapters and articles in legal books, periodicals and newspapers. He is frequently called upon by the media to comment on legal issues involving civil litigation and has appeared nationally and locally on television and radio news broadcasts and news talk programs.

Bob's community involvement includes:  Member of the Boston College Parent's Council; Board of Trustees at Christ the King Jesuit Preparatory School in Chicago; and Oblates of St. Francis de sales - Toledo-Detroit - Province Review Board. 

A member of the Leading Lawyers Network, the top 5% of all Illinois attorneys, Bob is also an Illinois Super Lawyer and has attained an AV rating - the highest level awarded for professional excellence - from the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.

Bob brings a unique background to the firm. Before joining Corboy & Demetrio, he was a sales and marketing director for Hilton Hotels Corporation.