Bond, Douglass

Attorney Michael Bonamarte named as one of the Law Bulletin Publishing Company's "40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch" in 2010

This honor is awarded to forty of the most talented young lawyers in the state for their outstanding work on behalf of clients, their efforts to advance the legal profession and their community service. Click on the link to view Mike's "40 Under Forty" profile.

Biography

Michael F. Bonamarte IV joined Levin & Perconti as an attorney in August 2005 after clerking for the firm during law school. Mike is well-respected by his clients, colleagues and opponents alike for his passionate and diligent advocacy on behalf of victims of wrongful conduct. He has achieved great results in numerous complex personal injury and wrongful death cases.

In his first jury trial, Mike, who sat second-chair to Partner Steven Levin, achieved a $2.9 million verdict for the family of a deceased 57-year-old nursing home resident who suffocated due to the home’s negligent care of her tracheostomy tube. This was a record verdict in a Cook County nursing home case.

Mike also played a crucial role in a $4.75 million medical malpractice settlement, a $2.325 million settlement of a pressure ulcer case against a Chicago assisted-living facility, and a $1.25 million medical malpractice settlement against a dialysis center for its staff’s failure to monitor a resident’s dialysis catheter. \

In addition to these settlements, Mike settled a construction accident case for $1.5 million and a premises liability/wrongful death case for $975,000 for the family of a young man who fell from a Chicago porch railing.  He also achieved a record settlement of $700,000 in a case against a Coles County, IL nursing home.

Recently, Mike began work on a case against an Oak Park, IL nursing home. Our firm represents the family of a nursing home resident who died from injuries he sustained in an altercation with a younger fellow resident of the facility.  To view video footage of Mike's interviews with local news stations, visit our In the News page.

Along with his casework, Mike enthusiastically shares his knowledge and experience by speaking regularly to colleagues and community organizations, including the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education. Mike has given speeches on nursing home litigation as well as deposition strategies. He has also made presentations on nursing home abuse to Chicago-area senior organizations and Illinois aging professionals.

Mike is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, American Bar Association, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, American Association for Justice and the Justinian Society of Lawyers. He was recently elected to serve as secretary of the Justinian Society of Lawyers and also writes the verdicts and settlements section the organization's newsletter. Additionally, Mike is a member of the ISBA’s Young Lawyers Division Council and also served on the board of directors for the River North Business Association.

In September 2010, Michael was honored as one of the “40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch,” and he was also named an Illinois Rising Star by Super Lawyers in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Mike was honored with an award for Trial Lawyer Excellence for the Highest Reported Illinois Verdict in a Nursing Home Malpractice case. To view the announcement that appeared in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on October 23, 2012, click here.

Mike is president and founder of the Michael F. Bonamarte III Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and funding research on the treatment and prevention of strokes. Mike founded the organization in memory of his late father, Michael F. Bonamarte III, who passed away in 2006. The Foundation has raised over $40,000 since its inception.

Mike graduated from Highland Park High School, Highland Park, IL, where he was the captain and starting quarterback for the school’s varsity football team. He earned his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating with academic distinction. In 2005, he graduated from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago where he earned a place on the dean’s list during his second and third years. After passing the July 2005 Illinois Bar, Mike was sworn in as an attorney on Nov. 10, 2005.