Massalon, John A.

Experienced. Tough. Driven. Put these three words together and you have defined the lead attorney at the firm of Woodruff Johnson & Palermo. Over the course of his career, Mr. Woodruff has handled thousands of injury claims, recovering millions of dollars for people who have been hurt. Through it all, Mr. Woodruff has fought tirelessly to prevent corporations and big insurance companies from trampling on the rights of working men and women.

For instance, on 40 different occasions, Mr. Woodruff represented employees from the University of Illinois who were denied their worker's compensation rights after suffering repetitive-work injuries to their wrists, elbows and shoulders. Many of these workers were hurt performing tasks such as cooking and cleaning. Mr. Woodruff fought back against the university, winning 99 percent of these cases.

In a case close his heart, Mr. Woodruff was able to help a disabled woman who had been born with only one useable arm. After that arm was injured in a work-related accident, Mr. Woodruff was able to prove she was disabled from all gainful employment and obtained lifetime benefits for her, including medical. Mr. Woodruff also has assisted clients who have fallen on dangerous premises, who were victimized by drunken drivers and who were injured during childbirth.

For these and so many other reasons, Leading American Attorneys has ranked Mr. Woodruff in the top 5 percent of worker's compensation lawyers. He is the author of a number of articles on his chosen field and has presented talks on work-related injuries to organizations such as the Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, United Food & Commercial Workers, the Service Employees International Union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Champaign County AFL-CIO, the International Boilerworkers Union, Cigna Insurance, the United Auto Workers, the Will County Bar Association and several others.

Mr. Woodruff's star began rising when he was still at the Chicago Kent College of Law. After receiving the AmJur Award for the highest grade in his worker's compensation class, Mr. Woodruff was asked by his professor to join the Chicago-based law firm of Katz, Friedman, Schur & Eagle, where the instructor was a partner. Mr. Woodruff began practicing there in 1990, first as an associate and later as a partner. Ten years later, he had the experience and the clientele base to create his own law firm.

Today, Mr. Woodruff is driven not only to prevail on behalf of his clients, but to maintain Woodruff Johnson & Palermo as the most highly regarded injury law firm in the state.

Mr. Woodruff is a long-time resident of the Chicago area and a graduate of the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana. In his spare time, he enjoys rooting for the Cubs, the Illini and his favorite horses at Arlington Park. He is the father of a daughter and two sons.

Filing a Claim
Workers' Comp Benefits
Repetitive Trauma Injuries
Changes in the Workers' Compensation Law
Lifetime Benefits for You

Also representing clients in other personal injury cases such as:
Auto Accidents
Trucking Accidents
Wrongful Death