Thrash, Thomas E.

Now retired, Bruce M. Kohen is well-known for record jury verdicts and settlements throughout his over 25-year legal career. He negotiated the highest settlement in Illinois history for a personal injury case under the Structural Work Act and the largest jury verdicts in the state for medical malpractice in the death of a child and another for psychological malpractice. Bruce has worked tirelessly with legislators in Springfield to protect workers rights, and he has consistently generated multi-million dollar awards for his clients.

Bruce is one of the leaders of the Illinois Trial Bar. He is currently President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and a member of its executive committee.

A leader in the fight to preserve laws that protect consumers and victims, Bruce chaired the Legislative Committee of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association for ten years and was one of the lead lawyers in the litigation that successfully challenged the constitutionality of the Illinois Tort Reform Act.

Recent career highlights include:

• $24,250,000 settlement for an ironworker rendered a quadriplegic as a result of a 50-foot fall.
• $20,000,000 settlement for a laborer who was paralyzed when a wall collapsed.
• $13,000,000 jury verdict for a millwright injured when he fell from an oven under construction.
• $12,000,000 settlement for a visitor at McCormick Place who fell down stairs that were improperly designed and constructed.
• $12,000,000 settlement for a construction worker paralyzed when he was struck by falling construction materials.
• $10,000,000 settlement for a construction worker who fell through a floor decking opening and suffered a brain injury.
• $8,000,000 settlement for a carpenter who was rendered a paraplegic as a result of a fall from a roof.
• $4,000,000 jury verdict for a pipefitter burned in an underground storage tank explosion.
• $3,000,000 jury verdict 911 wrongful death case against the City of Chicago.

Bruce, who joined the firm as a law clerk and is a named partner/owner, focuses his practice in the fields of personal injury, products liability, medical malpractice, wrongful death and construction-related injuries. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Leading Illinois Attorneys and Illinois Super Lawyers. He is often invited to speak before the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the Chicago Bar Association and top mid-west law schools. He is the author of a wide array of articles and publications in the area of tort litigation. In 1998, he was a finalist for the Trial Lawyers For Public Justice prestigious Trial Lawyer of the Year award.

"Becoming a trial lawyer who fights for the rights of victims and consumers has been the fulfillment of a lifelong goal. It gives me great personal and professional satisfaction to know that I have helped make an important difference in people's lives."