Welch, James Alan

Larry is a founding partner of Goldberg Weisman Cairo.  He has deep respect for working people, having grown up in a home where his grandmother was a union organizer.  Since becoming a lawyer, he has concentrated in representing individuals who have been severely injured and families in wrongful death cases where a loved one has been lost.  The catastrophic injury cases he has handled have involved quadriplegia, paraplegia, traumatic brain injury and amputations.
 
Larry received his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois in 1971 and his law degree from the DePaul College of Law in 1974.  He was admitted to practice in 1974, and has practiced before the Illinois Circuit Courts and the United States District Court for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois.  His practice has included cases before the Illinois Appellate Courts and Illinois Supreme Court.  Appellate court decisions relating to cases he has tried have created Illinois law that has been beneficial to injury victims throughout the state. 
 
Larry Weisman is a member of the American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Chicago Bar Association and has been elected to membership in the Society of Trial Lawyers.  He has served on the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association from 2000 through present and has been on that association’s membership committee from 1989 through 1991.  Mr. Weisman has been the program planning chairman and seminar planning chairman for the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association from 2004 through 2005.  He has planned and moderated seminars for members of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, which include the Tort Law Trends, Maximizing Damages, Preserving Plaintiff’s Recovery and Update and Review seminars.  He has also served as a speaker at many Illinois Trial Lawyers Association seminars on topics including “ wrongful death distributions”, “wrongful death cases” and “damages”, and has authored chapters in course materials presented to trial lawyers throughout the state by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. Larry has also spoken at seminars presented to lawyers by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education and Chicago Bar Association. 
 
In addition to presentations made to trial lawyers, Larry has regularly spoken to union members who work in the building trades to inform them of their legal rights when suffering an injury and the obligations of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. ("OSHA").
 
Larry has been elected as an Illinois Leading Lawyer and as an Illinois Super Lawyer.  He is known for his meticulous and aggressive preparation of cases for settlement and trial and has a long track record as lead trial counsel in multimillion-dollar jury cases involving personal injury and wrongful death.  Larry has tried cases resulting in jury verdicts involving construction negligence, product liability, air crash fatalities, automobile and truck collisions and premises liability.  He has handled all types of tort liability cases, including medical malpractice, defective medical devices and toxic substances.
 
In addition to speaking to lawyers organizations about maximizing damages, Larry continuously counsels clients to insure that the damages he recovers for them will provide financial security over their lifetime.  He has advised clients regarding annuities, structured settlements and other means of getting the maximum benefit of damages recovered by settlement or trial.
 
Through his experience and aggressive handling of cases, Larry has leveled the playing field between large corporations and insurance companies and the working person who has suffered an injury.  That has always been his goal and is the way the attorneys at Goldberg Weisman Cairo practice law.