AVIATION LITIGATION
Clifford Law Offices has represented victims of aircraft
disasters, passengers, and crew, against virtually every
major airline carrier, manufacturer, and assembler
around the world, earning the firm a distinguished
reputation for managing complex litigation arising
from commercial and private air disasters.
THE CLIENT FIRST
Every member of the firm upholds the highest principles of
the legal profession in placing the individual client first.
The firm is often said to set the standard in
professional excellence.
Advertising material
Robert A. Clifford founded a personal injury law firm in his
name in 1984. For decades, the firm has worked to establish
a national reputation. The National Law Journal named
Clifford Law Offices one of the 50 Elite Law Firms in the
country and they continue to be the only firm in Chicago to
be given this distinction. The National Law Journal has also
named the firm as one of the top 10 Litigation Boutiques in
the country. Clifford Law Offices has repeatedly been listed
in U.S. News & World Report’s publication announcing
the best law firms in the country. The Chicago Lawyer has
consistently named Clifford Law Offices one of the city’s top
firms in its Annual Settlement Survey.
The lawyers at Clifford Law Offices represent years of
practice in the area of personal injury and wrongful death
law, particularly aviation and transportation litigation.
Every member of the firm upholds the highest principles of
the legal profession in placing the individual client first. The
firm sets the standard in professional excellence. As a result
of the litigation handled by the firm, many defective products
and dangerous practices have been changed or abandoned
altogether. In the area of aviation litigation, the tireless efforts
and numerous depositions of transportation executives and
experts have brought to light faulty equipment and parts
on aircraft that were still in use. Practices and procedures
involving flight crew and air traffic controllers also have
been improved due to government and corporate officials
becoming aware of the hazards through litigation. Some of
the families’ stories herein reflect the impact their lawsuits
have made to make the skies safer.
The very nature of Clifford Law Offices involves a willingness
to accept the challenges and responsibilities inherent in
complex litigation. This thinking and talent has led victims’
families from around the world or their personal attorneys
to refer cases, especially plane crash cases involving mass tort
disasters, to the firm. Those who find themselves the victims
of such a tragedy turn to Clifford Law Offices because they
know it is a firm that is committed to investing the time
and resources required to fully represent every case through
the successive stages of investigation, preparation and trial
in attempting to achieve what is just and reasonable for
each client. Time and time again, Clifford Law Offices has
demonstrated how it stands out in helping victims of aviation
disasters find out what happened to their loved ones while
seeking just compensation for injuries or needless deaths.
The clients of Clifford Law Offices come from every walk of
life. The firm has represented victims of personal injury from
across the country, ranging from justices of the court, heads
of business and leaders of professions to construction workers
and teachers. All of these people are important and are treated
with the same dignity and respect during their time of great
need.
To assist in trial preparation, Clifford Law Offices has
pioneered many of the modern courtroom techniques now
considered standard practice in the presentation of tort
cases. Responding to the increased complexities of civil tort
practice, the firm has won significant cases using the latest
state-of-the-art computer animation accident reconstruction
techniques, three-dimensional modeling, computerized
deposition recall, flow charts and document enlargements
for the jury to better
understand the events
that occurred. Clifford
Law Offices was among
the first personal injury
firms in the state to use
day-in-the-life videos,
presenting a chronology
of a personal injury or
wrongful death victim’s
life following an accident,
so that a jury can get to
know those we represent and the impact the tragedy had on the
lives of the injured or wrongfully killed, as well as their loved
ones. The attorneys at Clifford Law Offices have the experience
to aggressively pursue a case, assimilating, if necessary,
breakthrough technological and informational resources into
its practice — a philosophy the firm embraces in the service of
its commitment to the individual needs of each client.
The firm’s ability to respond respectfully and intelligently
to mass disaster litigation reflects the human, financial and
professional resources the firm applies to such litigation. In
mass disaster accidents, the firm’s experience in aviation
technology and litigation, combined with the experience of
its attorneys and legal staff, ensure thorough development
and successful handling of these cases. Experts in every
field of aviation litigation are retained by the firm from the
onset of litigation to help prepare matters for trial and assist
in gathering important details. In lawsuits against airlines,
aircraft and parts manufacturers, or the government, Clifford
Law Offices maintains a commitment to excellence.
With appropriate advice, those grieving can channel feelings
of retribution in a positive way in an attempt to change
the negligent or reckless behavior in an aircraft disaster.
Experience has proven that the power of a single lawsuit
can eliminate the dangers caused by unsafe products and
practices. Clifford Law Offices is committed to pursuing this
philosophy on behalf of its clients.
The philosophy of
Clifford Law Offices is
based upon a dedication
to protecting and
preserving the dignity
and the rights of all
individuals.
ROBERT A. CLIFFORD
Founder and Senior Partner at Clifford Law Offices
Robert A. Clifford is significantly involved in complex
mass tort and class action cases that have been the subject
of national front-page news. Bob is viewed as a leader of
consumer advocacy and has represented thousands of
plaintiffs in their claims against the large corporations that
have violated their rights and caused them injury.
Bob Clifford has been recognized by many peer-reviewed
organizations to be among the best. In 2023, he was named
the #1 Super Lawyer in Illinois. He has been named by Best
Lawyers in America since its inception in 1993 to be among
the top in the country in many categories including Aviation
Law, Plaintiffs’ Product Liability Litigation, Mass Tort
Litigation/Class Actions, Personal Injury Litigation, Medical
Malpractice Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Qui Tam and
Commercial Litigation. The National Law Journal named
Clifford Law Offices one of the Top 10 Litigation Boutiques
in the country and Bob earned the Elite Trial Lawyers’ Award.
He was inducted into the Lawdragon Hall of Fame in 2023
where the publication wrote, “Clifford was inducted into the
Lawdragon Hall of Fame this year, celebrating his career-
long devotion to amplifying victims’ voices and relentlessly
seeking justice for their harms. ‘I feel very fortunate to have
found my calling,’ he says. “‘Throughout my legal career, I
hope that I have helped many people in ways that others could
not.’” The Jury Verdict Reporter gave Bob its Trial Excellence
Award, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association awarded him the
Leonard Ring Lifetime Achievement Award and he received
the Illinois Bar Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award,
all of these being the highest awards in each organization.
Bob is particularly proud that Clifford Law Offices has amassed
more than $5 billion in verdicts and settlements in its more
than four-decade history. Given that Clifford Law Offices has
always been a small-to-mid-sized firm, these accomplishments
are more than impressive.
Though these achievements in plaintiffs’ injury litigation
are spectacular on their own merit, Bob’s greatest successes
have been in the field of aviation. Bob has represented those
injured or killed in every major domestic airline crash over
the past four decades. Bob serves as Lead Counsel in the tragic
crash of a Boeing 737 MAX shortly after takeoff in Ethiopia,
killing all 157 aboard. Clifford Law Offices represents about
70 of the families of the victims in complex litigation in
federal court in Chicago. The following list illustrates how
truly exceptional Bob is in this field and how unparalleled his
experience is:
American Airlines Flight 191 in 1979
United Airlines Flight 232 in 1989
United Airlines Flight 585 in 1991
American Eagle Flight 3379 in 1994
American Eagle Flight 4184 in 1994
US Air Flight 427 in 1994
Tarom Airlines Flight 371 in 1995
TWA Flight 800 in 1996
Swissair Flight 111 in 1998
American Airlines Flight 1420 in 1999
Egyptair Flight 990 in 1999
Alaska Air Flight 261 in 2000
Singapore Air Flight 006 in 2000
American Airlines Flight 587 in 2002
Turkish Airlines Flight 634 in 2003
Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 in 2005
Comair Flight 5191 in 2006
Continental Connection Flight 3407 in 2009
Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 in 2009
Caribbean Airlines Flight 523 in 2011
Asiana Flight 214 in 2013
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in 2014
American Airlines Flight 383 in 2016
Aeromexico/Aeroliterol Flight 2431 in 2018
Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 in 2018
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2019
The above is exclusive of Bob’s work on behalf of property
damage interests that arose due to the collapse of the Twin
Towers in New York on 9/11. Bob Clifford was the lead
negotiator in that $1.2 billion settlement in 2014.
In addition to an active law practice, Bob does integral work
with the national and local bar associations. Bob has been
Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation
as well as President of the
Chicago Bar Association.
He served as Chair of
the Fund for Justice and
Education, the charitable
arm of the ABA. Bob has
been inducted into the
International Academy
of Trial Lawyers and the
American College of Trial
Lawyers. He is a member
of the International
Society of Barristers and the Inner Circle of Advocates.
Bob believes in helping the community, and to that end,
decades ago he endowed the first Chair on Tort Law and Social
Policy to his alma mater, DePaul University College of Law.
He sits on the Board of Directors of WTTW, Chicago’s Public
Broadcasting Station, where he sponsors closed captioning
for local programming. He was Chairman of the Board for
the Naples Children and Education Foundation, a nonprofit
dedicated to helping underprivileged and at-risk children in
Southwest, Florida. He and his wife, Joan, were recognized
by the Lawyers for the Creative Arts Award in 2018 for their
philanthropic work in the area of the arts.
In short, Robert A. Clifford is a titan in the profession and
continues to work for justice for his clients while making the
community a better place to live.
“Our cases aren’t about
revenge, retaliation
or retribution —
they’re about fairness
and justice for the
innocent victims and
their families.”
KEVIN P. DURKIN
Partner
Kevin P. Durkin is a partner at Clifford Law Offices. Over
a career that spans more than 40 years, Mr. Durkin has
successfully represented clients in many practice areas,
including Aviation Litigation, Commercial Aviation Liability,
Construction Liability, Personal Injury, Premises Liability,
and Transportation Liability.
Mr. Durkin has been named a top-tier attorney by U.S. News
– Best Lawyers® in the areas of personal injury litigation,
aviation law, and product liability since 2011. Mr. Durkin has
been recognized six times by Best Lawyers as the “Lawyer
of the Year,” in Chicago. He was recognized by U.S. News –
Best Lawyers® as the 2023 “Lawyer of the Year” for Aviation
Law. In 2022, 2020 and 2017 he was named Product Liability
Litigation “Lawyer
of the Year,” in 2021
he was recognized
as Aviation Law
“Lawyer of the
Year,” and in 2018
he was recognized
as Personal Injury
Litigation “Lawyer
of the Year” in
Chicago. He has also been selected to the Illinois Super Lawyers®
and Leading Lawyers list since 2003, its inception in the state.
Mr. Durkin has received multi-million dollar settlements or
verdicts in well over one hundred cases.Some of these verdicts
have been among the largest verdicts recorded in Illinois.
While he is an established attorney for personal injury,
Mr. Durkin is perhaps best known for his work as an aviation
accident attorney. He has been involved in nearly every major
commercial airline crash of the last two decades, often serving
as lead counsel. Mr. Durkin was part of the plaintiffs’ team
where a $110 million settlement was negotiated for a number
of families in the American Airlines Flight 4184 crash in
Roselawn, Indiana. He also served as one of three members of
the Management Committee leading the complex litigation in
the tragedy of Alaska Air Flight 261 that crashed in the Pacific
Ocean in 2000 en route to Seattle from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Mr. Durkin took dozens of depositions, including those of the
top engineers in the case against the airline and Boeing, despite
the NTSB giving the corporate giant a virtual pass. Mr. Durkin
obtained more than $40 million in settlements on behalf of
seven families who lost loved ones, including the largest of the
90 cases settled in that mass disaster litigation.
Currently, he has been representing families that lost loved
ones in the tragic crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in
wrongful death lawsuits against Boeing. This tragedy was the
second Boeing 737 Max fatal crash in five months.
With his experience and success as an aviation accident
attorney, Mr. Durkin served for four years as the Co-Chair of
the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation Aviation
Committee. In that position, he chaired an annual program that
brought together the best and the brightest to discuss cutting-
edge issues in aviation litigation. He often serves as a speaker
for the annual program. Mr. Durkin served for two years as Co-
Chair of the Mass Torts Litigation Committee and has served
as Vice-Chair of the Aviation and Space Law Committee of the
Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar
Association.
In addition to his work with commercial aviation litigation,
Mr. Durkin has also represented victims of many small plane
crashes. For example, he handled the case involving the crash
of Bob Collins, WGN radio’s most popular disc jockey, who was
killed when a small plane crashed into him as he was landing
in the Chicago area. In 2007, the judge in that case entered an
award for the maximum coverage by the insurance, nearly $1
million. Mr. Durkin also received a $4.1 million settlement in
October 2001 on behalf of a photographer who was killed in a
helicopter crash in northwest suburban Chicago.
Mr. Durkin graduated from DePaul University College of Law
in 1980 and later returned as a member of the adjunct faculty
from 1988-1994. He was President of the DePaul University
College of Law Center for Public Interest Advisory Board from
2008-2010. Mr. Durkin served as an Assistant State’s Attorney
in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago for
eight years from 1980 to 1988. Since then, he has focused on
civil litigation at Clifford Law Offices.
He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a
fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He also is
a Past President of the Chicago Bar Association.
With decades of
combined experience,
Clifford Law Offices
are recognized
leaders in aviation
litigation.
RICHARD F. BURKE, JR.
Partner
Richard F. Burke, Jr. is a partner at Clifford Law Offices. He is
an outstanding product liability attorney and one of the most
respected aviation liability attorneys in Chicago. Mr. Burke
is experienced in many complex practice areas, including
aviation litigation, airline liability, medical malpractice,
nursing home
negligence, heavy
truck litigation,
product liability,
and other forms
of product defect
litigation.
A tireless worker,
Mr. Burke stays
on task with the
most difficult of
cases. He is a quiet,
behind-the-scenes leader who knows how to get things done.
From establishing groundbreaking liability in sport utility
vehicle rollovers to negligent product design and operation
of jumbo jet passenger aircrafts, he explores every angle of his
cases whether it be researching case law across the country or
garnering experts from the other side of the globe. Mr. Burke
uncovers the answers to each issue, leading him to many
successful verdicts at trial.
Mr. Burke has worked on numerous small plane crash cases
on behalf of families both in the Chicago area and around the
country. For example, he represented a co-pilot and passenger
involved in a plane that crashed during take-off at a suburban
airport, Palwaukee. Following years of depositions and
exploration, Mr. Burke tried the case of the co-pilot against
the corporation that owned the plane.
Following a trial that resulted in a hung jury, he tried the case
again for another four weeks against the corporation owning
the plane and the municipality that operated the airport.
That resulted in a $10.45 million verdict, the jury finding the
airport 90 percent at fault for failing to provide safe terrain
alongside the runway. Involving that same crash, he earlier
obtained a $13.5 million settlement on behalf of a passenger
killed in that Gulfstream IV plane.
Mr. Burke obtained a $6.8 million verdict as a result of the
crash of a Piper aircraft in northwest suburban Schaumburg,
Illinois, on behalf of a Plainfield woman who suffered injuries
as a passenger when the plane ran out of fuel. The National
Law Journal recognized this success as the “Verdict of the
Week.”
In another airline litigation trial, he tried a case involving a
small plane that crashed outside Chicago. Mr. Burke obtained
a $6 million verdict on behalf of a young female passenger
who was a retail sales manager.
His accomplishments as an aviation law attorney extend
to Canada, where he handled a plane crash that occurred in
Ontario. He filed suit in both the United States and Canada,
successfully settling the case in Canada for $4 million.He is
currently litigating cases on behalf of multiple clients who
were onboard an aircraft that crashed to the ground after
attempting to take off from a Mexican airport during severe
weather conditions, as well as numerous cases on behalf of
passengers who were on a plane that experienced an engine
explosion and fire minutes after takeoff from a Denver
airport bound for Hawaii.
Mr. Burke initially acquired his trial skills as an Assistant
State’s Attorney in Cook County for 12 years. He rose up the
ranks among his peers to become the supervisor of felony trial
prosecutors in two busy suburban courthouses. At that point,
he decided to use those litigation skills in the civil arena, and
he has been a valuable member of the Clifford Law Offices’
team ever since.
Clifford Law Offices
has represented victims
and their families in
nearly every major
commercial airline
crash in the U.S. in the
last 40 years.
BRADLEY M. COSGROVE
Partner
Bradley M. Cosgrove, partner at Clifford Law Offices, is
particularly experienced in the area of transportation law. He is
a seasoned trial attorney with record verdicts and settlements
involving trucking accidents, automobile collisions, personal
injury, and wrongful death including a $20 million settlement
on behalf of a husband and wife who suffered permanent
injuries in a trucking accident. The case was settled during trial.
Always fearless in taking a case to trial, Brad undertook his first
jury trial just one day after he received his law license on behalf
of a woman permanently injured as a result of being hit by a car
as she legally crossed the street within a crosswalk. Within five
months of being
sworn in as an
attorney in Illinois,
he gave the closing
argument in a case
that resulted in a
$3 million gross
verdict on behalf
of a family who
lost their father
in a trucking accident. As he worked to establish himself as a
leading Chicago personal injury attorney, Brad was reported to
be the youngest lawyer in Illinois to obtain a verdict in excess
of a million dollars. This verdict was affirmed by the Illinois
Appellate Court in U.S. Bank v. Lindsey, 397 Ill. App. 3d 437
(1st Dist. 2009). His $101 million record verdict on behalf of
a baby who suffered brain damage at birth at West Suburban
Medical Center in Oak Park is the largest medical malpractice
verdict in the state’s history.
Brad has received numerous accolades recognizing his superior
trial skills. He was recognized by Best Lawyers as the 2023
“Lawyer of the Year” in the Chicago area for Medical Malpractice
Law – Plaintiffs. The National Trial Lawyers named him one
of the Top 100 Lawyers in the country. He is a 2023 Leading
Lawyer and was selected to the 2023 Illinois Super Lawyers
list. He received the Plaintiff Attorney Achievement Award at
the Jury Verdict Reporter’s Trial Lawyer Excellence Awards on
October 25, 2022. He was recognized for his numerous multi-
million-dollar verdicts and settlements in 2021, in particular
first-chairing five Illinois verdicts of $5 million or more. The
Law Bulletin Publishing Company named him one of the
Top 40 Under 40 attorneys in Chicago in 2014. He was named
an Illinois Rising Star from 2006–2016.
Here are some of Brad’s verdicts in excess of $5 million dollars:
$101M: A 24-year-old female was 37 weeks pregnant with
her first child when she was admitted to West Suburban
Medical Center in Oak Park for high blood pressure
and monitoring. As a result of obstetrical and hospital
malpractice, the fetus was subjected to hours of oxygen
deprivation, causing profound brain damage, global
developmental disabilities, motor delays, spastic cerebral
palsy, speech and language impairment, cortical blindness,
profound intellectual disability, epilepsy, and dysphagia/
feeding difficulties requiring a gastrostomy tube. This is the
largest medical malpractice verdict in the history of Illinois.
$21.5M: A 6 -year-old boy drowned while attending the
Justice Park District summer camp when camp counselors
took the group to swim at the Bridgeview Park District
pool. He did not know how to swim and could not stand
anywhere in the general pool with his head above water. The
boy, who should have been in the wading pool, was found
unresponsive in the main pool, and rescuers and hospital
personnel were unable to revive him. This is the largest
drowning verdict in the history of Illinois.
$18.15M: A 17-year-old sustained a traumatic brain injury
and serious internal injuries that necessitated an airlift to
Stroger Hospital when a truck driver, driving for a large
trucking company and under the direction of a national
shipper, lost control and crashed onto the shoulder of a
highway. At the time of the crash, the plaintiff was lawfully
on the shoulder of a highway determining if the brake lights
and tail lights on his trailer were working. The plaintiff
requires a lifetime of future therapy and caretaking services.
He also gives back to the profession and to the community
through his work as a leader of the Chicago Bar Association,
the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Illinois Trial Lawyers
Association serving on its Board of Managers, as well as
through the Wounded Warrior projects that help veterans and
their families. Brad was raised on Chicago’s South Side in the
Beverly-Mt. Greenwood area, the son of a Chicago firefighter.
In fact, helping people is in his blood — his brother and great-
grandfather also are proud Chicago firefighters. Brad Cosgrove
is a fair, tough-minded advocate for his clients.
Integrity.
Professionalism.
Trust.
Words embraced by
the attorneys at
Clifford Law Offices.
TRACY A. BRAMMEIER
PARTNER
Tracy A. Brammeier is a partner at Clifford Law Offices. She works closely with partner
Kevin P. Durkin handling many transportation matters. Tracy has worked on several
wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases involving semi-trucks, boating accidents,
train derailments, and forklifts.
Currently, Tracy is part of the team representing families of the victims of Ethiopian Airlines
Flight 302 in dozens of wrongful death lawsuits against Boeing that were consolidated in
federal district court in Chicago. She served as the court-appointed Liaison Counsel in that
complex litigation. This tragedy was the second Boeing 737 Max fatal crash in five months,
resulting in the deaths of all 157 persons on board. Tracy was appointed by the court to be
the liaison counsel for all the plaintiffs’ law firms in the litigation regarding that crash, serving as the primary point of contact for
both the plaintiff and defense lawyers. Tracy also handles a number of small private aviation incidents as well as helicopter crashes.
In the past, Tracy has been involved with other commercial aviation incidents, including work on the 2014 Malaysian Airlines
Flight 370, which was never recovered, as well as on the 2009 Colgan Air Flight 3407 at the start of her tenure with the firm.
Tracy is involved in many professional organizations, including the International Aviation Womens Association and American
Association for Justice (AAJ). She is a member of the Board of Managers for the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) and the
Chicago Bar Association (CBA), for which she also serves as Past Chair of the Young Lawyers Section. Additionally, Tracy has been
recognized by Best Lawyers® in America, Leading Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and the Law Bulletin Publishing Company where she was
named to the list, “40 Under Forty Illinois Attorneys to Watch in 2018.”
Tracy works to ensure the quality and integrity of the justice system as an investigating member of the Chicago Bar Association’s
Judicial Evaluation Committee. She also gives back to the community through her work with the 100 Club of Chicago, a not-for-
profit organization that assists the families of police officers and firefighters throughout Cook and Lake Counties, by providing
legal resources following the death of a loved one killed in the line of duty. Tracy volunteers with the Chicago Bar Association
Young Lawyers Section program for Wills For Heroes, which prepares basic wills for Chicago and Illinois State police officers.
Tracy graduated from Loyola University School of Law in Chicago. While in law school, she served as an Extern for the Honorable
Thomas M. Durkin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
JOHN V. KALANTZIS
ASSOCIATE
Born and raised in the Chicagoland area, John grew up working in his family’s restaurant
and then stayed local, attending both Northwestern University (B.A.) and Notre Dame
Law School (J.D.). As a first generation Greek American, John witnessed the difficulties
that immigrants can experience while adapting to a new culture. He also experienced the
importance of community in helping people to assimilate and understand how to become
part of that new culture. He is fluent in Greek and has been active in the community through
his volunteer work for his church and other Greek American community organizations.
John has also been involved with local educational groups as he has experienced the role
education provides in presenting opportunities for enriching and improving one’s life.
John is involved in numerous professional organizations, including the American Bar Association and American Association for
Justice (AAJ). He is a member of the Assembly for the Illinois State Bar Association Association (ISBA) where he also serves on the
Tort Law Section Council and on the Bar Elections Supervision Committee. John is also on the Judicial Evaluation Committee of
the Chicago Bar Association (CBA).
John focuses on aviation law and has a wealth of trial experience in motor vehicle collisions, premises liability, and wrongful death.
He is also skilled in alternative dispute resolution. John treats every client with the same care he would offer his own family and
battles the profit-driven corporations and insurance companies to ensure that his clients receive the compensation they deserve.
Currently, John is part of the team representing the families of the victims of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in their
lawsuits for wrongful death against Boeing. John has also represented family members of victims of car crashes in wrongful death
cases as well as those who have suffered serious and life altering injuries. His experience in these areas has exposed him to the
suffering of victims of negligence and spurred him to fight on behalf of injured plaintiffs and their families.
CHARLES R. HASKINS
ASSOCIATE
Charles Haskins is an attorney who has experience working on both aircraft and helicopter
crashes. Chuck was part of the trial team at Clifford Law Offices that obtained a record $101
million verdict on behalf of a baby who sustained brain damage at birth at West Suburban
Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois. The baby was brain-damaged at birth when his external
fetal monitoring strips were ignored for six hours. Experts on behalf of the plaintiff testified
that he would have been born a normal baby if hospital nurses and other medical personnel
would have alerted doctors to the abnormalities and performed an emergency C-section.
The same year, Chuck obtained an $8.5 million on behalf of a Williamson County man
who died when a certified registered nurse anesthetist and hospital employees allowed the
patient to become dangerously hypotensive.
In 2018, Chuck and law firm partner Bradley M. Cosgrove tried six multi-week medical malpractice and wrongful death cases,
including a $21.5 million verdict on behalf of the family of a six-year-old boy who drowned at a public swimming pool. Chuck also
worked side by side with firm founder and senior partner Robert A. Clifford in obtaining a $20 million trucking accident case. His
calm, studied approach to every task is a tremendous asset to his clients.
Chuck has been recognized by his peers for his trial excellence. He has been included in the editions of The Best Lawyers in
America® every year since 2021 for Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs, Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, and Product
Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs. He has been recognized by Illinois Leading Lawyers and Super Lawyers since 2020. The Law
Bulletin Publishing Company named him a Top 40 Under 40 Attorney to Watch in 2020. He gives back to the legal community
through his writings and speeches at many bar associations.
Chuck Haskins is a hard-working lawyer experienced in catastrophic injuries. He learned his work ethic from his father, also an
attorney, and his mentor, Robert A. Clifford. He is passionate about his work and dedicated to his clients.
Clifford Law Offices consistently garners
multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts
in aviation litigation. Robert A. Clifford has
represented those injured or killed in every
major commercial airline crash in the
United States over nearly four decades.
AVIATION TIMELINE
& CASE STUDIES
1979
American Airlines
Flight 191
Just seconds after American Airlines
Flight 191 took off from O'Hare
Airport, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10
crashed, killing all 258 passengers on
board and 13 crew members along
with two people on the ground. Robert
Clifford worked on the complex
litigation involving numerous
defendants in what would be the
deadliest crash in our country's history.
1989
United Airlines
Flight 232
The plane cartwheeled down the
runway during landing and burst
into flames. A jury awarded a severely
injured 70-year-old woman $28.3
million. The defendants settled for
$15 million with a Chicago area man
who lost his wife and daughter. Clifford
Law Offices was key in proving that GE,
the manufacturer of the engine, failed
to detect a crack in a disk.
1991
United Airlines
Flight 585
Twenty passengers and five crew
members were en route from Denver
to Colorado Springs when a Boeing
737 crashed on its final approach to
Runway 35. This was the first case
to identify rudder problems in 737
aircraft that led to the FAA ordering
three design modifications. Clifford
Law Offices represented five families,
including four crew members, and
reached a settlement with Boeing and
United Airlines.
1994
American Eagle
Flight 3379
Flight 3379 crashed in Morrisville,
North Carolina, after one engine failed
and the plane's pilot did not follow
proper procedures.
1994
American Eagle
Flight 4184
An inattentive flight crew and a poorly
designed de-icing boot system caused
a crash during an ice storm. Everyone
on board perished. Clifford Law Offices
represented 16 passengers' families
and helped to secure $110 million for
28 families whose damages cases were
consolidated.
1994
USAir
Flight 427
All 132 passengers on Flight 427
were killed during landing due to a
rudder malfunction. The FAA enacted
three rudder direction modifications
to the aircraft to prevent future air
catastrophes. Clifford Law Offices
obtained $54 million for the families it
represented.
1995
Tarom Airlines
Flight 371
All 60 passengers on Flight 371 were
killed when the pilot lost control over
Romania due to health problems.
The co-pilot attempted to turn on the
autopilot, but necessary parameters
were not met. Clifford Law Offices
settled the case for $4.7 million for
a business consultant who was a
passenger aboard this tragic flight.
1996
T WA
Flight 800
Flight 800 crashed off the coast of New
York due to an explosion in the center
wing fuel tank. Clifford Law Offices
represented a victim's family and
collected damages in a case filed in New
York Federal District Court. The Boeing
747-100 had taken off from John F.
Kennedy Airport and was en route to
Paris, France.
1998
SwissAir
Flight 111
Electrical arcing in the wiring of the
in-flight entertainment system started
an insulation blanket fire that spread
to the cockpit. Clifford Law Offices
represented the family of a passenger
killed in the crash. The McDonnell
Douglas MD-11 aircraft was en route
from New York to Geneva, Switzerland,
when it crashed off a small fishing and
tourist community in Nova Scotia.
1999
American Airlines
Flight 1420
The flight crew was unable to control
Flight 1420 during inclement weather,
causing the aircraft to overshoot the
runway, crash into a chain-link fence
and strike an anchored stanchion in
Little Rock, Arkansas. The captain
and 10 passengers were killed; the first
officer, four flight attendants and 105
passengers were injured. Clifford Law
Offices settled the case of two brothers
who survived.
1999
EgyptAir
Flight 990
A total of 217 passengers were killed
when flight 990 crashed in the Atlantic
Ocean near Nantucket, Massachusetts,
after taking off from Los Angeles
International Airport en route to Cairo,
Egypt. The National Transportation
Safety Board determined the crash was
caused by the intentional act of the
first officer. Among those killed was
an 80-year-old woman represented by
Clifford Law Offices. She left behind a
legally blind husband who was reliant
on her for help and assistance with his
day-to-day living.
2000
Alaska Air
Flight 261
Clifford Law Offices obtained more
than $40 million in settlements for
seven families after Flight 261 crashed
in the Pacific Ocean en route from
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Seattle,
Washington, with a stop at San
Francisco International Airport. Nearly
100 depositions were taken to establish
that a defective jackscrew system
and improper maintenance caused
the crash that killed all 88 aboard,
including 83 passengers, two pilots and
three crew members.
2000
Singapore Air
Flight 006
A Boeing 747 headed to Los Angeles,
California, entered the wrong runway
at Chiang-KaiShek Airport in Taiwan.
During take-off, which occured in
heavy rain and strong winds, the
airplane rolled and collided into nearby
construction equipment, causing it to
burst into flames. Eighty three people
died, including four crew members.
Forty-four others were injured. Clifford
Law Offices represented the family of a
Utah businessman who was killed.
2001
American Airlines Flight 11
& United Airlines Flight 175
Clifford Law Offices represented
the property interests of companies,
corporations and business owners
involved in the destruction of the
World Trade Center’s Twin Towers
on September 11, 2001. These suits
were complex, representing insurance
companies and business interests
around the world. It settled in 2012 for
$1.2 billion.
2002
American Airlines
Flight 587
The National Transportation Safety
Board determined Flight 587 crashed
due to faulty actions taken by the first
officer during take-off that caused the
tail of the aircraft to fall off. The flight
departed from John F. Kennedy Airport
in New York and was heading to Santo
Domingo's Las Americas International
Airport in the Dominican Republic. All
260 passengers, as well as five people on
the ground, were killed when the plane
crashed in a residential neighborhood
in New York.
2003
Turkish Airlines
Flight 634
Clifford Law Offices represented the
wife of the only American on board
Flight 634. The plane crashed in thick
fog as it approached Diyarbakir Airport
in Turkey.
2005
Southwest Airlines
Flight 1248
Clifford Law Offices represented a
family who was struck by a Boeing 737
that skidded off of a Chicago Midway
Airport runway during a snowstorm.
The family was traveling in their car
when the plane crashed through the
barrier wall and collided with their
vehicle. The collision resulted in
injuries to several family members and
the death of their 6-year-old child.
2006
Comair
Flight 5191
A crew on an early morning flight,
from Lexington, Kentucky’s Blue Grass
Airport, violated the sterile cockpit
rule when they weren’t paying close
attention and used a runway that was
too short and under construction.
Air traffic control violations led to
the deaths of 47 passengers and two
crew members. Clifford Law Offices
represented five families including the
only Canadian passenger on board.
2009
Continental Connection
Flight 3407
What should have been a routine
Newark-to-Buffalo flight ended in
tragedy as the Bombardier Dash
8-Q400 crashed into a house, killing
all 49 people on board and a man on
the ground. National Transportation
Safety Board hearings revealed
numerous mistakes made by
inexperienced, fatigued pilots and
an aircraft that should have been
better equipped. Clifford Law Offices
represented a number of families who
lost loved ones.
2009
Turkish Airlines
Flight 1951
Nine people were killed when Flight
TK1951 crashed into a muddy field
in Amsterdam. The aircraft broke
into three pieces on impact, scattering
debris. The aircraft stalled as a result
of a faulty radio altimeter and the
crew failed to recognize the aircraft
was losing speed. Clifford Law Offices
represented numerous individuals
injured in the crash.
2011
Caribbean Airlines
Flight 523
In the early morning hours of July 30,
2011, Caribbean Airlines Flight 523, a
Boeing 737, crash-landed in Guyana.
Clifford Law Offices represented
five individuals who were injured on
the international flight in cases filed
under the Montreal Convention in The
United States District Court for the
Eastern District of New York.
2013
Asiana
Flight 214
Pilot mismanagement was one of the
major causes of Asiana Flight 214 that
crashed at San Francisco International
Airport. The crash left three people
dead and nearly 200 more injured.
The Boeing 777 aircraft's tail struck
a seawall and was ripped off upon its
approach to land, causing the plane to
slide and spin down the runway before
a fire erupted. The passenger flight had
taken off from lncheon International
Airport in Seoul, South Korea, and
crashed on its final approach to the
runway.
2014
Malaysia Airlines
Flight 370
A Boeing 777 on its way to Beijing
from Kuala Lumpur International
Airport suddenly disappeared from all
air traffic control radar over the South
China Sea about an hour into the flight.
The search for the wreckage was called
off following a three-year underwater
multinational investigation. In July
2011, it is believed that several pieces
of the missing jet were found on an
island in the southern Indian Ocean.
Clifford Law Offices represented two
permanent U.S. residents who were
passengers on that flight and left
behind two minor children.
2016
American Airlines
Flight 383
The Boeing 767 heading to Miami
erupted and became a ball of fire and
smoke as it attempted to take off on
Chicago O'Hare Airport’s Runway
28R. The GE disk in the right engine
failed. The crew aborted takeoff and
an emergency evacuation of all 161
passengers and crew members was
ordered. More than 20 passengers
were taken to Chicago area hospitals.
Clifford Law Offices represents
numerous passengers aboard that
flight who suffered permanent mental
and emotional distress in addition to
their physical injuries.
2018
Aeromexico/Aeroliterol
Flight 2431
The flight crashed immediately after
takeoff from Durango, Mexico, during
severe storm and wind conditions.
Clifford Law Offices represents
numerous passengers who were bound
for the Chicagoland area. The aircraft
crashed because the carrier and crew
failed to properly account for changing
weather conditions, including the
potential for wind shear, and permitted
an unauthorized and inexperienced
crewmember to be at the controls
during takeoff.
2018
Southwest Airlines
Flight 1380
Clifford Law Offices represents a
victim of Southwest Airlines Flight
1380 that had to make an emergency
landing as a result of the catastrophic
failure of fan blades and other engine
component parts on April 17, 2018.
A window on the Boeing 737-700 was
shattered by engine debris, causing
rapid depressurization and resulting
in one death and injuries to numerous
other passengers.
2019
Ethiopian Airlines
Flight 302
Clifford Law Offices has been retained
by nearly 72 families who lost loved
ones in the crash of a Boeing 737 Max
8 aircraft that crashed en route from
Ethiopia to Kenya on March 10, 2019.
All 157 on board were killed when the
plane crashed shortly after takeoff.
2022
United Airlines
Flight 328
Clifford Law Offices filed lawsuits in
Illinois in 2021 against United Airlines
on behalf of 19 individuals who
suffered significant trauma on board a
flight that experienced a complete loss
of power in one engine while traveling
from Denver to Hawaii on February 20,
2021. United Airlines Flight 328 was en
route to Honolulu when four minutes
after takeoff an explosion occurred,
and the right engine was engulfed in
flames. Pilots were forced to turn back
to Denver as passengers witnessed the
plane on fire on the right side of the
wing and the debris from the failed
engine was falling to the ground. Many
thought it was their last moments of
life.
CONTINENTAL CONNECTION
FLIGHT 3407/COLGAN AIR
Crashed: February 12, 2009
in Clarence Center near Buffalo, New York
Aviation work at Clifford Law Offices: Case Study
The captain had commuted from Florida to Newark to fly the
plane. The co-pilot commuted by jump-seating on two different
cargo planes overnight from Seattle, Washington, flying across
the country, as National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
officials believed, with little to no sleep. Colgan Air facilities in
Newark, New Jersey, did not provide sleeping accommodations,
and staying overnight at a hotel was just too costly for the
24-year-old co-pilot who made about $20,000 a year.
The NTSB hearings also revealed that the captain had only 110.7
hours of experience in the Dash 8 aircraft. Once in flight on that
fateful evening on February 12, 2009, the inexperience of the co-
pilot on the Newark-to-Buffalo flight became apparent, despite
the weather being typical for the Northeast at that time of year.
The cockpit voice recorder that was recovered revealed some of
her last words in a transcript provided by the NTSB, “I’ve never
seen icing conditions. I’ve never de-iced. I’ve never seen any. I’ve
never experienced any of that.”
They, along with 47 others on the aircraft and one person on
the ground, were killed when the Bombardier Dash 8-Q400
pitched up, rolled rapidly from one side to the other, then
entered a steep descending turn and crashed into a house,
killing a father in the house as well.
Three months later, the NTSB held three days of public hearings
on the worst aviation crash in the history of western New
York. Twenty witnesses testified at the NTSB headquarters in
Washington, D.C. Excruciating facts emerged for the families
who lost loved ones in the crash as a nation mourned their
deaths. The mistakes, oversights, careless and reckless actions,
and poorly-designed and poorly-implemented systems were
recounted about the crash at Clarence Center, New York.
As family members sat in the audience, the hearings revealed
the story of a tragedy that could have been avoided and
brought to light the sad realities of the regional commuter
airline industry: inexperienced, poorly trained and fatigued
pilots; startlingly low pay and lack of sleeping arrangements
and/or hotel accommodations for commuting pilots that
contributed to crew members habitually jump-seating on
overnight cross-country commutes to get to their bases for
duty; lack of monitoring by the airlines to enforce duty time
and rest regulations; violations of the sterile cockpit rule when
undivided attention was required during an approach to land
in icing conditions; lack of enforcing industry standard safety
programs. The list goes on and on.
Although Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials had
studied many of these issues over the past several years, they did
not act. The airlines did not act. The “one level of safety” that the
FAA claimed to have established between regional and major
air carriers clearly was not there. Colgan Air, its management,
its airplanes and its pilots appear to be on a low-budget, entry-
level operation compared to Continental Airlines, the major
airline whose livery was painted on the side of the Colgan plane.
At the end of the hearings, the families who had attended
packed up and returned home in tears, vowing to find out what
really happened on that plane so that the necessary changes be
made to make flying safer. Although knowing that it couldn’t
help their loved ones, they did so in the spirit of helping others
and so that the loss of their treasured family members’ lives
would not be in vain.
The Senate Aviation Subcommittee held hearings in June 2009,
as did a House Transportation Subcommittee. It will take many
people to make things right.
Aviation work at Clifford Law Offices: Case Study
COMAIR FLIGHT 5191
Crashed on Runway: August 27, 2006
In Lexington, Kentucky
The sun hadn’t come up in Lexington, Kentucky, as Comair
Flight 5191 started heading down the taxiway and onto the
runway at Blue Grass Airport. The pilots chatted about various
things that were not pertinent to flight and operation of the
aircraft, a clear violation of the sterile cockpit rule that was
required to be followed during this important time.
Had they paid closer attention, they would have noticed that
the runway they lined up on and were about to take off from
was unlit and was too short. It was the wrong runway. They were
supposed to take Runway 22, a longer runway which provided
enough distance for the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet
CRJ-100ER to safely get off the ground. By the time the pilots
had realized their error, it was too late. The plane struck a berm
and crashed through a fence as it tried to take off at the end
of Runway 26. All 47 passengers and two crew members, the
35-year-old captain and the 27-year-old flight attendant, were
killed. The first officer survived.
Family members attended a tearful memorial service for the
victims just days after the crash, but some thought they could
do more. Three adult children lost their mother and they
wanted to know what happened. They wanted this to never
happen again and to try to make flying safer for other travelers.
They called their lawyer in Lexington. That firm knew of the
national reputation Clifford Law Offices has in aviation law.
They called Robert Clifford.
Immediately, Bob Clifford flew to Lexington and met the
lawyers and the family. Faced with Kentucky law and the
possibility that the airport (which was under construction)
would be altered, our firm filed a lawsuit within days of the
crash as well as a motion seeking a restraining order and/or
temporary injunction in state court. The firm was asking that
the taxiways and runways be kept in their current condition so
that the firm’s experts and attorneys for the family could be
allowed to examine the surfaces as well as their configuration.
Something obviously had gone terribly wrong and lawyers at
Clifford Law Offices promised the grieving family members
that they would get to the bottom of it.
Robert Clifford would also make numerous trips to Lexington
in the ensuing months on behalf of the five families who had
hired the firm for answers. It would later be discovered that
a number of things had gone wrong that morning. Careful
analysis of the cockpit voice recorder indicated that the captain
acknowledged that he would be taking off from Runway 22, that
was 7,500 feet long, but taxied instead onto an unlit Runway 26,
that was just 3,500 feet long. He then turned the controls over
to the first officer for takeoff. The lone air traffic controller in
the tower did not maintain visual contact with the aircraft and
turned away to perform administrative duties so he did not see
the mistake that should have been unfolding before his eyes and
ended up tragically killing the innocent passengers. It would
later be revealed that the tower was understaffed, violating an
internal policy.
Calculations would demonstrate that with the load the plane
was carrying, a runway with a minimum of 3,744 feet was
necessary for a safe takeoff. Even though the pilots remarked
about the dark runway, they did nothing to check if what they
were doing was right. They were wrong.
Before they could achieve lift-off, the plane struck a berm,
became airborne momentarily, clipped the airport fencing with
its landing gear, collided with trees, and then crashed into a hill,
separating the fuselage and cockpit from the tail. The plane,
loaded with jet fuel, burst into flames.
Most of the 47 passengers who died were from Lexington. Many
of them knew each other in this small, friendly town in the
middle of the country that would never be the same.
Aviation work at Clifford Law Offices: Case Study
ALASKA AIR FLIGHT 261
Crashed: January 31, 2000
in the Pacific Ocean
Aviation work at Clifford Law Offices: Case Study
Most of those aboard had just enjoyed several sunny days in
beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Alaska Air Flight 261 was
heading to San Francisco and then continuing on to Seattle
for many passengers on that fateful day in 2000. Suddenly,
as it flew along the Pacific coast, the aircraft experienced
problems. Unable to land after a long struggle to gain and
keep control of the aircraft, it crashed into the ocean, killing
everyone aboard.
News started filtering of a plane crash in the Pacific Ocean
as families hoped against hope that their loved ones were not
on the plane. As the passenger and crew lists were confirmed,
families were devastated and helpless. Seven turned to
Clifford Law Offices to help sort through a family’s worst
nightmare. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
immediately sent out a team of investigators to examine the
crash in order to determine the cause.
Robert Clifford recommended filing a lawsuit as soon as possible.
Two weeks after the crash, he did so. That would not only send
a message to all of the parties involved that the families meant
business, it also meant that they had a chance to participate in
getting answers from the beginning. They did not want to wait.
They wanted to be informed and stay informed.
The plane was a MD-83 aircraft built in 1992, manufactured
by McDonnell Douglas, which became a part of Boeing.
Within hours, the law firm had hired aviation experts, while
teams of NTSB investigators boarded Coast Guard ships, Navy
vessels, and private boats which combed for debris in a four-
mile-wide search for clues and remains.
Clifford Law Offices hired experts to look into the design of
the aircraft, previous problems with that particular model
and the various parts that could have been defective. Clifford
Law Offices took more than 100 depositions of engineers
and design people from McDonnell Douglas and Boeing.
After three years of questioning, it was determined that the
horizontal stabilizer had jammed, causing the plane to go into
a dive. Mounted on the tail of the plane, the stabilizer controls
the pitch of the nose and keeps it from heading downward. A
jackscrew, relatively small compared to the size of this large
aircraft, had caused an enormous and avoidable loss of life.
The aircraft had clearance to make an emergency landing in
Los Angeles, but it did not do so. Flight 261 plunged 20,000
feet into the Pacific Ocean about 20 miles north of Los Angeles
International Airport near Point Mugu.
Depositions led by Kevin Durkin of Alaska Airlines
employees, Boeing employees and various experts resulted
in Boeing stipulating to a liability judgment against them
despite the NTSB giving the corporate giant a virtual pass
in its final report. On behalf of the seven families who lost
loved ones aboard that airliner, Clifford Law Offices obtained
$40 million for its clients.
Aviation work at Clifford Law Offices: Case Study
AMERICAN EAGLE FLIGHT 4184
Crashed: October 31, 1994
in Roselawn, Indiana
Robert A. Clifford wore a dark blue suit. He entered the
wood-paneled federal courtroom in Chicago with his leather
briefcase, prepared to make his opening statement to the
jury which had been selected over the previous two days. A
screen was set up for the jurors to view elaborate PowerPoint
presentations that would explain the case. It also was for
purposes of showing previous testimony of the dozens of
witnesses whose earlier depositions had been videotaped in
preparation for trial. If anyone contradicted their statements
on the witness stand or tried to change their story at this late
date, Mr. Clifford was ready to impeach them. The jurors
also were to view day-in-the-life videos that Mr. Clifford had
produced on each of the 16 passengers who had lost their lives.
Mr. Clifford had hired a professional videographer to capture,
through family photos and videos as well as interviews, the
lives of each one of the victims he represented who were killed
in the tragedy.
Flight 4184 crashed on a cold, rainy Halloween night in
1994, in Roselawn, Indiana. Winds were blowing 30 miles
per hour. American Eagle Flight 4184 from Indianapolis was
circling 9,000 feet above Northwest Indiana waiting to land
at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Twice, the pilots
had warned air traffic controllers that freezing drizzle was
coating the wings with ice. While the 30-year-old co-pilot was
struggling with the ice build-up, the 29-year-old pilot was out
of the cockpit.
“Aw, [expletive],” were the last words of the co-pilot before
a crunch sound ended the cockpit voice recording. All 68
passengers and crew members perished when the plane rolled
and plunged into a cornfield.
As the trial in Chicago’s federal court was about to get
underway, the defendants agreed to settle 28 cases for
$110 million and an apology in open court from American
Airlines. They assured those in the courtroom that as much
as possible had been done to correct the problems that they
believed caused the crash. The families distributed the money
in confidential settlements. For a week, settlement talks had
continued, even into the weekend, while jurors were told
various other reasons for the delay in the trial proceedings —
if the settlement had collapsed, the jury is not allowed to have
that information for fear it could prejudice their objective
decision. Instead, in the end, they were thanked for their
patience and were dismissed.
Mr. Clifford, as lead counsel for the plaintiffs, was allowed
to make a mini-opening statement to the families before a
packed courtroom. The lawyer for American Airlines told the
families, “We are terribly sorry that this happened.”
The crash led the National Transportation Safety Board in
1996 to urge tighter regulations on flights by commuter
aircraft in icing conditions. The NTSB report also concluded
that the makers of the French-built ATR-72 turboprop had
failed to adequately report previous problems encountered by
its planes in icy conditions. Its report also faulted the French
Directorate General for Civil Aviation for failing to oversee the
manufacturer and for failure to inform the Federal Aviation
Administration about the airworthiness of the ATR planes
operating in icy conditions, but also cited the FAA’s failure
to exert proper authority over the aircraft’s maker as well.
Robert Clifford and Kevin Durkin led the Plaintiffs’ Discovery
Committee unearthing these critical facts.
Aviation work at Clifford Law Offices: Case Study
UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 232
Crashed: July 19, 1989
in Sioux City, Iowa
A nation watched as a home video fixed on Runway 2L at Sioux
City, Iowa’s airport captured the crash. Over and over again,
television stations aired the clip of a huge jetliner, United
Airlines Flight 232, cartwheeling in flames before crash-
landing in a soybean field. Passengers were thrown from the
plane, killing 112. Another 184 passengers miraculously
survived, crawling to safety. There were many heroes that day.
Mr. Clifford received a $28.3 million verdict on behalf of a
70-year-old woman, who suffered permanent injuries, and
her husband who was killed. Doris Levenberg had a wonderful
life before taking that ill-fated flight. She was returning from
Denver where she and her husband of less than a year, 71-year-
old Allan, were surveying retirement nests. She was active and
happy and loved. But in 44 minutes, while the plane swirled
in circles in the sky before crash-landing, their lives were
completely changed. Allan was killed. Doris was permanently
disabled, left to a life of constant painful rehabilitation after
suffering nerve damage that impaired the use of her limbs, as
well as a broken neck, left arm, right ankle and left leg.
Using state-of-the-art visual exhibits and trial presentation
techniques, Mr. Clifford tried the case for two weeks before
jurors who ranged in age from 22 to 76. It took the jury less than
three hours to determine the verdict, a record amount at that
time for a personal injury case in Illinois. The foreman was
later quoted to say that it was clear from the trial testimony
that Doris was a “fighter who wanted as much out of life as
possible despite her injuries.”
Mr. Clifford also represented a Chicago-area businessman
whose family was lost in the crash. Mr. Clifford received a
$15 million settlement on behalf of Terry Brown who lost his
wife Janice and 11-year-old daughter Kimberly. The two were
returning from a visit to grandma’s and at the last minute
their seats had been reassigned on the plane. The two people in
their previous seats survived the crash. Terry wanted to hold
someone culpable in order to make airplane manufacturers
more aware of safety concerns. On his behalf, Mr. Clifford
obtained an unprecedented admission of responsibility
for the crash from the most culpable defendant, General
Electric Corporation, which manufactured the plane’s
engine. Although GE maintained that United Airlines and
McDonnell Douglas, builders of the jet, also were responsible,
GE admitted that it failed to detect a crack in the engine.
Following the settlement, Mr. Brown said that although his
wife and daughter paid the ultimate price, he felt he had done
everything he could and everything they would have wanted
him to do.
Mr. Clifford also was able to extract an additional $250,000
from the defendants, which included McDonnell Douglas
Corporation, manufacturer of the aircraft, to be donated to
Chicago Children’s Hospital. The additional funds allowed for
a bereavement center to be set up in the names of Janice and
Kimberly Brown.
Aviation work at Clifford Law Offices: Case Study
TURKISH AIRLINES FLIGHT 1951
Crashed short of runway: February 25, 2009
In Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 was en route from Istanbul,
Turkey, to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on February 25,
2009. The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 127 passengers, four of
them Americans. Seven crew members, including three pilots,
also were on the journey that seemed uneventful until the final
minutes. As the aircraft descended for landing on Runway
18R at approximately 1,950 feet, a faulty radio altimeter gave
a wrong reading, which in turn caused the autothrottle to
decrease because the faulty altimeter was telling the autopilot/
autothrottle that the aircraft was at a lower altitude, and the
engine power decreased to idle during the approach. The
autothrottle system automatically adjusts the engine power
throughout the flight.
The crew did not notice that the throttle had automatically
gone to idle until it was too late to increase the thrust and take
the appropriate corrective action to recover the aircraft and
avoid a stall. The aircraft reached a critically low speed and
stalled and crashed on muddy farmland short of the runway.
Miraculously, a fire did not erupt, but nine people were killed ,
including several Americans, and dozens more were seriously
injured. Three pilots were among those killed, crushed by a
panel that slammed through the cockpit. Clifford Law Offices
represented 19 of the victims and their families.
The United States National Transportation Safety Board and
Federal Aviation Administration dispatched investigators to
assist the Dutch Safety Board in the investigation regarding
the probable cause of the crash. The airplane’s digital flight data
recorder and cockpit voice recorder were recovered.
Due to confusing instructions from the Schiphol Control
Center, ambulances and rescue crews were dispatched to an
inaccurate location, resulting in a 30-minute delay before
emergency services reached the crash site. Helicopters arrived
55 minutes after the crash when it could have taken 10 minutes
for airlift rescuers to arrive. Despite 82 ambulances being at the
crash site, surrounding hospitals were not properly alerted to
the tragedy and personnel had no idea that a plane had crashed.
As a result of this tragic crash, the aircraft manufacturer,
Boeing, issued a bulletin to remind pilots of all 737 aircraft of
the importance of monitoring airspeed and altitude, further
advising against the use of autopilot and autothrottle when
landing in cases of radio altimeter discrepancies. But, in a
New York Times article published on January 20, 2020, which
examined what caused this plane to plummet into a field
found that Boeing also was responsible for the crash (“How
Boeing’s Responsibility in a Deadly Crash ‘Got Buried,’” by
Chris Hamby). In a lengthy story, the reporter stated that,
“Decisions by Boeing, including risky design choices and
faulty safety assessments, also contributed to the accident on
the Turkish Airlines flight. But the Dutch Safety Board either
excluded or played down criticisms of the manufacturer in its
final report after pushback from a team of Americans that
included Boeing and federal safety officials, documents and
interviews show.”
The story goes on to compare whether the mistakes of the
Turkish crash to lead to the same problems of the Boeing
planes in the Boeing 737 Max aircraft. “A review by The New
York Time s of evidence from the 2009 accident, some of it
previously confidential, reveals striking parallels with the
recent crashes — and resistance by the team of Americans
to a full airing of findings that later proved relevant to the
Max,” the reporter wrote. “In the 2009 and Max accidents,
for example, the failure of a single sensor caused systems
to misfire, with catastrophic results, and Boeing had not
provided pilots with information that could have helped them
react to the malfunction. The muted criticism of Boeing after
the 2009 accident fits within a broader pattern, brought to
light since the Max tragedies, of the company benefiting from
a light-touch approach by safety officials.”
Aviation work at Clifford Law Offices: Case Study
DISCLAIMER
More than 100 years of combined
aviation litigation experience
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Clifford Law Offices represents victims of aircraft disasters
around the world. The firm has represented passengers and crew
against virtually every major airline carrier, manufacturer and
assembler, earning the firm a distinguished reputation for
managing complex litigation arising from commercial and
private air disasters.
Clifford Law Offices has prepared this publication for its many
clients and colleagues world-wide. It is purely a public resource
of general information. Although it is not intended to be a
source of either solicitation or legal advice, it must be regarded
as an advertising or promotional communication in the terms
of the lawyers’ professional responsibility law. Accordingly, it
is necessary that certain information be supplied to and noted
by the reader.
This publication should not be considered as an offer to
represent in any legal matter, nor should it be the basis of
legal hiring decisions. Thus, the reader should not consider
this information to be an invitation for an attorney-client
relationship, should not rely on information provided herein,
and should always seek advice of competent counsel.
All lawsuits are different, and Clifford Law Offices makes
no representation or promises that it can obtain the same
results as reported in this publication in other legal matters.
Nothing in this publication constitutes a guarantee, warranty
or prediction regarding the outcome of any future legal
matter. Further, it should be noted that even where the fee
arrangements are on a contingency basis, clients will still be
responsible for payment or reimbursement of the costs and
expenses of litigation.
The owner of this publication is a law firm licensed to practice
only in Illinois. In preparing and disseminating this publication,
Clifford Law Offices has made a good faith effort to comply
with all laws and ethical rules of every state into which it may be
sent. In the event, however, that it is found not to comply with
the requirements of any state, Clifford Law Offices disclaims
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upon viewing this publication in such state.
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avoiding any penalties that may be imposed under state or
federal law.
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