MATUSHEK, NILLES & SINARS, L.L.C.
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- - - - - Edward J. Matushek III - has more than 25 years of legal experience, handling civil jury trials and appeals. Mr. Matushek focuses on product liability, toxic torts, aviation law, and occupational exposure claims. Much of his practice involves asbestos litigation. Legal Experience: Ed Matushek has defended thousands of complex mass toxic tort and product liability cases, including multi-party personal injury and property damage claims involving asbestos exposure, mold, motorcycle manufacturing and design defects, air crashes and aviation hull damage, and mechanical press and electrical switch manufacturing defects. He is widely respected for his effective litigation skills and often achieves an early favorable resolution on behalf of his clients as a result. For example, in Cook County asbestos litigation, Mr. Matushek has obtained summary judgment in over 50% of the claims filed against his clients, years before the cases were set for trial. He co-authored the joint defense brief which defeated the motion of all Cook County asbestos plaintiffs for a single consolidated trial. Mr. Matushek has also demonstrated he is not afraid to try a case where warranted. He has tried high-profile cases to verdict in both Cook and Madison Counties, two of the top three venues rated nationwide as "judicial hell-holes" by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. On behalf of an industrial insulation distributor/contractor, he obtained the only not-guilty jury verdict among several defendants in an asbestos-related product liability trial of a wrongful death case involving lung cancer in McLean County, Illinois. He also represented an insurance company in a jury trial of a declaratory judgment action brought by a widow for death benefits under a $1,000,000.00 insurance policy. Despite the sympathy displayed toward the plaintiff whose husband died from injuries resulting from a gasoline explosion, Mr. Matushek achieved a Cook County jury verdict in favor of the insurer which had denied coverage. Mr. Matushek's litigation management skills were highlighted in obtaining dismissals of all 448 plaintiffs' claims against a client which was targeted by a nationwide screening program; those defense rulings were all upheld on appeal. In numerous jurisdictions around the country, he was also successful in convincing courts that no liability continued for a dissolved Illinois corporation for asbestos claims filed after the date of corporate dissolution, again resulting in the dismissals of hundreds of claims that were pending against his client. In addition to jury trials, Mr. Matushek also has extensive appellate experience, including cases of first impression such as McIntosh v. A & M Insulation Co., 244 Ill. App. 3d 247 (1st Dist.1993) (the first application of the Illinois Construction Statute of Repose defense to asbestos claims against insulation contractors), and Leng v. Celotex Corp., 196 Ill. App. 3d 647 (1st Dist.1990) (prevention of the application of market share liability to Illinois companies). He was retained as amicus counsel on behalf of an Illinois contractors' association in Krueger v. A.P. Green Refractories, 283 Ill. App. 3d 300 (3rd Dist.1996) (asserting successfully that asbestos-containing insulation products constitute an improvement to real property which is afforded the protection of the construction statute of repose). Professional Associations: Mr. Matushek has served on the Board of Managers for the Chicago Bar Association and is past Chair of the CBA's Continuing Legal Education Committee. In 1990, he was Chair of the 11,000-member Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association, with responsibility for guiding more than 30 substantive law and service committees. During his tenure, he motivated a team of volunteer lawyers to earn the ABA Award of Achievement for the success of many public service projects. From 1992 to 1998, he served on the Board of Directors of the American Judicature Society. Mr. Matushek is a member of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, the Defense Research Institute, the Illinois Bar Association and the American Bar Association's Tort & Insurance Practice and Litigation Sections. Education: Mr. Matushek received his B.A. in 1975 from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois. He earned his Juris Doctor in 1982 from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, where he placed first in the JMLS Moot Court Competition, receiving both the Outstanding Oralist Award and Best Brief Award. Admitted to Practice: Mr. Matushek is admitted to practice before the Illinois Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Trial Bar, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana and the United States District Court of Arizona. He has also been admitted pro hac vice for cases in the States of Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania. E-mail: ejmatushek@matushek.com |
