Diane Stefani won a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against a charter school in which a student sued for a serious knee injury.
The case involved a case of first impression in the application of the statute of limitations of the Governmental Tort Immunity Act and the court dismissed the case with prejudice. An important win for charter schools throughout the city.

Ashley Portman achieved a pre-suit settlement for 100% of the damages sought by her client, an employee theft policy insurer.
The settlement was reached with the insured’s ex-employee who was accused of stealing materials from the insured and selling them for personal profit.

Betsy Grover and Dom Savaiano recently won a not-guilty verdict after a nearly two-week trial in Cook County, Illinois.
The medical malpractice case involved an allegedly misplaced and loosened prosthesis inserted by our doctor, requiring a more drastic surgery within 11 months of the surgery by our client. Plaintiff is a female Vietnam veteran, having served in the Army and the Marines for 8 years. She currently works for the VA Hospital. Plaintiff asked the jury for at least $750,000. The jury promptly returned a verdict in favor of the defendant and against the plaintiff. Among the significant moments of the trial was the cross examination of Plaintiff’s expert, a well-credentialed orthopedic surgeon, who was led to describe findings on an x-ray that did not actually exist and who was impeached more than a dozen times during the cross examination.

Frank DeBoni & Jack Murphy successfully defended a punitive damages claim brought against a world renowned 5 Star Luxury Hotel in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Despite the Plaintiff’s allegations of willful and wanton conduct, Mr. DeBoni & Mr. Murphy were able to demonstrate that the hotel had no prior notice of the alleged condition that caused Plaintiff’s injuries. After a 4 day trial, the jury returned a “no liability” verdict.

Nielsen, Zehe, & Antas , P.C. is very proud to announce that Stella, Dugan & Gunn, LLC has merged with the Chicago based firm.
The product liability defense practice of Stella, Dugan, & Gunn, LLC is an extraordinary fit with NZA’s burgeoning product liability practice and will enable NZA to secure a new and broader clientele.

Joe Stella, John Dugan, and Jeffrey Gunn have defended European product manufacturers and their insurers in product liability and transactional matters for over 30 years. Their national practice coincides with NZA’s national reputation and offers its European clients greater depth and additional expertise.

Joe Stella is a graduate of St. John’s University with a B.A. in Economics and received his Juris Doctorate from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

John Dugan is a graduate of DePaul University with a B.A. in Political Science and received his Juris Doctorate from DePaul University College of Law.

Jeffrey Gunn is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University with a B.A. in English and received his Juris Doctorate from DePaul University College of Law.

Nielsen, Zehe, & Antas is very proud to announce that James M. Hoey, former President and Managing Partner of Clausen Miller PC, has joined the firm.
Jim is a nationally recognized trial attorney. He specializes in all aspects of insurance defense, including first party property and liability defense. Jim is a graduate of Purdue University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and he received his Juris Doctorate from Loyola University in Chicago.

Brad Krause won summary judgment for a general contractor in a lawsuit filed in Madison County, Illinois where it was established that the general contractor did not control the means and methods of its plumbing subcontractor, which caused the loss.

Brad Krause obtained a dismissal with prejudice for a local school district in a lawsuit filed by a student that was injured while participating in a vocational class.

Jeffrey Zehe and Frank DeBoni obtained dismissal of their client, a Japanese company, when U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan granted their client's MTD challenging personal jurisdiction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2).

Jeffrey Zehe and Frank DeBoni obtained dismissal of two Japanese corporations after challenging personal jurisdiction in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division.

Robert Lentz settled a building collapse claim in Roswell NM stemming from winter storm Goliath for policy limits.

Dominick Savaiano was nominated for the Lifetime Achievement award among America's Top 100 Attorneys® for Illinois.

In a 1983/Title IX claim brought against an Illinois school district and its administrators, Robert Lentz was able to obtain a Motion to Dismiss with prejudice from the Fed Dist Court of Illinois.

Nielsen, Zehe & Antas, P.C. is proud to be celebrating its 20th anniversary – 1997-2017.

Craig Antas recently presented a webinar to CLM on Protecting the Attorney-Client Privileged in Subrogation Cases.

Craig Antas recently made a 100% recovery for our client in a construction related accident where a concrete supplier on a job site damaged a support beam leading to a significant collapse of the structure.

Jeff Zehe and Betsy Grover conducted a webinar on transgender issues facing private colleges and protests/activism on the college campus.
Jeff Zehe and Betsy Grover recently conducted a webinar on transgender issues facing private colleges and protests/activism on the college campus. The webinar dealt with the legal history and recent changes affecting Title IX regarding transgender individuals. On the related issue, the recent increase in campus protests and activism was addressed against the backdrop of the First Amendment. Practical suggestions to approach each of these issues was discussed as well. This webinar was presented to an organization of college businesses and risk managers. The webinar was sponsored by Wright Risk Insurance.

Diane Stefani obtained a favorable decision on a dispositive motion on behalf of a School District.
Diane Stefani recently obtained a favorable court decision on a dispositive motion in Cook County on behalf of a School District. Multiple plaintiffs had filed a multi-count complaint alleging sexual assault and abuse by a defendant teacher and various theories attempting to implicate the District. This motion to dismiss was brought early in litigation, and resulted in a dismissal of the counts against the School District, with prejudice, prior to any discovery.

New addition to the firm:
We are pleased to announce that Vaughn A. Drozd has joined the Firm as an Associate Attorney. Vaughn is a 2016 graduate of John Marshall Law School and a 2012 graduate of Eastern Illinois University. He will concentrate his practice with our subrogation group.

Patrick Hess and Matthew Cohen settle automatic sprinkler system failure claim
Patrick Hess and Matthew Cohen recently settled a case involving the failure of an automatic sprinkler system to respond to a devastating fire at a Michigan recycling facility. Our client insured that publically-owned facility and paid more than $7,600,000 for the fire damages. On behalf of our client, Mr. Hess and Mr. Cohen filed suit against two fire protection contractors alleging that they had negligently inspected and serviced the sprinkler system before the fire. Mr. Hess and Mr. Cohen took more than 50 depositions in the case including seven defense experts. After extensive discovery, they obtained a settlement for our client. The terms of that settlement are confidential by agreement with the defendants.

Paul Bozych and Jack Murphy obtained a favorable court decision on a dispositive motion
Paul Bozych and Jack Murphy recently obtained a favorable court decision on a dispositive motion in the Northern District of Illinois regarding personal jurisdiction. Plaintiff, an Illinois attorney, originally brought a defamation claim in Illinois state court seeking damages arising from an internet posting by a not for profit entity that questioned the veracity of statements made by plaintiff while arguing a case before the Supreme Court of Indiana. The matter was removed to the Northern District of Illinois where dismissal was sought on jurisdictional grounds. In his attempt to establish jurisdiction, plaintiff made technical arguments regarding meta-tags, meta-data, interactivity and content found on the not for profit’s website. The defense was required to perform a detailed analysis of the website source code to show that its reference to the forum was minimal and could not confer jurisdiction. This case provides a useful jurisdictional analysis in the cyber context.

New addition to the firm:
We are pleased to announce that Diane Stefani has joined the Firm as Of Counsel in our defense practice. Diane was previously a partner with Clausen Miller and has extensive experience in professional, medical and casualty defense.

New addition to the firm:
We are pleased to announce that Preetha Jayakumar has joined the Firm as Associate Attorney. Preetha is a 2014 graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s Law School and a 2007 graduate of New York University. She will concentrate her practice with our defense group.

Marc Katalinic obtains multi-million dollar recovery
Marc Katalinic recently obtained a multi-million dollar recovery for an environmental liability insurer. The case, which was settled shortly before trial was scheduled to begin, was litigated over the course of more than 5 years and required over forty depositions and multiple dispositive motions.

New Lawyers Join Firm
Nielsen, Zehe & Antas, P.C. is pleased to announce that attorney's Dominick W. Savaiano and Paul Bozych have joined the firm as Senior Partners.

Formerly of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, LLP., Savaiano and Bozych’s team also includes attorney's Elizabeth (Betsy) R. Grover, Bradford S. Krause, Jack J. Murphy, associate Sean Brogan, paralegal Athena Giokaris, and legal assistant Sue Hunninghaus.

Dominick Savaiano, an accomplished trial attorney, counselor and litigator, works with a select group of attorneys he has trained in the art of litigation and courtroom techniques, providing consistency in skill and results in handling the most complex and difficult matters anywhere in the country. He is admitted to several federal district courts outside of Illinois and has been admitted pro hac vice in multiple state and federal courts on specific cases around the country.

Savaiano was recently awarded a career achievement award for trial of defendants in civil lawsuits, such as professional, products and construction liability, from the Chicago legal media.

Paul Bozych is a veteran trial attorney and a skilled counselor and litigator. He leads an accomplished national practice team involved in the litigation, trial and resolution of a wide variety of complex lawsuits and other types of disputes. Over his nearly 30-year career, Paul has acquired vast experience representing companies and groups in health care matters, product liability lawsuits, and actions based on premises liability, manufacturing, transportation, construction litigation and commercial disputes, including employment practices and employee relations. Paul frequently publishes and lectures on topics such as common law negligence theories, risk management and developments in decisional law regarding his areas of concentration.

Betsy Grover concentrates her practice on various areas in casualty, commercial and insurance related litigation. She focuses on the litigation of medical malpractice, professional liability and product liability claims, as well as construction, transportation and premises disputes. An experienced litigator, Betsy has litigated, as lead counsel, numerous jury trials to verdict in Cook and surrounding counties. Betsy has also served as lead counsel for more than 100 arbitrations and routinely represents clients at mediation.

Brad Krause represents businesses and individuals in a variety of complex claims, including product liability, construction, medical malpractice, transportation, general tort liability, professional malpractice and commercial disputes. Many of the lawsuits involve multimillion-dollar claims that include catastrophic injury, wrongful death and commercial disputes. Although an accomplished litigator, Brad recognizes that not all disputes need to be resolved by trial. He works with his clients to determine if settlement, alternative dispute resolution or trial represents the best and most efficient course of action to achieve a desired result.

Jack Murphy concentrates his practice in civil litigation in the areas of medical malpractice, product liability, employment law, professional liability and commercial litigation. His practice is diverse and comprises not only the defense of personal injury cases such as catastrophic personal injury and birth injury cases but also the defense of corporate entities and employers in actions and several class actions involving business torts, breach of contract, employment discrimination, collective bargaining and covenants not to compete.

Sean Brogan deals primarily with product, professional and premises liability as well as construction litigation and transportation matters. Sean is committed to resolving claims quickly and efficiently, regularly accessing centralized resources and talent.

Kevin M. Pugliese Elected Partner
It is with great satisfaction and pride that the Firm would like to announce that Kevin Pugliese has been elected Partner effective October 1, 2015. Kevin joined the Firm two years ago and has demonstrated to everyone on numerous occasions that not only is he a great person and friend to all, but an outstanding and hard working attorney.

Marc Katalinic Wins Verdict For Hartford
Marc Katalinic recently obtained a settlement from a product manufacturer on behalf of the Hartford for $1.175 million on a subrogation claim for fire damage to the warehouse and business operated by its insured in suburban Chicago. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and, after extensive discovery and motion practice, was approaching trial when the case settled at a pre-trial conference conducted by the trial judge.

New addition to the firm
Nielsen, Zehe & Antas, P.C. is pleased to announce that John B. McCabe has joined the Firm as Of Counsel concentrating in commercial litigation, large property subrogation, and first party coverage and litigation. Mr. McCabe is an active trial attorney and currently manages and tries major cases nationally. He was formerly a founding principal at McDonald & McCabe, LLC. and prior to that, a Senior Partner/Shareholder at Clausen Miller, P.C.

Pat Hess settles medical office building fire claim
Pat Hess recently obtained a $2.22 million recovery in a fire loss at a medical office building in Indio, California. Electrical cables in the office building short-circuited nine years after they were installed, starting a fire that destroyed medical imaging equipment and displaced businesses. On behalf of the property insurer, Pat successfully pursued a claim against an electrician that had serviced the system.

Presentations and Publications
Nielsen, Zehe & Antas is pleased to announce that many of our attorneys have recently given presentations or been published. If you are interested in learning more about any of the topics listed below, please contact the attorney.

Jeffrey Zehe: Defending Civil Rights Litigation Resulting from Criminal Defendants Exonerated by DNA

Hess wins in the Court of Appeals of Georgia.
In a subrogation action arising from damage to personal property suffered by a holdover tenant in Georgia. The trial court awarded summary judgment to the landlord based on a waiver of subrogation in the expired lease. Partner Patrick Hess appealed that ruling and obtained a reversal. The Court of Appeals of Georgia ruled that the waiver of subrogation did not continue to apply after the expired lease because it was not a term, like rent, that was necessary for the landlord/tenant relationship to continue.

Marc Katalinic obtains $1.175 million settlement from a product manufacturer
Marc Katalinic recently obtained a settlement from a product manufacturer on behalf of The Hartford for $1.175 million on a subrogation claim for fire damage to the warehouse and business operated by its insured in suburban Chicago. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and, after extensive discovery and motion practice, was approaching trial when the case settled at a pre-trial conference conducted by the trial judge.

Michael Griffin obtained a settlement in excess of $500,000 in a Missouri fire case involving negligent maintenance of a commercial ventilation system.

Michael J. Griffin won an arbitration award in excess of $400,000 in a Minnesota construction defect case.

Michael J. Griffin made a 100% recovery in a North Dakota crane collapse case for $392,785.

Frank DeBoni was nominated and selected as Super Lawyers - Rising Star years 2008, 2011 - 2015.

Ashley Portman settled a property subrogation matter relating to a water loss at an insured's hotel with an uninsured third-party.

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