Verdicts And Settlements

Tobin & Muñoz has an extraordinary tradition of trial success that few firms can match. The firm’s attorneys have won record-breaking verdicts for clients seeking justice in many cases both as the plaintiff’s and defense counsel.

Examples include:

  • We won $3.1 million in a wrongful death matter on behalf of the family of a 14-year-old boy who could not swim and drowned in a Four Points Sheraton Hotel pool.
  • A retired Chicago firefighter enjoyed an active life until one day, during a ride on his motorcycle, the bike went out of control. The crash left him a quadriplegic. The firm helped him and his wife sue the motorcycle manufacturer and prove that the crash was a design defect, not a result of human or environmental error. Before the jury could reach a verdict, the lawsuit settled — a win for this couple whose lives were forever changed because of a defective product.
  • In 1997, Chicago was focused on the highly publicized case of Jeremiah Mearday, who was beaten by police officers. With the defense of Tobin & Muñoz the jury acquitted Mearday of criminal charges of police battery and felony drug possession. The city later agreed to pay Mearday $1.75 million for post-traumatic stress disorder and other injuries related to police misconduct. The city dismissed two officers involved in the beating.
  • We won $4 million for a woman who suffered soft-tissue injuries at the hands of a Chicago police officer while she was marching in the gay pride parade and $1.55 million in the case of a transit supervisor falsely arrested, brutalized and injured by Chicago police officers after she explained she could not “fix” a parking ticket.

Lavonte Hodges V. Madison Food & Spirits

Craig D Tobin and Matthew Lauderdale of Tobin & Munoz,LLC were proud to represent Lavonte Hodges in his case against Madison Food & Liquors as well as the property owners of the shopping center. Lavonte Hodges v. Madison Food & Spirits, et al., Case No. 2020 L005485. Lavonte while intoxicated, was involved in an argument with a security guard at Madison Food & Liquors. The security guard should not have had access to a weapon in light of his felony background. The argument escalated and the security guard shot nine times at Lavonte striking him four times. Lavonte sustained injuries. We were able to resolve the matter by obtaining $900,000.00 on behalf of our client. The case did not initially lend itself to settlement discussions because Lavonte Hodges was in State custody on an unrelated matter. Tobin & Munoz prepared the case for trial and the case settled. We are proud our efforts to help someone who has faced many challenges in life including incarceration.

Barnett V. Plaza On The Park

We represented Caprice Lewis and her child, Michael Barnett, in a case in which Lewis was injured due to a ceiling collapse in her apartment. She was pregnant with Michael at the time of her injury and had previously complained about ceiling leaks. We argued that Lewis’ sustained injuries in the ceiling collapse negatively affected her son’s development and the apartment management had been negligent of the issues leading to the collapse. The argument was strong enough that the case went to trial, eventually resulting in a settlement of nearly three million dollars.

GS Holdings V. Zvi Feiner, et al.

We helped investors seek compensation for financial losses after Zvi Feiner of FNR Healthcare deceptively solicited investments from clients Ilya Shulman and Dmitry Godin. Shulman and Godin sought $24 million from Feiner and others. Our clients were not the only victims, as there were dozens, including one defrauded individual—a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor. Tobin & Muñoz were successful in resolving this high-profile complaint.

Docken V. The Law Group, Ltd. And Kurt Hyzy

Tobin & Muñoz was retained by a Canadian law firm and class action lawyer, who is considered one of the best class action attorneys in all of Canada.  Mr. Docken retained us to enforce a contract agreement he had with The Law Group. Clint Docken was the class counsel for all of Canada in the Vioxx litigation. The Law Group retained his services to assist them with Canadian clients who were participating in the class action. Mr. Docken provided the services and, pursuant to the contract, was to be paid a percentage of the recovery that was obtained on behalf of The Law Group’s clients. The Law Group and Kurt Hyzy refused to pay Mr. Docken. Tobin and Muñoz  sued The Law Group. Mandatory arbitration was ordered by the court. The parties went to a hearing. Mr. Docken was awarded damages by the arbitrator within moments after the presentation of evidence and arguments were completed. The trial court entered judgment on the arbitration award.

Tuff Towing V. Michael Del Galdo And The Del Galdo Law Group

In this matter, we were retained by both the Town of Cicero and Michael Del Galdo to represent him and defend him and the law firm against accusations by a former client, a corporation controlled by his soon-to-be former father-in-law, Eugene Potempa. The father-in-law claimed that Michael Del Galdo assisted the town in revoking Tuff Towing’s towing license and prevented them from continuing to tow in Cicero. Cicero conducted an internal investigation and discovered there were documents filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission and that the documents submitted were fraudulent and contained purported signatures of town officials that were not town officials’ signatures. It was also discovered that Tuff had been failing to meet its financial obligations to the town prior to a hearing being held and their business license being revoked. Tuff Towing filed a lawsuit alleging a conspiracy, legal malpractice by his son-in-law and son-in-law’s firm concerning the revocation of Tuff Towing as the sole and exclusive private towing company in Cicero. Tobin & Muñoz advanced a legal theory to have the case successfully dismissed with prejudice.

Other Representative Matters

When his own law partners ejected him from the law firm he helped found, noted Chicago lawyer Robert Field came to Tobin & Muñoz for the skilled attorneys he needed to seek justice at trial. The firm argued that his former partners violated their duties of loyalty, good faith and honesty to him. With their strong representation, a Cook County judge ruled in favor of Mr. Field, awarding him more than $800,000.

People V. Roy McCampbell

Roy McCampbell, a village comptroller and attorney, was charged with 12 felony counts of theft, including Class X felonies that required a six-year minimum in prison. Mr. McCampbell was accused of enriching himself at the expense of the village and unlawfully increasing his pension to allow him to receive millions of dollars. After a series of motions and hearings the State dismissed all felony counts and McCampbell pled to a misdemeanor and received probation and no prison time. The case was featured in the Chicago Tribune on numerous occasions.

Meridian Rail V. The Town Of Cicero

We successfully defended the Town of Cicero in a complex litigation matter where the plaintiff claimed over $28 million dollars in damages because of alleged constitutional violations, including inverse condemnation. After many years of discovery, hearings and motion practice the case resolved to the benefit of the Town of Cicero when the plaintiff dismissed its case. The town required that the plaintiff bring a purchaser for the property and they would work with the developer. At the end of the day, we were not only successful in defeating the $28 million claim but worked with a developer to render the property productive.

Rojas V. President Larry Dominick And The Town Of Cicero

We successfully defeated claims that the town president discriminated against an individual because of race when he fired him. After a week and a half trial, the jury rejected those claims. We successfully defended the town president and the town against claims that the president engaged in political retaliation. Initially a judgment was rendered against the town president, but based upon a motion and evidence presented by our firm, that judgment was vacated due to the misconduct of the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s attorney. The motion and the order vacating the jury decision received nationwide attention.

Tax Cases

George Muñoz continued his unprecedented success in the tax appeal area where he has never lost a case. Mr. Tobin and Mr. Muñoz successfully represented a high-profile individual against accusations of income tax fraud who avoided criminal prosecution after the referral by the I.R.S. to the Justice Department.  We successfully represented a well-known manufacturing entity against tax charges in the United States Court for Tax Appeals.

The firm has successfully represented individuals under the United States Department of Treasury’s amnesty offer for American citizens to bring money they have stored overseas back into the United States without being charged. The firm has represented individuals before the Internal Revenue Service where more than $20 million dollars was in foreign banks.

Koshman V O’Brien, et al

A Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney was sued, accused that he participated in a conspiracy to make sure that then-Mayor Richard Daley’s nephew was not charged in an incident where a fight led to the death of plaintiff’s son. We successfully defended Mr. O’Brien having the lawsuit dismissed. On appeal, Mr. O’Brien, unlike other defendants, refused to settle and was dismissed entirely from the case without paying. This was a very high-profile case that was followed by the Chicago Sun Times. Darren O’Brien was an outstanding prosecutor and we were glad to help restore his outstanding reputation.

A Tradition Of Success At Trial And With Settlements

Contact Tobin & Muñoz at 312-641-1321 or send an email.