Larry S. Kowalczyk

Shareholder

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P: 312-540-7616

F: 312.540.0578

120 North LaSalle Suite 2600
Chicago, Illinois , Illinois 60602

Larry Kowalczyk has successfully represented private businesses as well as public entities in a wide variety of complex litigation cases in both state and federal court. He has practiced for almost thirty years and is distinguished as AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Kowalczyk has represented private entities in commercial and business disputes, including breach of contract, trade secret, tortious interference and restrictive covenant litigation. He has extensive experience defending civil rights cases, including class action law suits, brought against governmental entities. In addition, he has defended a wide variety of product liability matters including mass tort litigation, large drug recalls, medical product litigation, ephedra cases and clinical trials of drug testing prior to FDA approval. His construction matters have included contract review and drafting, commercial matters, Mechanic’s Lien cases, as well as defending contractors, including a regional power company, in construction injury cases. He has tried more than thirty civil jury trials with a very high success rate.

Mr. Kowalczyk is admitted in Illinois, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (member of its trial bar), the US District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a member of the Chicago Building Congress, the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, and the Chicago Bar Association, where he served for several years as an Executive Committee member and past Executive Chair of the CBA's Judicial Evaluation Committee.

Mr. Kowalczyk is a regular CLE speaker in-house and at IICLE events. He has spoken at several seminars regarding trial practice and new trends in civil litigation, including "Evaluating Unusual Damage Claims" at the Western Loss Association's 2019 Fall Seminar, Lorman's “Everything a Construction Player Should Know about Insurance” seminar, the “Construction Law Update” at the Society of Illinois Construction Attorneys, the "Jobsite Injuries" presentation at the "Construction Claims in Illinois" seminar, and the "Healthcare Lien Act Update" presentation at the Illinois Defense Counsel Seminar. He has written several articles on various litigation topics, including "Restatement 414 Update-- Federal Court Holds No "Control" by General Contractor," "Court Helps Another General Contractor," "Safety Program of General Contractor Does Not Impose Duty," "Restatement 414: The Focus Shifts," "No Duty to Injured Worker Where No Control over Subcontractor’s Work" and "Waived Right to Arbitrate," (Construction Law Quarterly articles).

While in law school, Mr. Kowalczyk was a member of the Niagara International Law Moot Court Team and Judicial Conference Editor for the Loyola Law Journal.

Education

Loyola University, JD, cum laude, 1994

Loyola University, BA, summa cum laude, 1992

Professional Activities

Judicial Conference Editor, Loyola Law Journal

Niagara International Law Moot Court Team

Speaker, "Everything a Construction Player Should Know About Insurance," Jan. 29, 2013

Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation

Construction

Defense of Civil Rights Claims

Employment/Labor

Litigation for Municipalities

Medical Product Liability

Product Liability

Trade Secrets

Industries

Construction

Insurance

Bar and Court Admissions

Illinois, 1994

US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Federal Trial Bar

US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

US District Court for the Northern District of Indiana

Supreme Court of the United States, 2008

Memberships

Chicago Building Congress

Chicago Bar Association (Judicial Evaluation Committee, Appellate Committee Member, 2011-2014, JEC Executive Chair, 2009-2010; Co-Chair, Hearings Division, 2006-2009; Hearings and Investigations Division, 1999-2005)

Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel

Representative Matters

Pursued and obtained a TRO, a temporary injunction, and then a permanent injunction against a client’s competitor relative to an estimating software, resulting in a significant monetary settlement for the client.

Counseled clients on better protecting their trade secret assets, including enforcement of contracts relative to confidential information.

Served as national monitoring counsel on mass tort litigation involving a generic drug manufacturer.

Successfully defended a national distributor of an epinephrine injector in a wrongful death case, wherein the death occurred two months prior to a Voluntary Class IV recall.

Successfully defended a testing lab and its medical staff in a claim by a clinical trial participant who suffered an allergic reaction and developed permanent eosinophilic pneumonia during Phase III drug testing.

Successfully defended a large distributor of a product containing ephedrine in a stroke case which was consolidated in the Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey for a mass mediation of over one hundred individual cases.

Obtained summary judgment and dismissal of all civil rights class action claims against a municipal sheriff’s office asserting a pattern and practice of the use of excessive force on detainees and failure to provide medical care.

Obtained dismissal of a civil rights class action case involving multiple DUI arrests by a police officer.

Obtained dismissal of a civil rights excessive force claim involving a broken jaw claimed to have occurred by police officers.

Obtained summary judgment on a First Amendment civil rights claim brought by two high-ranking members of Hell’s Angels.

Negotiated $5.65 Million settlement on behalf of Illinois State Treasurer in surety bond claim involving foreclosed hotel in Springfield, Illinois.

Obtained summary judgment in two Title VII lawsuits for a municipal sheriff’s office.

Obtained not guilty verdict for a police officer in a false arrest jury trial.

Successfully defended shooting cases involving police officers, including summary judgment on behalf of a local Sheriff’s office.

Obtained summary judgment for the manufacturer of a conveyor system in a high value product liability case involving seriously injured worker.

Obtained summary judgment for a large mechanical contractor in a high value product liability case involving a seriously burned plaintiff.

Obtained multi-million dollar settlement for an injured plaintiff in a construction accident case, following three days on trial.

Obtained dismissal of a construction accident case for a defendant on a high value leg amputation case, wherein co-defendant went to trial and plaintiff obtained a verdict in excess of 14M.