Richard A. Valek

(Senior Partner)

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Mr. Valek was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and has 25 years’ experience as a civil trial attorney. He is licensed to practice in the State of Illinois, the Federal Districts for the Northern and Central District of Illinois, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He is a member of the Federal Trial Bar, the Chicago Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association.

He completed his undergraduate and legal education at DePaul University. He also received a graduate degree in insurance by attaining the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) distinction.

Mr. Valek has tried numerous jury trials to verdict involving premises liability, products liability, motor vehicle liability, and false arrest/imprisonment in various Illinois courts, many of which included damages in excess of one million dollars. A summary of Mr. Valek’s recent jury verdicts and appellate decisions is listed below. He also frequently serves as an arbitrator in various venues across Illinois.

Mr. Valek’s clients include several large corporations including product manufacturers, financial institutions, insurance carriers, retail establishments, restaurants, security companies, maintenance companies, shopping mall operators, and several others.

Mr. Valek has published articles in Mealeys Litigation Reporter, The Defense Research Institute, The American Arbitration Association, and is frequently asked to provide litigation workshops and presentations for his clients.

Representative Jury Trials
  • Edun vs. Chase Bank & City of Chicago, 06 L 2564 (Cook County, Illinois) (demand/asked $100,000/200,000) (offer none), result directed not guilty. Our client was found not guilty via a directed verdict for plaintiff’s alleged false arrest/imprisonment following a bank robbery.
  • LaRoche vs. Bank One & NCR Corp., 04 L 6553 (Cook County, Illinois) (demand/asked $175,000/250,000) (offer – $15,000), result not guilty. Our client was found not guilty in a re-trial, after one of its employees left the ATM safe door open and a mover was injured while transporting the machine.
  • LaRoche vs. Bank One & NCR Corp., 99 L 11832 (Cook County, Illinois) (demand/asked $175,000/250,000) (offer $15,000), result directed not guilty. Our client was found not guilty via a directed verdict after one of its employees left the ATM safe door open and a mover was injured while transporting the machine.
  • Warman vs. Lifetime Door, Inc., 99 L 86 (Kankakee County, Illinois) (demand/asked $250,000/545,000), (offer $100,000), result $157,500. Our client’s truck driver admitted liability for attempting to change lanes at an intersection and the trial was limited to the nature and extent of plaintiff’s injuries and claimed lost wages.
  • O’Neill vs. Marek, 97 M3 233 (Cook County, Illinois) (demand/asked $75,000/369,996) (offer $7,500), result not guilty. Our defendant homeowner was found not guilty after an elderly plaintiff slipped and fractured her pelvis while walking inside defendant’s premises.
  • Stein vs. Rentokill Tropical Plants, 93 L 4589 (Cook County, Illinois), (demand/asked $350,000/2,046/498) (offer $250,000), result not guilty. Defendants were found not guilty after a multiple vehicle collision in which several plaintiffs were injured.
  • Fisher vs. Topline Automotive Engineering, 93 L 3343 (Cook County, Illinois) (demand/asked $850,000/2,300,000) (offer $500,000 (withdrawn), result $160,340. Our client was found liable after a delivery man slipped and fell on a broken drain grate and suffered a severe back injury causing an alleged disputed permanent disability.
  • Wessels vs. Houston Wire Works, Inc., 92 L 12523 (Cook County, Illinois) (demand/asked $500,000/2,000,000) (offer none), result not guilty. Our client, a ladder manufacturer, was found not guilty for allegedly manufacturing a defective ladder with worn friction foot pads which resulted in an alleged disputed permanent disability.
  • Escabedo vs. Crate & Barrell, 94 L 921 (Cook County, Illinois) (demand/asked $30,000/84,422) (offer $10,000), result not guilty. Our client was found not guilty after plaintiff allegedly slipped and fell on a spilled substance inside our client’s retail store.
  • Duszinski vs. Crystal Cabinet Works, Inc., 90 L 3478 (Cook County, Illinois) (demand/asked $600,000/1,650,104) (offer $15,000), result not guilty. Our client, a cabinet manufacturer, was found not guilty in a products liability action after one of its cabinets fell on a carpenter during installation and caused a severe neck injury and an alleged disputed permanent disability.
  • Grant vs. McDonalds, 90 L 3750 (Cook County, Illinois) (demand/asked $60,000/1,000,000) (offer $10,000), result $8,420. Our client was found liable after a portion of a florescent light bulb fell into plaintiff’s sandwich causing him various personal injuries.
  • Johnson vs. K-Way Inc., d/b/a McDonalds, 91 M1 303293 (Cook County, Illinois) demand/asked $5,000/20,463) (offer $1,000), result not guilty. Our client was found not guilty after allegedly serving the plaintiff a hamburger with an earring back imbedded into the sandwich.
Representative Appellate Decisions
  • Perdue vs. Mid-America Asset Management, Inc., et al., Appeal from the Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, DuPage County, Illinois, Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District (02-0810)
  • LaRoche vs. Bank One, N.A., et al., Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Appellate Court of Illinois, First District (02-2362)
  • Allstate Insurance Company vs. Associates Finance, Inc., Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Appellate Court of Illinois, First District (02-1671)
  • CitiFinancial Services, Inc., vs. Jose S. Varela, et al., Appeal from the Circuit Court of Kane County, Illinois, Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District (2-11-1011)
  • Gulley vs. Citicards, et al., Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (11-2548)