Attorney Profile

Concentration

Mr. Rice's practice is concentrated in claims involving personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, and other tortuous incidents. Additionally, he has been lead counsel for insurance defense litigation, insurance coverage, personal, private, and corporate liability matters. He has conducted over seventy-five jury trials concerning civil law matters.

Exemplary Litigation Results

Plaintiff Claims

• Settlement -- $500,000.00
  Twelve-year-old minor boy was injured when a bat tossed by a fourteen-year-old boy struck him in the eye. The minor underwent enucleation and prosthetic care and treatment. The homeowner's insurance carrier for the parents of the fourteen-year-old boy settled on the eve of trial.
• Verdict -- $450,000.00
  The 49 year-old female client was struck head-on by a vehicle that was turning left in front of her, and suffered neck, upper back, and soft tissue injuries which required no surgery. However, client had pre-existing condition of rheumatoid arthritis since she was ten years old. Claimed medical bills were over $50,000.00.
• Settlement -- $907,000.00
  The 24 year-old female client was rendered a paraplegic from a head-on collision in a Downers Grove construction zone. She skidded across the center line before colliding with another automobile.
• Settlement -- $1,500,000.00
  A 49 year-old man was killed in a head-on collision where the driver of a semi-tractor trailer crossed the center line. The client's estate claimed the semi-tractor trailer was not adequately maintained. The defendant's insurance carrier, when all coverage was exhausted, provided $1.5 million of coverage. The coverage was denied, and due to the tractor-trailer's insolvency, the matter was actually tried before the bankruptcy court to determine value. The bankruptcy court rendered a value of $8 million, and subsequently, the underlying insurance carrier and the underinsured carrier paid their maximum limits.
• Settlement -- $977,455.00
  A male drywaller, age 33, claimed that defective scaffolding caused an injury which resulted in a herniated disc at L5-S1 with fusion and discectomy. Medical bills of $53,480.00 with a potential lost wage claim.
• Verdict -- $6,063,15.00
  A claim for two minor boys as a result of an automobile collision where their father was killed. The father was driving the two boys in DuPage County, Illinois, and turned left in front of a semi-tractor trailer. The issue was the color of the traffic signal. The minor boys made a claim against the semi-tractor trailer company, which offered $100,000.00 to settle the case. In one of the largest verdicts in DuPage County history, the jury returned a decision in an amount of over $6 million in favor of the two boys.
• Settlement -- $1,250,000.00
  A 55 year-old male was proceeding eastbound at an intersection in DuPage County, Illinois, when an individual turned left in front of him. He sustained an injury to his ankle, which required a fusion. Medical bills were in the area of $75,000.00 with potential future lost earnings.
• Settlement -- $977,000.00
  A product liability matter whereby the client was an employee of the City of Elmhurst and operating a salt spreader at the time of a large ice/snow fall. The client slipped, and the salt spreader grabbed his arm and pulled it. As a result, he lost half of his arm, i.e., up to his elbow. The defense alleged assumption of the risk.

Insurance Defense Claims

• Not Guilty
  Plaintiff claimed that contractor modified a power lift for construction bricks which they delivered to a site. As a result, the bricks fell and crushed the plaintiff's back, causing him permanent debilitating injuries. The contractor claimed that the plaintiff was assuming the risk and was in the wrong position. A jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant, subsequent to a demand of $1,500,000.00.
• Not Guilty
  A matter regarding the Structural Work Act in the State of Illinois whereby the plaintiff claimed that the construction company was negligent in failing to provide adequate scaffolding for him. This five-day trial concluded with the plaintiff requesting more than $2 million and the jury providing him with nothing in damages.
• Not Guilty
  A 32 year-old man fell at a Downers Grove condominium association causing injury to his tibia requiring surgery, plates and screws. Plaintiff asked jury for $900,000.00.
• Not Guilty
  A female exiting a condominium complex slipped and fell on ice due to an unnatural accumulation resulting in left shoulder fracture and rotator cuff tear. Surgical intervention was required. Defense contended Mother Nature was to blame.
• Not Guilty
  In one of the first cases tried on the basis of strict/product liability in DuPage County in twenty years, the plaintiff claimed that his lawn mower was defective, and as a result, severed his foot. The defense offered $100,000.00 to settle the claim on the day of trial, with the plaintiff demanding $2 million. We were successful in that the jury was out ten minutes and returned a verdict in favor of the defendant/lawn mower manufacturer.

Seminars and Publications

• Mr. Rice conducts seminars on trial advocacy, civil law and practice, and tort law on a continual basis, with over fifty such presentations in the past ten years. In addition, he has written numerous law journal articles on ethical representation of clients, personal injury litigation, and trial advocacy.

Personal

• Resides in Batavia, Illinois, with his wife and two sons.