This week, your hosts Steve Lowry and Yvonne Godfrey interview Joseph Power, Jr. and Larry Rogers, Jr. of Powers Rogers, LLP (https://www.claggettlaw.com/)
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Episode Details:
Accomplished Chicago trial lawyers Joseph Power, Jr. and Larry Rogers, Jr. of Powers Rogers, LLP explain how they secured justice for the families of two attorneys and a law office secretary who were shot by a disgruntled client who gained unauthorized access to the office due to the failure of building security officers to follow established safety procedures. On December 8, 2006, Joseph Jackson entered a 41-floor professional building at 500 West Madison Street in Chicago, held Allied Barton Security Services officer Robert Brown at gunpoint and demanded to be taken to the 38th floor, where patent lawyer Michael McKenna's office was located. A client of Michael McKenna and an inventor seeking a patent, Joseph Jackson mistakenly thought Michael McKenna had sold his idea and owed him money. Supervising security officer Sidney Chambers knew that Joseph Jackson had been loitering in the building for hours and had suspiciously interacted with officer Robert Brown, but failed to take action. Robert Brown did not follow safety protocol, utilize officer codes to alert his supervising officer to the situation or employ restraint techniques designed to defuse the situation. Instead, he tried to flee the scene and save himself when Joseph Jackson began firing his gun in the law office, fatally shooting Michael McKenna and Allen Hoover and wounding office secretary Ruth Lieb. In 2017, a Cook County, Illinois jury delivered a verdict against Allied Barton Security Services, Sidney Chambers and Joseph Jackson, assigning 60 percent of the responsibility to the deceased Joseph Jackson and 40 percent to Allied Barton in a $30,650,000 verdict.
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Guest Bios:
Joseph Power Jr.
Joseph A. Power, Jr. is the founding partner of the Power, Rogers, LLP law firm in Chicago, and a prominent trial lawyer focusing on cases involving medical malpractice, trucking collisions, wrongful death, product liability and catastrophic personal injuries.
Power received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1974 and his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University of Chicago in 1977. Power was named as partner in 1984 and the firm became Hayes & Power. In 1993, the firm became Power, Rogers & Smith, and has recently become Power Rogers, LLP.
At the age of 28, Power became the youngest lawyer in the country to obtain a jury verdict in excess of $1 million for his client. Power was the lead attorney in a trucking case which led to seventy-six criminal convictions, including the former governor of Illinois in the “licenses for bribes” scandal, which triggered the retesting of over 2000 truck drivers has obtained over 200 verdicts and settlements over $1,000,000. He has the largest jury verdict in Illinois history for a contested liability personal injury case, and in addition, has the largest medical malpractice jury verdict in Illinois history. In the last two years alone, he has been to verdict in six cases, all leading to seven and eight million-dollar recoveries.
As a leader among personal injury lawyers, Power has been listed in the Harvard Law graduates Naifeh and Smith book, The Best Lawyers in America, every year since 1987. The National Law Journal recognized him as one of the top ten litigators in the United States and he has been listed in Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law.
Additionally, Power has been repeatedly selected as one of the top lawyers by LawDragon, a group which selects the top 500 lawyers in the country. He has been named a top personal injury and consumer lawyer based upon polling of fellow lawyers in the Leading Lawyer Magazine since 2009 and is one of Super Lawyers Magazine’s top ten lawyers in Illinois. He has consistently been named in Chicago Lawyer Magazine, including the “30 Tough Lawyers” where he was named one of the 30 toughest lawyers in all fields in Chicago. Those listed are, according to the magazine, attorneys you want “for you, not against you.”
Power is involved in many professional organizations. He is currently the immediate Past-President of the Inner Circle of Advocates which is an organization consisting of the top 100 Plaintiff Trial Lawyers in the country, and Past President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Public Justice, Celtic Legal Society and ABOTA (Illinois Chapter). He is a fellow with the International Academy of Trial Lawyers as well as the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is also a member of the Irish Legal 100, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Power was appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee in 1993 and served as Chairman from 1995-2003 during which the committee promulgated the new discovery rules and mandatory voir dire. Due to his professional expertise, Mr. Power has been honored in such publications as Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who of emerging Leaders in America.
He has been recognized by several organizations for his work as a trial lawyer. Power was awarded “Protector of the Working Man” by the Illinois State Crime Commission, “Citizen of the Year” by the City Club of Chicago and “Board Member of the Year” by the Little City Foundation. Additionally, he was awarded the Civil Justice Foundation’s Special Commendation Award for his thoroughness, tenacity and courage in uncovering and disclosing the “license for bribes” scandal. He received the Medal of Merit and Distinguished Award for Excellence from the Illinois State Bar Association and the Medal of Excellence by the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. He was awarded the Tribute for Leadership on behalf of social justice and progressive change by US Action and US Action Education Fund, as well as the prestigious Leonard Ring Award which is awarded to someone who has devoted, as Leonard Ring did, a substantial part of their life and their practice to the Illinois Trial Lawyers, someone who has done more than is called for, and to someone who has the standards, work ethic and commitment to the Illinois Trial Lawyers that Leonard had. Most recently, Joe Power was awarded the Justice John Paul Stevens award which is presented annually by the Chicago Bar Foundation and Chicago Bar Association to attorneys who best exemplify the Justice’s commitment to integrity and public service in the practice of law.
Active in many charitable organizations, Power, his wife Susan and/or the Power Family Foundation regularly contribute to Leo High School, the University of Notre Dame, Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Misericordia, Catholic Charities, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, Free Spirit Media, Big Shoulders, the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, St. Gabriel’s Grammar School, St. Clement Church and DePaul University.
Power is married to Susan Power and they have four sons and three grandchildren. He and his wife live in Chicago.
Larry Rogers Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Jr. is a trial lawyer with over 25 years of experience advocating for victims. As a trial attorney and partner at Power Rogers, LLP, Mr. Rogers, Jr. has successfully settled and tried to verdict many multi-million dollar results for his clients in medical negligence, trucking, product liability and civil rights litigation. He is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates an invitation-only group of trial lawyers from across the country invited and admitted based upon their results and commitment to representing victims. Mr. Rogers Jr. was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of the top personal injury lawyers of a new generation of trial attorneys.
Mr. Rogers, Jr. has been involved in a number of significant high-profile matters, including the investigation of what happened to Sandra Bland a Chicagoland resident who was found dead in a Texas jail cell after an unlawful traffic stop. He represents families in several civil rights and police brutality cases including the tragic shooting of Bettie Ruth Jones on the west side of Chicago which he recently resolved for a record 16 million dollars. He has been a frequent guest on local and national radio and television shows to discuss events affecting the citizens of Chicago and the country.
Mr. Rogers, Jr. and the attorneys at Power Rogers have represented victims against some of the most powerful interests in the country and have been ranked at the top of their field, with 11 consecutive 1st place rankings from 2010 to 2020in the Chicago Lawyer Annual Settlement Survey which ranks firms based on their results.
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