Courts in Chicago, Illinois
Cook County Circuit Court — Richard J. Daley Center
50 W Washington St, Chicago, IL 60602
U.S. District Court, N.D. Illinois — Eastern Division
219 S Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60604
Hospitals & Trauma Centers in Chicago
Northwestern Memorial Hospital — Prentice Women's Hospital
250 E Superior St, Chicago, IL 60611
Advocate Christ Medical Center
4440 W 95th St, Oak Lawn, IL 60453
Rush University Medical Center
1620 W Harrison St, Chicago, IL 60612
University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital
5721 S Maryland Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
Liability Considerations in Chicago
Illinois has a 2-year statute of limitations for medical malpractice and tolls for minor children only until age 8 — not until majority. Cook County's plaintiff-sympathetic jury pool and experienced birth injury bar have produced the nation's largest birth injury verdicts. Levin & Perconti secured a $40 million record verdict; separate Cook County cases have produced $50 million and $14 million verdicts. Illinois does not cap medical malpractice damages.
Your Legal Team
James Okonkwo
Partner
Chicago, IL
James Okonkwo is a Chicago-based birth injury trial attorney with 19 years of experience in Cook County's plaintiff-friendly court system. Cook County has produced some of the largest birth injury verdicts in the nation — including a $40 million verdict and a $14 million verdict — and James has extensive experience preparing and trying complex birth injury cases before Cook County juries. His biology background informs his cross-examination of hospital-retained defense experts on fetal monitoring interpretation, HIE diagnosis, and the timing and adequacy of cooling therapy initiation. James has served as lead trial counsel in more than 30 birth injury cases and has secured total recoveries exceeding $60 million for Chicago-area families.
Education
- J.D., Northwestern Pritzker School of Law (2007)
- B.A., Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago (2004)