Our Blog

Clifford Law Offices has earned recognition in the Chambers USA Guide 2026, receiving rankings in the following categories: USA Nationwide: Transportation: Aviation: Litigation: Mainly Plaintiffs Illinois: Litigation: Mainly Plaintiffs The 2026 rankings recognize Clifford Law Offices’ longstanding work in complex plaintiff litigation at both the state and national levels. Since its founding in 1984, the firm has built a reputation for handling catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and aviation cases involving significant legal, technical, and factual…

Clifford Law Offices announces the addition of accomplished trial lawyer and former Illinois Appellate Court Justice Terrence J. Lavin as Of Counsel. With nearly three decades of experience in complex civil litigation and 16 years on the Illinois Appellate Court, Lavin brings a distinguished career spanning high-stakes trial advocacy, appellate decision-making, legal scholarship, and leadership within the legal profession. His arrival further strengthens the firm’s nationally recognized commitment to Righting the Heaviest Wrongs® for individuals…

Sarah F. King, Partner at Clifford Law Offices, has been named to the 2026 National Law Journal’s Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar. “Sarah has always been an exceptional trial lawyer since joining the firm,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of the Chicago-based personal injury and wrongful death firm. “Her dedication, work ethic, and relentless advocacy for justice, particularly for women and children who have been victims of wrongful conduct, have set…

Governor Bob Ferguson has described the local paper mill tragedy in Longview, Washington as the deadliest industrial tragedy in the state’s modern history. Eleven people have died, and many more may have been injured as a result of a tank explosion damaging much of a plant that released toxic fluid called white liquor, a caustic mixture used to turn wood chips into paper pulp. “It is imperative that a company provide a safe workplace,” said…

Leading aviation attorney Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, has been named to the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Litigators guide for his work in aviation litigation. This marks the first time Bob has been recognized in this particular Lawdragon guide, adding to a long history of honors acknowledging his leadership in plaintiff advocacy. Now in its fifth edition, the Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Litigators guide recognizes attorneys handling some…

Bradley M. Cosgrove, Partner at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago who filed the first wrongful death lawsuits in Kentucky regarding the crash of a UPS cargo jet last year, spoke to the press the last two days during the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearings that is investigating the probable cause of the crash. Cosgrove said, “It is unbelievable how the lack of communication among the parties simply isn’t there as to how a plane…

Day 2 of the NTSB Public Hearing on the November 4, 2025, UPS cargo Boeing MD-11 jet crash that killed 15 and injured 23 more people saw Boeing staff admit that the failed aft pylon spherical bearing should have been categorized as a Principal Structural Element (PSE) during the original MD-11 FAA certification process decades ago. Boeing also admitted that their subsequent Continuing Operational Safety (COS) program failed to identify that PSE deficiency and the…

Boeing’s Safety Review Board (SRB) for the second of 10 prior MD-11 aft pylon bearing failures concluded in 2007 that an undetected aft pylon bearing failure could cause damage to the aft pylon lugs that keep the engine attached to the plane; however, based on information provided at today’s NTSB hearing on the UPS cargo jet crash, Boeing may not have advised the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or operators of this potentially catastrophic aft pylon…

Bradley M. Cosgrove, partner at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago, who filed the first wrongful death lawsuits in Kentucky regarding the November 2025 crash of a UPS cargo jet, is in attendance on the first day of National Transportation Safety Board hearings alongside some of his clients. “The NTSB’s Preliminary Report and early hours of its Public Hearing show that Boeing, UPS, and ST Aerospace (aircraft maintenance provider for UPS) MD-11 engine pylon structural safety…