In his interview with Lawdragon, Keith A. Hebeisen, partner at Clifford Law Offices, shares his unexpected journey to becoming a highly respected medical malpractice attorney in Illinois. He talks about the inevitable collision of politics and the law, sharing how politics comes with the territory of being a true advocate of justice and how product liability and toxic torts are changing in interesting ways.
Keith Hebeisen is a celebrated trial lawyer with forty years of experience in medical malpractice, product liability, transportation, and toxic tort cases. He became interested in being a lawyer “kind of late in the game,” he said, sharing his experience:
“When I graduated from college, I had no intention of going back to school. I had taken the LSAT and actually had a really good score on it, but I spent four years in the concrete construction business after I got out of college …in the early 1980s, when the economy was messed up, and construction dropped, I needed to figure out something else to do, and I ended up applying to law school….But early on, I really got torts into my system. I found it interesting learning about theories of liability and people receiving compensation when somebody harmed them through negligence. Then getting into how to prove these things with the rules of evidence, I really liked that.”
In his second year of law school at DePaul University, his professor introduced him to Bob Clifford, an associate at the Offices of Philip Corboy at the time, and ended up working with him as a law clerk. Under the mentorship of Clifford, along with other prominent attorneys such as Philip Corboy and Al Hofeld, Keith was exposed to different styles and was taught the value of working hard and always being prepared.
Keith has been with Clifford Law Offices since its inception in 1984. He shared that even after 40 years of medical malpractice representation, he learns something new about medicine in every case. Witnessing his work’s positive impact on people’s lives, he remains dedicated to his profession and always focused on the goal.
“I’d say there’s a common denominator in all my cases, which is that I do really care about what happens to my clients, and I try to do what’s right for them, even though sometimes it’s not what I would want to do for my ego. I try my hardest to tune out the noise and focus on the goal. I’m trying to accomplish the best I can for this client, no matter what.”
-Keith A. Hebeisen, Partner at Clifford Law Offices
As an active member and past president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Keith helps advocate for and against proposed legislation at the state capital in order to improve laws and policy. He stresses that we can’t take laws for granted and how important it is to stay involved and fight for our rights before they are stripped from us. Also serving on the Board of Governors of The American Association for Justice, he sees a direct relationship between state tort laws where trial bars are active and those that are not.
“You really can’t take this stuff for granted; politics are involved. If you’re not involved, things will come up out of nowhere and blindside you, and all of a sudden, you’ve got a big problem with the laws in your state. Rights get taken away, and then it’s really hard to get them back.”
-Keith A. Hebeisen, Partner at Clifford Law Offices
Keith also discussed trends affecting his practice, including how jurors are more open-minded in medical malpractice cases, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as an influence, saying how the pandemic led people to look at life differently, resulting in a greater willingness to hold more healthcare providers and institutions responsible.
Lawdragon’s Lawyer Limelights interviews highlight the careers of exceptional attorneys, providing a unique forum for the ultimate series for lawyer conversation.
Read Keith Hebeisen’s full interview on Lawdragon here.