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For more than a century, Johnson & Johnson has manufactured and sold talcum powder. This product is sold as Johnson’s Baby Powder and is used both by parents of young children and adults. Baby powder is composed primarily of talc. For decades, many studies in the medical community have linked the long-term use of talcum powder and a higher risk of ovarian cancer. Recently, thousands of women with ovarian cancer have filed suits against Johnson…

Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, has been appointed to serve as Chair of the American Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education that supports more than 200 public service and educational programs throughout the world. Clifford also was appointed to as a Board Member to the Advocacy Institute, a national group that gives law students the opportunity to develop and practice their advocacy skills through the guidance of distinguished…

Despite two multi­-million­-dollar verdicts this year against Johnson & Johnson for its talc products causing ovarian cancer in women who used it for feminine hygiene, the company continues to sell these products without safety warnings. Johnson & Johnson faces several more decisive trials on the same issue this year and several already scheduled for next year from California to St. Louis to New Jersey. Clifford Law Offices, a leading mass tort/class action law firm, represents…

Various news outlets are reporting alleged details of a proposed settlement in the VW class action case, but due to the judge’s gag order, we cannot credibly address those reports. The anticipated official announcement of any settlement by the court is expected in the upcoming weeks. Please remember to monitor the Court’s website for the most current and accurate reports of case developments: http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/crb/vwmdl  

Tracy A. Brammeier, Associate at Clifford Law Offices, recently was appointed as a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) Board of Managers. Brammeier, who is very active in several community organizations, is a recent graduate of Loyola University School of Law. She will serve with a number of plaintiffs’ lawyers in serving on the 92-member governing body of ITLA, of which Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of the firm, served as…

Pamela Sakowicz Menaker, Communications Partner at Clifford Law Offices, recently was elected to the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) Board of Governors. She then was appointed to be the Liaison ISBA Board member to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), Marking and Membership, and Human Rights committees. She remains a member of the ISBA Editorial Board Journal. She is pictured here (center) with a number of ISBA leaders as well as (to her right)…

View Summer 2016 Newsletter

Long thought to be safe (so safe that it was heavily marketed for use on babies’ bottoms to keep them dry in their diapers), it has been discovered that talc and talcum powder actually contains harmful carcinogenic ingredients like asbestos. Talc and Talcum Powder lawsuits became front-page news with the $55 million verdict in May, 2016, when a South Dakota woman was found to have ovarian cancer caused by her use of talc for feminine…

The daughter of two physicians in Poland, Marta (Kowalczyk) Davidson immigrated to the United States when she was just three-years-old. Her father continued working as a board certified family practice physician in the U.S. and her mother worked in the health care field. The Kowalczyks eventually settled in Park Ridge, a northwest suburb of Chicago. Marta attended Maine South High School. It was there that Marta’s love of the law crystallized. She was selected to…