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James D. Sloan

James D. Sloan

Partner

IL – Chicago
T: 312.781.6650 | F: 312.781.6630

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Jim focuses his legal practice on defending medical professional liability claims. He represents physicians, hospitals and medical groups in a variety of personal injury matters involving improper medical care. Jim has extensive experience handling long-term care claims with a focus on complex cases involving multiple medical diagnoses and defends medical providers and staff, including internists and nurses who treat nursing facility patients. In addition to his medical malpractice experience, Jim is a member of Litchfield Cavo LLP’s class action legal team defending credit unions against lawsuits filed in state and federal courts, many that involve allegations that the respective financial institution charged excessive overdraft and NSF fees.

Jim has extensive experience handling commercial litigation and general liability matters and has also tried multiple products liability and construction cases. As part of his appellate practice, Jim has authored numerous appellate briefs at the state court level, and frequently represents clients at arbitrations and before government boards.

Prior to joining Litchfield Cavo, Jim was a partner at a trial law firm in Chicago where he was hired two decades earlier as an associate attorney. After earning his law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law,  Jim worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Michael J. Colwell in the Illinois Appellate Court, Second District.

Jim is a graduate of Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois.

Practices

Representative Experience

  • Obtained favorable jury verdict for EMS company and the driver of its ambulance following an accident in which our client ran a red light and collided with Plaintiff’s vehicle, contributing to Plaintiff sustaining injuries; the Defense offered a high policy limit settlement, that Plaintiff rejected, and the jury ultimately awarded Plaintiff nearly $200,000 less than the policy limit that was offered by our client to settle.
  • Obtained summary judgment in favor of truck manufacturer wherein the plaintiff claimed our client failed to give the plaintiff a right of first refusal to purchase a subsidiary; defense argued the contract’s language was too vague and was unenforceable as it failed to provide a method to determine price. Plaintiff had demanded $11 million in damages, and the Second District affirmed the decision on appeal.

Medical Malpractice Representative Experience

  • Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a surgical center client in case where Plaintiff alleged medical negligence against our client and the co-defendant surgeon following ankle surgery at the surgical center; the court agreed with our attorneys and entered summary judgment in favor of our client.
    • Kelsey Wedell v. Kyle S. Peterson, DPM, Suburban Orthopedics, Ltd., et. al., 2020 L 7523, Circuit Court of Cook County, IL
  • Obtained jury verdict on behalf of a neurosurgeon client alleged to have failed to perform a more-timely craniectomy on a 40-year-old who suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm; plaintiff asked the jury for $11,375,000 in damages, but the jury found in favor of our client and the Appellate Court affirmed our judgment on appeal.
    • Benincasa v. Yang, 2019 IL App (1st) 172437-U (Rule 23 Order)
  • Obtained a jury verdict in favor of our orthopedic surgeon defendant who performed a hip replacement on the 55-year-old male plaintiff, who alleged that our client placed the acetabular cup at an improper angle, causing the hip to dislocate; the plaintiff demanded $899,000 in damages; the jury found in favor of our client.
    • Sefcik v. Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, LLC, et. al, 2015 L 006290, Circuit Court of Cook County, IL
  • Won summary judgment on behalf of an intensivist-pulmonologist in a medical malpractice case that ultimately went to a jury trial against the remaining defendants.
    • Wood-Aniszewski v. Lutheran General Hospital, et. al, 2014 L 007201, Circuit Court of Cook County, IL
  • Secured jury verdict against the 64-year-old female plaintiff who underwent a knee replacement procedure and claimed that our client, an orthopedic surgeon, “nicked” the popliteal artery, causing clotting and loss of muscle in her lower leg; our attorney successfully argued that injury to adjacent blood vessels is an inherent risk of knee replacement procedures and that there were no signs of occlusion of the artery until post-operative day 3. While the plaintiff asked the jury for $2,411,000 in damages, the jury returned a verdict for our client.
    • Luttery v. Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, LLC, et. al, 2010 L 014678, Circuit Court of Cook County, IL
  • Obtained jury verdict in favor of a gynecologist who performed an unsuccessful “banding procedure” on the plaintiff, a 32 year old female plaintiff who subsequently became pregnant with her fourth child; the delivering physician found that the “band” was on the right ovarian ligament rather than the right fallopian tube. Relying on photographic evidence, our attorney argued that his client placed the band around both the ovarian ligament and the fallopian tube during the banding procedure, but that the fallopian tube subsequently slipped out of the attachment. The plaintiffs asked the jury for $500,000 in damages. After a five hour deliberation, the jury returned a verdict in favor of our client.
    • Corral v. D’Ancona, 2009 L 001211, Circuit Court of Cook County, IL
  • Obtained jury verdict on behalf of neurosurgeon who performed a spinal fusion on the plaintiff at L4-L5; the plaintiff subsequently developed foot drop caused by a stretched nerve root, a recognized risk of the procedure. While the plaintiff asked the jury for $5.4 million in damages, the jury returned a verdict for our client.
    • Nyquist v. DuPage Neurosurgery, S.C., et. al, 2006 LK 421, Circuit Court of Kane County, IL