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Hugh Griffin
Of Counsel
Chicago, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City
Email: hgriffin@hpslaw.com
Hugh Griffin has joined our firm to develop our appellate practice group, after leading the appellate practice group
at Lord, Bissell & Brook LLP, with more than 40 years of experience in the reviewing courts across the country.
He has handled over 500 appeals in the Illinois Appellate Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, over 25 other state
courts, and U.S. Courts of Appeals throughout the country. He has argued 40 times before the Illinois Supreme
Court.
Hugh has taught appellate practice (The John Marshall Law School, 1973-74) and has given numerous speeches
on appellate practice at the local and national level. His presentation on oral argument at the 1987 ABA
convention was later published in the TIPS practice Journal, Fall 1987, and republished in other law journals.
Hugh has twice been a director of the Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association (1979 to 1981 and 1984 to 1986),
and also served as the president of the Association (1997 to 1998). Hugh was the 1989-90 chairman of the
Appellate Advocacy Committee of the Tort Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association. In 1991,
he was nominated and accepted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He served 9 years
on the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee and was appointed by the Supreme Court as the Committee's
Vice Chairman from 2003 to 2006.
Hugh has been selected as an Illinois Leading Lawyer and a Super Lawyer and a Best Lawyer in appellate
practice. In 2011, he was listed as one of the top 100 Super Lawyers in Illinois and as the Chicago Best Lawyers
Appellate Lawyer of the Year.
Experience
The following is a sample of notable cases:
•
Rohm and Haas Company v. Continental Casualty Company ( Pennsylvania Supreme Court)
and Tribune Co. v. Allstate Ins. Co (Illinois Appellate Court); Upholding denials of coverage
for environmental claims on various 'grounds including fraudulent concealment, known loss,
and late notice
•
Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's London v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R.R (Kansas
Supreme Court): Summary judgment against insurers reversed on hearing loss cases
•
Domtar v. Niagara Fire Ins. Co. ( Minnesota Supreme Court): Obtained a, favorable ruling re
allocation of environmental claims over various years of insurance coverage
•
Hasemann v. Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund (Illinois Supreme Court): Court held that full
uninsured motorist's limits must be deducted from claims against the Fund
•
Hutchinson v. Westinghouse (Pennsylvania Appellate Court-Supervisory): Represented
excess insurers in the reversal of a $20 million award to a worker crushed by a Westinghouse
elevator
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Kerr- McGee v. Aetna Casualty Co. (Oklahoma Supreme Court): Court upheld a pollution
exclusion barring multimillion- dollar environmental claims against insurers
•
Kinnavy v. Lloyd's Underwriters (Michigan Appellate and Supreme Courts) Obtained
decisions upholding the aviation exclusion in a life insurance policy.
•
Seaway Port Authority v. Excess Insurers (Minnesota Court of Appeals): Successful in having
the court hold that an excess insurer's policy had no duty to drop down and cover a shortfall
due to the primary carrier's insolvency
•
Burger v. Lutheran General Hospital (Illinois Appellate Court): Upheld the constitutionality of
amendments to the Hospital licensing Act permitting ex parte conversations with treating
physicians and hospital attorneys
•
Dubin v. Michael Reese Hospital (Illinois Supreme Court) Successfully argued that the
doctrine of strict liability in tort did not apply to a hospital's use of x-radiation
•
Garcia v. Edgewater Hospital (Illinois Appellate Court): Obtained a ruling upholding a
Jehovah's Witness release and reversing a jury verdict against the hospital
•
Holton v. Memorial Hospital (Illinois Supreme Court): Obtained the reversal of a $5 million
medical malpractice judgment because of the misconduct of plaintiff's counsel
•
Kirk v. Michael Reese Hospital (Illinois Supreme Court): Obtained a ruling that a hospital
owed no duty to third parties who were not hospital patients
•
Chicago Transit Authority v. Commonwealth Edison (Illinois Appellate Court): Defeated CTA's
$9 million claim for contractual indemnity
•
Richard Rosen v. Saks Incorporated (Illinois Appellate Court): Reversed trial court's refusal to
enforce arbitration/no class action clause in consumer credit agreement
•
Trek Bicycle Corp. v. Thane (9 Circuit Court of Appeals): Obtained reversal of summary
judgment against Trek in trademark infringement claim
•
Badische Corp. v. Kaylor (Supreme Court of Georgia): Successfully argued that an
accountant argued owed no duty to a third-party bank that subsequently relied on the
accountant's audit of its client.
•
Carter v. Skokie Valley Detective Agency (Illinois Appellate Court): Obtained the reversal of a
judgment against a detective agency on the grounds that the agency's negligent hiring of a
guard who murdered a store cashier was not the proximate cause of the murder
•
Cartwright v. Goodyear tire & Rubber Co. (Illinois Appellate Court): obtained a new trial of a
$6 million judgment against Goodyear because of the plaintiff's claims of military heroism
•
Cortes v Ryder Truck Rental (Illinois Appellate Court): Obtained the reduction of a verdict
against a trucking company from $16 million to $2million
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Delmuro v. Commonwealth Edison Co. (Illinois Appellate Court): Successful in upholding the
reversal of a $3 million punitive award against Commonwealth Edison Co.
•
Dixon v. CSX Transportation Co. (Fourth Circuit- Supervisory): Represented railroad excess
insurers in reversal of a $16 million verdict against the CSX in a crossing accident
•
Georgia Pacific v. Granite State Ins. Co. (Eleventh Circuit): Court affirmed a summary
judgment in favor of insurers on the ground that environmental claims were intended and
expected
•
Klugesherz v. Honda (Missouri Court of Appeals): Assisted St. Louis counsel in obtaining and
upholding JNOV overturning a $7.50- million product-liability award against Honda in an ATV
accident.
•
Linegar v. Armour of America (Eight Circuit): Obtained the outright reversal of a million-dollar
verdict against the manufacturer of a .bulletproof vest that a police officer was wearing at the
time of his death
•
Monarch Ins. Co. v. Castellano (Illinois Appellate Court): Obtained a ruling that upheld a
geographical exclusion is an aviation policy
•
Monarch Ins. Co. of Ohio v. Prince (Fourth Circuit): Successful in having a policy voided
because of material misrepresentations in an insurance application
•
Ormet v. Certain Underwriters of Lloyd's (Ohio Supreme Court): Upheld insurers' late notice
defense to multi-million dollar environmental damage claim
•
Ryan v. Harvester (Illinois Appellate Court-Supervisory): Achieved the reversal of a $3 million
verdict against a pick up truck manufacture
•
Stambaugh v. International Harvester (Illinois Supreme Court): Obtained the reversal of
compensatory and punitive damages awards against a tractor manufacturer
•
Tardi v. Henry (Illinois Appellate Court): Obtained decision establishing the inadmissibility in
Illinois civil actions of testimony enhanced by hypnosis
Education
Notre Dame Law School, J.D., 1968, case editor, Law Review
Loyola University of Chicago, BA, 1965, Dean's list
Bar Admissions
Illinois, 1968
Courts
U.S. District Court, N.D. Illinois, 1968
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U.S. Court of Appeals (4 Circuit), 1987
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U.S. Court of Appeals (5 Circuit), 1985
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U.S. Court of Appeals (6 Circuit), 1992
U.S. Court of Appeals (7'h Circuit), 1972
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U.S. Court of Appeals (8 Circuit), 1988
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U.S. Court of Appeals (9 Circuit), 1984
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U.S. Court of Appeals (10 Circuit), 1984
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U.S. Court of Appeals (11 Circuit), 1986
U.S. Court of Appeals (Federal Court), 1999
Professional and Community Organizations
American Academy of Appellate Lawyers
American Bar Association
Appellate Lawyers Association
Chicago Bar Association
Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association
Illinois Defense Counsel
Illinois State Bar Association
Chicago
Salt Lake City
Tampa