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Practice Areas: Construction Law; Insurance; Pharmacy Law; Personal Injury; Torts; Products Liability; Professional Liability

Additional Information: Thomas J. Andrews is a shareholder and member of the Board of Directors of Johnson & Bell. He joined the firm in 1980, and was made shareholder and elected to the Board of Directors in 1985. He concentrates his civil trial practice in the defense of products liability and general negligence matters. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association.
Professional Summary Mr. Andrews has extensive trial experience, and has tried cases ranging from cases involving simple property damage to multi-party, multi-jurisdictional cases. A sampling is profiled below:

Product Liability. Mr. Andrews represented a manufacturer of boring rod equipment that had caught plaintiff’s pant leg, and wrapped plaintiff’s leg around the rod two or three times. The case involved a 23 year old young man who had in excess of 20 surgeries and $160,000 in medical bills, and removal of the majority of his tibia. The jury found in favor of the product manufacturer and against the plaintiff.

In another case involving the same manufacturer, Mr. Andrews, after settlement with plaintiff, successfully obtained a judgment for contribution against the plaintiff’s employer that had been sued on a third-party complaint.

General Liability. Mr. Andrews has tried numerous cases involving general liability, including premises liability and automobile liability. He has obtained findings for the defendant in cases involving injuries ranging from soft tissue to broken legs, to claimed permanent and total disability due to multiple herniated disks.

Toxic Tort. Mr. Andrews was the coordinating attorney with the firm for defense of a employer accused of battering 38 employees, and a conspiracy to batter 110 employees. The civil suit involved 72 of those same employees allegedly exposed to chemicals ranging from Xylene, Toluene Diososianate, and various phenols. Mr. Andrews also led the defense team in a case in which the defendant was charged with murder in the work place for a death that occurred allegedly due to cyanide exposure at a plant recovering silver from used film. That wrongful death case was consolidated with cases from 23 other workers alleging workplace exposure to excessive levels of cyanide.

Construction Litigation. In addition to several trials involving construction equipment, Mr. Andrews has tried cases for owners, general contractors and employers. These cases have involved simple negligence allegations, as well as allegations of violations of the Illinois Structural Work Act. In addition, Mr. Andrews has been lead counsel in defending construction cases in Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania and South Dakota.

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Firm Members: Steve Novy Robert Burke