“Our cases aren’t about revenge, retaliation or retribution – they’re about fairness and justice for the innocent victims and their families.”

Robert Clifford was named the Best Lawyers Top 2010 Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer of the Year by the oldest peer-reviewed organization in the country, which featured him on the cover of their guide. Best Lawyers in America also named Mr. Clifford the Top 2009 Chicago Personal Injury Litigator of the Year based upon his particularly high ratings for his ability, professionalism and integrity. He was profiled in 2009 as the cover story of the Illinois Leading Lawyers' publication as well as the 2010 Best Lawyers' cover story in a supplement that accompanied the Chicago Tribune. He was named as one of the Top 10 Attorneys who Raised the Bar Over the Last Decade in Chicago by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company. He was selected in 2004 as one of the “five most respected and feared plaintiffs’ attorneys” in the country by Corporate Legal Times, calling him “the best of the bad.”  He also was selected as the 2009 Chicago Personal Injury Litigator of the Year by Best Lawyers, one of the oldest and most respected peer-review organizations in the country.  He has been consistently voted by his peers as a Best Lawyer since its inception 25 years ago.  He was featured on the cover of the inaugural 2005 issue of the Illinois Super Lawyers where they called him “Chicago’s Most Likeable Tough Guy.”  The feature store headlined him as “Chicago’s Most-Feared Attorney – Bob Clifford is a lamb who turns into a lion when he’s confronted by injustice.”  He remains on that list which represents the top five percent of the state’s lawyers.  He was named one of the Top Ten Litigators in Illinois in 1999 as well as one of the nation’s Top Ten Litigators of 1993 by the prestigious National Law Journal.  American Lawyer Media recognized Mr. Clifford as one of the Top Ten Most Influential Lawyers in Illinois in 2000.  Chicago Magazine named Robert Clifford one of Chicago’s “30 Toughest Lawyers” in 2002 for his work on many high-profile cases including the death of Bob Collins, the city’s most popular disc jockey on WGN morning radio.

Robert Clifford is an experienced aviation accident lawyer who consistently garners multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts in aviation litigation.  He has represented those injured or killed in every major commercial airline crash in the United States in the last three decades.  He also is involved in many private or corporate jet crashes as well as helicopter crash cases around the globe.

Recognized as a leader among his peers, Bob Clifford has been inducted into the nation’s  most prestigious legal organizations.  In 2005, he was inducted into the International Society of Barristers, an honor society of outstanding trial lawyers chosen by their peers on the basis of excellence and integrity in advocacy.  The Inner Circle of Advocates also invited him to join its prestigious group which is comprised of outstanding trial attorneys from across the country who share their expertise and ideas.  He also was elected to the American Law Institute, a group of 3,000  prominent judges, lawyers and academics from around the world who are selected on the basis of professional achievements in the law.   Justice Benjamin Cardozo and Justice Learned Hand were among its early leaders. Bob Clifford has been elected one of the trustees to the Supreme Court Historical Society, a private, non-profit organization that supports historical research and publications on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Clifford was elected Illinois State Delegate to the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates in 2005.  He is now serving a second term in that post.  He also was elected Chair of the Section of Litigation from 2001-2002 where he had led the largest section, numbering some 70,000 lawyers.  During his tenure, he hosted a Town Hall Meeting in historic Faneuil Hall in Boston on the legal ramifications following the tragic events of September 11 and a second panel that discussed the public’s perception of lawyers in this country.  He also was appointed by the President of the ABA to serve as Chair of the Task Force on Terrorism and the Law where he served in an advisory role to congressional, executive, state and local leaders on the legal ramifications in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attack on America.

Robert A. Clifford was inducted as the 135th President of the Chicago Bar Association.  He will serve as President of the 25,000-member group for 2011-12 with a number of initiatives on his agenda that promote the bar, the bench and the Chicago community. He is Past President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers’ Association and a Past President of the Chicago Inn of Court which upholds the highest principles of the profession.  He will be President of the Chicago Bar Association in 2011-2012.  He has been inducted into the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers and the exclusive International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has been selected to be a member of the National Judicial College, a select assembly of legal and corporate leaders from across the country dedicated to furthering the education and training of judges.  Robert Clifford also was invited to participate in a select group of aviation experts who advised the RAND Institute for Civil Justice, a California-based think-tank on the investigation process of the National Transportation Safety Board.  The NTSB carries the congressional mandate to investigate the causes of all airplane crashes.  “I’m most interested in seeing to it that families of those who lose loved ones in a crash be allowed to get involved in the investigatory process,”  Mr. Clifford said.  Currently, families are not permitted by statute to participate in the NTSB’s fact-finding process.  Mr. Clifford also has been asked to sit on the RAND Institute’s Board of Overseers.  He also was appointed a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Civility which was established to find appropriate ways to promote civility among Illinois lawyers.

As an attorney representing many high-profile clients, Mr. Clifford frequently is asked to speak on television programs on a wide variety of legal issues.  He has appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America, the Today Show, Fox Business Network, CNN, MSNBS, CNBC “Power Lunch,” Wall Street Week and Chicago Tonight.  He also has authored articles for national newspapers including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times and The National Law Journal, to name but a few.  He writes a monthly column for the Chicago Lawyer, a respected publication disseminated to thousands of lawyers.  Through his generous support of WTTW, Chicago’s public television station, closed captioning was undertaken in 2005, making local programming available for the hearing impaired.  He sits on the WTTW Board of Directors.

Mr. Clifford endowed the first Chair on Tort Law and Social Policy to his alma mater, DePaul University College of Law.  This generous gift provides for an annual symposium where academicians, lawyers and judges from across the country gather to speak on a timely topic of interest dealing with the relationship between tort law, popular culture and societal needs.  Founded in 1994, the symposium, which is free to the public, has hosted academicians from Stanford Law School to Harvard, from United States Senator John McCain to television commentator/attorney Bill Kurtis.  Mr. Clifford shares his knowledge as a frequent lecturer for various bar associations and legal groups throughout the country.

Robert A. Clifford is the senior partner of Clifford Law Offices, a nationally recognized personal injury and wrongful death firm in Chicago concentrating in aviation, transportation, personal injury, medical negligence and product liability law.