COUNSEL CHAIRMEN Illinois courts answer to these princes of the prairie. A dozen or so lawyers control Trial Lawyers, Inc.’s Illinois operations. These attorneys—the “leadership team” for Illinois’ litigation industry—make millions off the state’s magic jurisdictions.   Philip Corboy Chairman, Cook County For over 50 years, Corboy has led the personal-injury bar in Illinois, and his junior partner, Tom Demetrio, scored the state’s largest personal-injury award sustained on appeal.[178] TIME LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES/MICHAEL L. ABRAMSON   Randy Bono Chairman, Madison County The asbestos tort king has assumed the Madison County leadership since returning from the bench, scoring a $250 million verdict against U.S. Steel.[180] AP/CHARLES REX ARBOGAST   Brad Lakin President, Class Actions Madison County’s most frequent class action filer uses "cookie cutter" lawsuits that even contain the same typographical errors.[182] ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH/DAVID CARON   Rex Carr Chairman, St. Clair County The longtime litigator made headlines in 2004 when he represented former judge Gordon Maag, after an electoral defeat, in a $110 million libel suit against his political opponents.[184] AP/DERIk HOLTMANN   Bob Clifford President, Cook County The leader of Illinois’ most profitable plaintiffs’ firm, Clifford has pulled in two med-mal awards at or above $16 million in the last two years alone.[179] AP/MARK CORNELISON   John Simmons President, Asbestos Madison County is Asbestos Central, and Simmons, in partnership with Bono, leads the way: their firm filed 375 of the county’s 457 mesothelioma cases in 2003.[181] AP/CHUCK NOVARAS   Stephen Tillery President, Tobacco Another of the litigation-industry leaders east of St. Louis, Tillery won a landmark $10.1 billion verdict against Philip Morris for marketing light cigarettes, which was overturned on appeal.[183] AP/CHARLES REX ARBOGAST   Bruce Cook President, St. Clair County St. Clair County’s most politically influential lawyer, Cook is also the former law partner of Ann Callis—daughter of local tort powerhouse Lance Callis and now the chief judge of Madison County.[185] AP/DERIK HOLTMANN   <<previous section | next section>> 138. Judge Compares Milberg Weiss Case to the Squeegee Man, supra at Lerach's firms' website, under "Prominent Cases," at http://www.lerachlaw.com (last visited Mar. 7, 2005) (listing In re NASDAQ Market-Makers Antitrust Litig., MDL 1023 (S.D.N.Y.) ($1.027 billion); In re American Continental Corp./Lincoln Savings & Loan Sec. Litig., MDL 834 (D. Ariz.) ($1 billion); Cordova v. Liggett Group, Inc., et al., No. 651824 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Diego County), and People v. Philip Morris, Inc., et al., No. 980864 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Francisco County) ($26 billion); In re Exxon Valdez, No. A89 095 Civ. (D. Alaska), and In re Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Litig., 3 AN 89 2533 (Alaska Super. Ct., 3d Jud. Dist.) ($5 billion); In re: The Prudential Insurance Company of America Sales Practices Litigation, 962 F. Supp. 450 (D. N.J. 1997) ($1.2 billion)). 139. See In re Diet Drugs (Phentermine / Fenfluramine / Dexfenfluramine) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1203 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 5, 1998) (ordering Elizabeth J. Cabraser lead counsel); Top 100 Lawyers, CALIF. DAILY J., Sept. 30, 2002, at http://www.lieffcabraser.net/ejc_top_100.htm (last visited Mar. 7, 2005); Dow Chemical's Hatch?, RECORDER, July 9, 1998, available at http://www.lieffcabraser.com/news1998.htm (last visited Mar. 7, 2005). 140. See 222 F.R.D. at 142. 141. See Bullock, supra note 132; Boeken, supra note 133. 142. See http://www.girardikeese.com/ (last visited Mar. 7, 2005) ("We have successfully recovered over $1 billion against the largest companies in the world . . . ."); Kathleen Sharp, "Erin Brockovich": The Real Story, SALON.COM, Apr. 14, 2001, at http://archive.salon.com/ent/feature/2000/04/14/sharp/index.html (last visited Mar. 7, 2005). 143. See The Miller Law Firm, Thomas E. Miller Senior Partner, at http://www.constructiondefects.com/fi_profiles.asp (last visited Mar. 7, 2005) ("Since 1981, Miller has exclusively represented homeowners associations in construction defects and land subsidence claims. A pioneer in his field, he has recovered over $350 million for his association clients including 75 settlements and verdicts over $1 million."). 144. See Press Release, supra note 116; Donahue, supra note 116; California State Treasurer's Office, supra note 116. 145. California Statewide Races 97-98, supra note 23; Political Spending 2002, supra note 23.