Best's Recommended Insurance Attorneys - General Defense

• Telephone: 312-541-0022
• Fax: 312-541-0033
• Website: www.guntymccarthy.com

Established: 1991

• Practice Areas
• About Us
• Additional Locations
• Client Information
• Personnel
• High Profile Cases

About Us

Gunty & McCarthy has been in business since 1991 and has extensive experience handing all types of insurance defense matters spanning these 27 years. We still have clients we started representing all these years ago. In that time, we have handled thousands of cases for a large number of insurance companies in a fiscally efficient manner with consistently positive results. Our lawyers have a combined 125 years of litigation experience. Since our inception, we have always had females in positions of authority, and our attorneys and staff have a broad range of backgrounds and experience. This diversity allows for unique perspectives in defending and resolving cases on behalf of our clients.

We always keep the best interests of our clients in mind and work together with our clients and their insurers as a team to resolve all matters in controversy as favorably and cost effectively as possible. Gunty & McCarthy lawyers stand ready to try any case that cannot be otherwise resolved by motion or settlement, and we have an impressive trial track record. Judges recognize us as fair but aggressive lawyers and our adversaries know we are strong professionally but responsible and reputable. Our goal is to see to it that our clients benefit from our expertise, our reputation and our strength. The breadth of our experience and the relationship we have with our clients and their insurers sets us apart.

Below are additional examples of how we defend assigned cases:

In 2011-2012, we defended the diacetyl claims of 22 plaintiffs in Cook County, IL who all claimed exposure to diacetyl products allegedly supplied by our client to their jobsite. Through mountains of paper discovery and numerous witness depositions, we proved there were no records available that placed our products at the relevant jobsite during the years when the plaintiffs were working there. Paul Van Lysebettens was the partner on these matters with one associate assisting. Plaintiffs were originally consolidated in a single case, which is contrary to Illinois law. We argued to the court that the claimants needed to plead their causes of action separately and after 2 hours of oral arguments, the court finally conceded we were right. The plaintiffs were forced to re-plead separately. We filed motions to dismiss in response to the plaintiffs' amended complaints but rather than argue those motions, the plaintiffs’ counsel agreed to dismiss all 22 claims as against our client.

Madison County Asbestos Litigation- participation in creation of MMSEA procedures for settlements from 2010 to 2012, we participated on behalf of all our asbestos insureds with numerous co-defense counsel in both Cook and Madison Counties, IL in creating court approved procedures for handling settlements in light of the then-recent changes in Medicare reporting requirements from CMS for the 2 major Illinois asbestos jurisdictions. In Madison County, we assisted in the creation of release language as well as forms and procedures for deadlines and requirements for plaintiff firms to meet, backed by a C-2 agreement signed by the plaintiffs’ counsels, which provides for indemnification from plaintiffs' counsels for any damages or penalties resulting from plaintiffs’ counsels’ failure to satisfy Medicare rights of recovery. This is the only jurisdiction that uses the C-2 Agreement.

In Cook County, plaintiff counsels were not willing to agree to the C-2 agreement format. Alternatively, we negotiated an agreed order to the satisfaction of our carrier clients which plaintiffs' counsels would execute, requiring them to accomplish certain tasks in the CMS reporting process, including providing relevant Medicare information, reporting the settlement and the ultimate satisfaction of the Medicare right of recovery in its entirety. Should plaintiffs’ counsels violate this order, defendants then can sue them for violation of the court order. These procedures are still widely used by most of our insureds in the respective jurisdictions.

Starting in 2014, Gunty & McCarthy filed the first motion pursuing Personal Jurisdiction dismissals in Illinois pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Daimler AG v. Bauman, 571 U.S. __, 134 S.Ct. 746 (2014) and its progeny. To this day, Gunty & McCarthy is still leading the way in pursuing this defense and the innovative attacks of the plaintiffs' bar against this defense.

We continue to obtain dismissals for corporate clients who are erroneously brought into Madison County, IL asbestos litigation cases based on what is believed to be corporate successor liability. We are able to obtain these dismissals by navigating plaintiffs' counsels through convoluted corporate documents and/or corporate histories to demonstrate no liabilities held by our clients.

We pride ourselves on obtaining dismissals for our clients as soon as practical. When other firms work up a file and only then decide to resolve a case, we pursue dismissals as quickly as possible, sometimes even before incurring the expense of filing initial responsive pleadings. Our commitment to saving fees and expenses costs us revenue in the short run but we believe we are duty bound to defend all clients in this manner. Gunty & McCarthy does not charge a higher rate for partners as we expect all our lawyers to work with a partner. We do not believe that level of expertise should cost our clients and their carriers more. We look forward to serving your civil defense needs. Contact us when you need a good and solid law firm handling all your defense needs.

Additional Locations

Client Information

Insurance Clients

Non-Insurance Clients

Personnel Information

Senior Partners

Susan Gunty

Chicago, IL

• E-Mail: susan.gunty@guntymccarthy.com

Years of Experience: 38

Practice Areas

• Toxic Torts
• Product Liability
• Professional Liability
• Insurance Defense
• Environmental Property Damage

Admitted

• Illinois, 1980
• Missouri, 1995
• Indiana, 1996
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois including Trial Bar, 1986
• U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, 1990
• U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, 1995
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, 1995
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 1995
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1995
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, 2000
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, 2004
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan, 2005

Memberships:

• Illinois State and Chicago Bar Associations
• The Missouri Bar
• Defense Research Institute
• Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel

Education:

• Loyola University Chicago, B.A., 1975
• Loyola University Chicago, M.A., 1977
• Loyola University Chicago, J.D., 1980

Born: 1953

James P. McCarthy

Chicago, IL

• E-Mail: jim.mccarthy@guntymccarthy.com

Years of Experience: 34

Practice Areas

• Casualty
• Construction Defect
• Toxic Torts
• Product Liability
• Professional Liability
• Insurance Coverage
• Property
• Construction Risk
• Commercial Ground Transportation
• Environmental Property Damage
• Employment Liability

Admitted

• Illinois, 1984
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1986
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, 1999
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 2008
• U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2014

Memberships:

• Illinois State, DuPage County and Chicago Bar Associations
• Western Loss Association
• Blue Goose International
• Workers' Compensation Claims Association
• Illinois Self Insured Association
• National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel (NARTC)
• Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM)
• Defense Research Institute
• Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel

Education:

• University of Notre Dame, B.B.A., 1981
• The John Marshall Law School, J.D., 1984

Born: 1959

Partners

James B. Walton

Chicago, IL

• E-Mail: james.walton@guntymccarthy.com

Years of Experience: 10

Practice Areas

• Toxic Torts
• Construction Law
• Insurance Law
• Coverage Issues
• Subrogation
• Product Liability
• Casualty
• Construction Defect
• Insurance Coverage
• Property
• Asbestos
• Commercial Ground Transportation

Admitted

• Illinois, 2008
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois

Memberships:

• Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
• Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel
• Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel

Education:

• Loyola University Chicago, B.A., 1998
• University of Denver Sturm College of Law, J.D., 2007

Born: 1976

Eric B. Krauss

Chicago, IL

• E-Mail: ekrauss@guntymccarthy.com

Practice Areas

• Insurance Coverage
• Construction Law
• Toxic Tort Defense

Admitted

• Missouri, 1997
• Illinois, 2004
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, 1999
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, 2004

Education:

• Grinnell College, B.A., 1994
• Washington University School of Law, J.D., 1997

Born: 1972

Joseph B. Moore III

Chicago, IL

• E-Mail: joseph.moore@guntymccarthy.com

Practice Areas

• Insurance Defense
• Transportation
• Product Liability
• Cyber

Admitted

• Illinois, 2005
• Indiana, 2006
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2005
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana, 2006
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, 2010

Memberships:

• Indiana State, Illinois State, Lake County and Chicago Bar Associations

Education:

• Northwestern University, B.S., 2001
• Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D., 2005

Born: 1979

Associates

A. Warren Adegunle

Chicago, IL

• E-Mail: warren.adegunle@guntymccarthy.com

Admitted

• Georgia, 2014

Education:

• Dartmouth College, B.A., 2011
• The University of Georgia School of Law, J.D., 2014

Born: 1989

Stephen R. Ayres

Chicago, IL

Admitted

• Illinois, 1984
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois including Trial Bar, 1986

Education:

• DePauw University, B.A., 1981
• University of Illinois College of Law, J.D., 1984

Born: 1959

Colter Kennedy

Chicago, IL

• E-Mail: ckennedy@guntymccarthy.com

Admitted

• Missouri, 2015
• Illinois, 2021
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Education:

• Brigham Young University, B.A., 2010
• Washington University School of Law, J.D., 2014

U.S. Marine Corps

Of Counsel

Paul Van Lysebettens

Chicago, IL

• E-Mail: paul.vanlysebettens@guntymccarthy.com

Years of Experience: 24

Practice Areas

• Toxic Torts
• Insurance Coverage
• Asbestos
• Construction Risk
• Environmental Property Damage
• Employment Liability

Admitted

• Illinois, 1994
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1994
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1998

Memberships:

• American and Illinois State Bar Associations
• Defense Research Institute
• Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel

Education:

• American Conservatory of Music, B.Mus., 1983
• Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D., 1994

Born: 1961

Paul B. O'Flaherty Jr.

Chicago, IL

• E-Mail: paul.oflaherty@guntymccarthy.com

Years of Experience: 38

Practice Areas

• Civil Litigation
• Appeals
• Property
• Casualty
• Toxic Torts
• Product Liability
• Professional Liability
• Insurance Coverage
• Asbestos
• Construction Risk
• Employment Liability

Admitted

• Illinois, 1980
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 1985

Memberships:

• American and Illinois State Bar Associations

Education:

• Dartmouth College, A.B. (cum laude), 1977
• Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D., 1980
• The John Marshall Law School, LL.M., 2007

Born: 1955

High Profile Cases

Rush University Medical Center v. ASI LTD and Ohio Farmers Insurance Co., AAA 01-15-002-7995

Maria Carrasco, et al. v. Edison Carrasco and Wardell Smith, 2015-L-001745

Jesus Sanchez, et al. v William Ingram, M&M Transport Services Inc., 13-L-00524

Denaxas v. Crane, 11-L-010719

Arnold Boeve and Barbara Boeve v. Whip Mix Corp. et al, 10 L 008128

Hite v. Apex Oil, 09-CV-3454

Mulcahy v. Crane Co., 08-L-6223

H&R Block, Inc. v. American Int. Specialty Lines Ins. Co., 546 F.3d 937 (8th Cir. 2008)

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