JOHN NISIVACO, PARTNER

20 Plus Years of Aggressively and Ethically Fighting For the Rights of Injury Victims

John L. Nisivaco handles cases involving catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death arising from automobile and trucking accidents, train collisions, construction site injuries, medical malpractice and defective product litigation.

Throughout his career, John has obtained millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of his clients. In 2002, John obtained a $55 million verdict on behalf of plaintiffs who were injured when they were struck by a train at a railroad crossing. The verdict is the largest railroad crossing verdict in Illinois history and was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top 100 verdicts in the country in 2002.

John is also well-regarded in the area of medical malpractice. John was involved in several cases before the Illinois Supreme Court regarding HMO liability, one of which resulted in a landmark decision on behalf of patients against their HMOs.

John has been named as a “ Leading Lawyer” by Leading Lawyers Network, a Division of Law Bulletin Publishing Company – an honor that is limited to the top 5% of lawyers in Illinois. He has been selected by his peers as a “SuperLawyer” since 2006. He is an invited member of the “ Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum,” which is more thoroughly explained on our firm’s blog. In 2001, he was named as one of the “ 40 Lawyers under 40 years of age to watch” by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company. In 2010, he was named as one of the “ Top 100 Trial Lawyers” by The American Trial Lawyers Association.

In addition to his practice, John is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at DePaul Law School where he has taught “Litigation Strategy” for over 10 years. In 2011, he was elected to the Board of Governors of the Illinois State Bar Association and he has been elected three times to the Assembly of the Illinois State Bar Association. He was chair of the Tort Law Section Council for the Illinois State Bar Association and the Tort Litigation Committee for the Chicago Bar Association. He is also the editor of the “ Tort Trends” publication for the Illinois State Bar Association and is a nationally recognized authority on civil trial law. In 2009, John was appointed as a Commissioner for the Lyons Township Mental Health Board.

John L. Nisivaco is the son of a Chicago Firefighter and was born and raised in the Beverly neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.

Professional Associations

Chicago Bar Association

  • Practice Committees:
    • Civil Practice (1997 – present);
      • Tort Litigation Committee (1997 – present);
      • Chair (2007-2008);
      • Vice-Chair (2006-2007);
      • Secretary (2005-2006);
      • Legislative Liaison (2003-2005);
      • Newsletter co-editor (2004-2005).
Illinois State Bar Association

  • Secretary of the Illinois State Bar Association – elected July 2012
  • Committee on Scope & Correlation – elected July 2012
  • Board of Governors, member (appointed October 15, 2010 to fill the vacancy of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis; elected May 2011 and May 2014)
  • Trustee – Illinois Lawyers’ Political Action Committee (LAWPAC) (appointed December 14, 2002 as one of eight trustees statewide – reappointed December 10, 2005)
  • Assembly, member (elected 1998, 2001, 2006 and 2016)
  • Assembly Rules and Bylaws Committee (appointed for 2002-2003)
  • Assembly Program and Agenda Committee (elected 2006)
  • Conference for Tomorrow’s Leaders of the Profession, attendee (April 23-24, 1999)
  • Making a Critical Analysis: ISBA’s Relevance to Members, attendee (March 7, 2013)
  • Appellate Panel (2012 – present)
  • Section Councils & Committees:
    • Standing Committee on Judicial Evaluations:
      • Appointed Full Member (1998, 1999,  2000, 2001, 2002, 2003);
      • Secretary (2003-2004);
      • Vice-Chair (2005-2006 and 2006-2007);
      • Chairperson (2008-2010).
Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Evaluation

  • ISBA Chair (2008 – 2010)

Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

  • Board of Managers (2002 – 2010)
  • Board of Advocates (1998 – 2002) (2017 – present)
  • Amicus Curiae Brief – Petrovich v. Share Health Plan of Illinois, Sup. Ct. No. 85726 (holding HMO liable for negligence of plan physician under apparent agency theory) (May, 1999);
  • Amicus Curiae Brief – Jones v. Chicago HMO, Ltd., of Illinois, Sup. Ct. No. 86830 (holding HMO liable under corporate negligence theory) (June, 1999);
  • Amicus Curiae Brief – Neade v. Portes, M.D., Supreme Court, No. 87445 (addressing whether valid cause of action exists for a physician’s breach of fiduciary duty for failing to disclose financial incentives provided by HMO to limit or deny treatment) (June, 2000);
  • Amicus Curiae Volunteer Award Recipient (1999);
  • Amicus Curiae Volunteer Award Recipient (2009).
  • Committees:
    • Medical Negligence Committee (1997 – present).
    • Young Lawyers Committee – Co-Chair (1999 – 2000);
    • Amicus Curiae Committee (1997- present);

    American Bar Association

    • Litigation Section (1998 – 2007)
    • Automobile Law Committee (1997 – 2007);
    • Medicine and Law Committee (1997 – 2007);
    • Toxic and Hazardous Substances (1997 – 2007);
    • Training the Advocate Committee (1998 – 2005);
    • Trial Practice Committee (1998 – 2007);
    • Trial Evidence Committee (1998 – 2007).
    • Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (1998 – 2007):
    • Civil Procedure and Evidence Committee:
    • Vice-Chair 2002-2003;
    • Vice-Chair 2003-2004;
    • Newsletter Editor (2003 – 2004);
    • Program Committee Member (2003)
    • Governmental Liability Committee.
    • Young Lawyers Division:
    • Appointed Regional Delegate to the American Bar Association (2004):
    • Appointed as a Fellow of the ABA YLD (2005).

      Tort Law Section Council

      • Editor of Tort Trends Publication (June 1999 – present);
      • Secretary (2004-2005);
      • Vice-Chair (2005-2006);
      • Chairperson (2006-2007).
      • Ex-Officio (2007-2008)
      • Young Lawyers Division
        • Appointed Full Member (June 2001, 2002, 2003);
        • Appointed Regional Delegate to the American Bar Association (2004).
        • Standing Committee on Personnel
        • Appointed Full Member (July 2015)
        • Special Committee on Succession and Transition Planning
        • Appointed Member (2017)

      American Association for Justice (formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America)

      • Advocate Member;
      • Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway, and Premises Liability Section;
      • DePaul University College of Law Chapter, Founder and President (1991-1993);
      • Scoring Judge for Chicago Regional Student Trial Advocacy Competition (March 2006).

      The Society of Trial Lawyers

      • Elected member (2005 – present)

      The National Institute of Trial Advocacy

      • Advocates Association (August 2001)

      Justinian Society of Lawyers (Italian-American Lawyers Association)

      • Member (1998 – present)

      Phi Alpha Delta National Law Society

      • Drug Education Program Chairman (1992-1993)

      Trial Lawyers for Public Justice

      • (1998 – 2006)

      ORGANIZATIONS

      Illinois Bar Foundation

      • Board of Directors,  member – (September 2006 – present);
      • Grants Committee Chair (2012);
      • Scholarship Selection Committee member (2004).
      • Gold Fellow (2002);
      • Gala Auction Committee member (2002);
      • Gala Auction Committee Chair/Co-Chair  (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007);

      Lyons Township Mental Health Commission

      • Commissioner  (appointed by Township Supervisor 2009)

      Community Support Services

      • Board of Directors member – (2006-2007);
      • Chair – Development Committee (2007).

        CASE RESULTS

         

        • $55,000,000 – Train crash
        • $8,000,000 – Medical Malpractice
        • $7,200,000 – Pedestrian/Auto
        • $3,500,000 – Boating accident
        • $1,800,000 – Trucking negligence
        • $1,465,000 – Auto accident
        • $1,000,000 – Medical Malpractice
        • $900,000 – Medical Malpractice
        • $750,000 – Motorcycle vs. vehicle
        • $525,000 – Product Liability

        AWARDS / HONORS

         

        • Received the “Trial Lawyer Excellence” Award by the Cook County Jury Verdict
          Reporter in 2011 for obtaining the largest train verdict in the State of Illinois.
        • Selected as one of “40 Lawyers Under 40 Years Old to Watch in Illinois” by the Law
        • Bulletin Publishing Company (June 2001).
        • Named as an Illinois “Super Lawyer” – 2006 to present – by the publishers of Chicago Magazine.
        • Selected as a “Leading Lawyer” – 2006 to present.
        • Named as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” by The American Trial Lawyers Association – 2010 – present.
        • Named as one of the “Top Lawyers in Chicago” – 2012.
        • Named as one of the “Top Lawyers in Illinois” – 2013.