The Genesis of Corboy & Demetrio

The co-founder of the firm, Philip H. Corboy, graduated first in his class from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1949. He began his legal career as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago, drafting ordinances and writing briefs. One of these, a law prohibiting smoking in public elevators, still prevails. Corboy’s tenure as a municipal lawyer was brief.

On November 1, 1950, he accepted a job offer from James A. Dooley, then considered the dean, without peer, of personal injury trial lawyers. Within 13 days, Corboy tried his first case. Two widows sought recovery under separate certificates of life insurance. Their husbands, friends from childhood, became intoxicated, and then shot and killed each other. The insurance policies contained a clause which prohibited recovery if the insured’s death was caused by participation in a felony.

Corboy convinced the jury that a felony could not have been committed, because these two buddies were too drunk to possess the requisite intent. The thrill of winning his first case was somewhat dissipated when the trial court entered judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Unlike subsequent cases, Corboy’s first "people" clients did not recover. The experience, however, controlled his destiny. After a three-day trial, his career as a trial lawyer was ordained. He derived enormous personal and professional gratification from representing injured people.

Following a short apprenticeship with Dooley, who was later elected a Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Corboy borrowed $2,500 from a court reporter and opened his own firm, Philip H. Corboy & Associates, in 1952. His passion for and voracious study of the substantive law of torts was fueled by his commitment to provide the very best representation possible to persons injured by tortious conduct. He perfected his trial technique and knowledge of the law by meticulously preparing each case.

Philip Corboy hired his investigator, John D. Hayes, as his first associate. He exercised good judgment. Hayes, like his mentor, was later recognized as one of the nation’s leading trial lawyers. No one could have predicted that the firm Corboy started in 1952 would be energized today by 20 attorneys with 11 partners.

A milestone in the firm’s development can be traced to late 1973, when Thomas A. Demetrio, recently admitted to the Illinois and Florida bars, dropped in on judicial mentor, Judge James A. Geroulis, for whom he had clerked in law school. Then president of the Chicago Bar Association (CBA), Phil Corboy was on trial before the veteran jurist. Introductions were made. That afternoon, Demetrio was hired by Corboy . . . and the rest is history. It was soon apparent Demetrio had plenty of charisma and talent. He quickly became a consummate professional and seasoned trial lawyer. Demetrio and Corboy became partners in 1982, and the name of the firm was changed to Corboy & Demetrio.

The partnership ranks grew in 1991, when Philip Harnett Corboy Jr., Robert J. Bingle, and Francis Patrick Murphy were named partners. Philip Harnett Corboy, Jr., had distinguished himself for seven years as an Assistant State’s Attorney, assigned to the Criminal Trial Division of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. He was ultimately responsible for major felonies and tried forty jury cases to verdict before joining Corboy & Demetrio in 1985. Robert J. Bingle was conferred a master’s degree in history from the University of Chicago. While a valued executive with the Hilton Hotels Corporation, he attended law school in the evenings. He became a Corboy & Demetrio associate in 1983 and was appointed the firm’s managing partner in 1995.

Francis Patrick Murphy, known to all as simply Patrick, after earning a degree at Northwestern University on an athletic scholarship, also attended law school at night while working as a salesman for A.B. Dick Company in Niles. From 1975 to 1978, he represented the indigent as a Cook County Public Defender. In 1978, he was hired by Philip E. Howard, a former associate of Philip H. Corboy. He joined Corboy & Demetrio in 1983.

Two additional partners, Michael K. Demetrio and Susan J. Schwartz, were named in 1994. Michael K. Demetrio began his legal career as an Assistant State’s Attorney in 1979. After five years, he resigned as a felony trial assistant and accepted a position at a personal injury firm. In 1987, Michael chose to join Corboy & Demetrio to practice with his brother.

Susan J. Schwartz was hired as a law clerk at Philip H. Corboy & Associates in 1979. Upon passing the bar in 1980, she became an associate. She quickly distinguished herself by her work on medical negligence cases, on which she continues to concentrate her professional career.

In 2000, Shawn S. Kasserman, the grandson of a retired Illinois Appellate Court Justice, became a partner with the firm. Shawn initially joined C&D as a law clerk and subsequently became an associate when he graduated from DePaul College of Law in 1990. Less than four years later, he obtained the first of many million-dollar jury verdicts.

In April, 2002, Daniel M. Kotin, Barry R. Chafetz, and David R. "Chip" Barry, Jr., all joined the list of partners in the firm. Prior to joining Corboy & Demetrio, Dan had practiced at the corporate law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery and at his father’s law firm. A consummate trial attorney, Dan has been responsible for many of the mass tort litigation cases at the firm. Barry had been a trial attorney at the pre-eminent personal injury law firm of Leonard M. Ring and Associates and the Jefferson County State’s Attorneys' Office. A seasoned litigator, he has distinguished himself at Corboy & Demetrio in the area of medical negligence. Chip was a personal injury attorney working on the defense side prior to joining Corboy & Demetrio in 2002. He too is highly respected for his work in the area of medical malpractice, obtaining many record-setting verdicts and settlements.

René A. Torrado, Jr., joined the firm in 2003 as a partner with a vast amount of experience in anti-trust and commercial litigation. He was a partner at Vedder Price Kaufman & Kammholz, a partner at Reuben & Proctor, and a trial attorney at the United States Department of Justice in the Antitrust Division. René is the chair of the commercial litigation department at Corboy & Demetrio.