Attorneys

As a Partner and Founder of Pavalon, Gifford, Laatsch & Marino, Gary Laatsch concentrates his practice in personal injury law. Mr. Laatsch received his bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. A native of Chicago, he received his law degree from Loyola University of Chicago in 1979.

While in his second year of law school, Mr. Laatsch joined the law practice of Gene Pavalon as a clerk. The following year, he was hired as an associate attorney and, in 1986, he was made a partner of the firm.

An author of a number of articles concerning loss of society damages, contributory negligence, medical malpractice and products liability, Mr. Laatsch has also been a lecturer for the Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association and for the general membership of that organization. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice and the Appellate Lawyers Association of Illinois. As a member of the Chicago Bar Association, he recently served on the Hearing Division of the important Judicial Evaluation Committee.

Mr. Laatsch's experience in defending verdicts in the appeals court began early in his law career when he wrote briefs for the firm. His strong research and writing skills, in addition to his strength as a trial attorney, have added a critical component to the firm.

In one notable example, in a case against a major automobile manufacturer, a $5 million verdict was awarded to a college student whose back was broken in a car accident. Mr. Laatsch played a critical role in upholding the verdict during a three-year battle in the Illinois Appellate Court, the Illinois Supreme Court and U.S. District Court.

In another case, Mr. Laatsch successfully handled the appeal of a $1.5 million verdict for the wrongful death of a female union representative killed in a commercial airline crash. In another example of his appellate skill, Mr. Laatsch won a case against an airline in which a jury awarded several million dollars to a man who failed to receive proper medical care while in transit from Mexico to the United States. This award came in spite of a law that limits damages to $75,000 for accidents incurred during international travel. The Appellate Court held that the plaintiff was not limited to that amount.

Mr. Laatsch was recently appointed to the Plaintiffs' steering committee in Federal Court Multi-District litigation arising out of the crash of an American Eagle commuter flight in North Carolina. His efforts resulted in a $3.1 million settlement for the family of a passenger killed in that crash. More recently, he represented the families of four passengers killed in a mid-air collision of private aircraft near Meigs Field in Chicago which was favorably settled during trial

Mr. Laatsch has argued complex jurisdictional and procedural issues in cases before the Illinois Supreme Court, including one which affirmed a $6 million jury verdict entered in favor of a client of the firm. In addition, he was trial counsel in a class action case filed on behalf of condominium owners which resulted in a multi-million-dollar jury verdict against an Illinois banking institution for fraud and breach of warranty. He also represented a business partnership in the appeal which followed a jury's award of $54 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the partnership in a case involving fraudulent misrepresentations in the sale of a business.

Mr. Laatsch is married, the father of three children and lives in Arlington Heights, Illinois.