David J. O'Connell
Partner
| Summary |
David O’Connell joined Wiedner &
McAuliffe in 2003. His 18-plus year litigation practice has
focused on the areas of product liability, professional liability
and personal injury defense involving cases before federal,
state and appellate courts throughout the entire United States.
Trained as a mechanical engineer, David has
been defense counsel in a number of significant product liability
cases that are frequently cited as precedents on such key
issues as spoliation of evidence, expert witness testimony
and product design defects. He has also written on product
liability defense law for professional journals, covering
such topics as spoliation of evidence and federal preemption
defenses.
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| Areas of Emphasis |
David’s national litigation
defense practice encompasses all state and federal courts,
as does his appellate practice. His main areas of practice
emphasis are:
- Product liability
- Professional malpractice of architects,
engineers, surveyors and other professionals
- Construction law
- Premises liability
- Personal injury defense
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| Client Representations |
| David’s product liability and personal
injury defense practice has encompassed significant reported
decisions in Federal and State Appellate Courts. These include:
- Crawford v. Sears, Roebuck & Company,
295 F.3d 884 (8th Cir. 2002). In this case the plaintiff
sued the seller of a ladder manufactured at least 20 years
before it buckled laterally, throwing the plaintiff to the
ground. The Eighth Circuit ruled for the defense that there
was not enough to show negligence or defect, since the plaintiff
offered no evidence to exclude other forces that might have
affected ladder during its long pre-injury history.
- Roback v. VIP Transport, Inc.,
90 F.3d 1207 (7th Cir. 1996). This case hinged on Daubert
rule admission of an engineer’s expert methodology
involving analysis of a vehicle accident.
- Randall v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.,
284 Ill. App.3d 970, 673 N.E.2d 452 (4th Dist. 1996). This
case dealt with recovery of damages for workplace injury
under the Illinois Structural Work Act, which the legislature
repealed after the plaintiff’s suit was filed.
- Allstate Insurance Co. v. Sunbeam Corporation,
53 F.3d 804 (7th Cir. 1995). This case hinged on spoliation
of evidence issues.
- Hornyak v. National Presto Industries, 1995 WL 239104
(N.D. Ill.). Summary judgment for appliance manufacturer
under theories of failure to warn and defective design involving
a deep fat fryer.
- Shelbyville Mutual Insurance Co. v.
Sunbeam Leisure Products Co., 262 Ill. App.3d 636,
634 N.E.2d1317 (5th Dist. 1994). This case hinged on a spoliation
of evidence issue involving whether an expert witness handled
the product in a fire case in a way that denied the defendant
the means to demonstrate an alternative cause of the fire.
- Nielson v. United Service Automobile
Association, 244 Ill. App.3d 658, 612 N.E.2d 526 (2nd
Dist. 1994). This case held that under Illinois law an agent
has no duty to obtain "adequate" insurance, and
establishes that an insurer has no obligation to provide
coverage for the full amount of any possible damages.
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| Professional Affiliations |
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Defense Research Institute
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Professional Background
Before joining Wiedner & McAuliffe, David practiced from 1992
to 2003 at Momkus, Ozog & McCluskey, LLC, a litigation and commercial
law firm based in Downers Grove, Illinois. Between 1988 and 1992
he was associated at two other Chicago area firms:
- Johnson & Bell, Ltd.
- Fraterrigo, Best & Beranek
| Publications and Presentations |
David has written a number
of professional journal articles on product liability topics.
These include:
- “Defending Product Liability
Cases in Illinois after the Best Decision,” IDC
Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 4 (1998).
- “Federal Preemption Defenses
in Product Liability Cases, IDC Quarterly, Vol.
6, No. 3 (1996). “Recognizing and Asserting the Spoliation
Defense,” Product Liability Update, Illinois
Association of Defense Trial Counsel, Vol. 1, No. 2 (July,
1996).
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| Bar Admissions |
- Illinois
- U.S. District Courts, Northern and Central
Districts of Illinois
- U.S. Seventh and Eighth Circuit Courts
of Appeals
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David
J. O'Connell
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