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Corboy’s cases

Over a career that spanned more than 60 years, longtime Chicago personal injury lawyer Philip H. Corboy — who died Tuesday at the age of 87 — represented plaintiffs in a number of local high-profile, civil cases. Several concluded with multimillion dollar settlements.

Here is a sampling:

Ÿ Corboy served as lead counsel for dozens of families of victims who died when American Airlines Flight 191 crashed in Elk Grove Township near Des Plaines. The 1979 crash killed 271 people on board and two people on the ground.

Ÿ Corboy represented the families of three of the seven victims in Cook and DuPage counties who died in 1982 after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules purchased from Chicago-area stores. He reached a confidential settlement with Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of Tylenol, on the eve of the trial.

Ÿ Corboy obtained a $25 million settlement for the family of a man killed in 1989 when United Airlines Flight 232 crash-landed in Sioux City, Iowa. It set a record for aviation settlements at the time. Corboy & Demetrio, the firm Corboy cofounded with Thomas A. Demetrio, handled 39 cases stemming from the crash and secured $73.9 million in damages.

Ÿ Corboy and Daniel M. Kotin represented Chicago Police Officer Jim Mullen who was shot and paralyzed in 1996 while responding to a police call. They settled the lawsuit against Professionals Detective Agency, who employed the man who shot Mullen, in 2000 for an undisclosed amount.

Ÿ Corboy represented a Sun City couple who received a $4.5 million jury award in 2005 for injuries they suffered in a 2003 car crash in Hampshire. In a statement to the Daily Herald, Corboy said it marked the third largest award for a personal injury case in the history of Kane County at the time.

Ÿ With Corboy’s firm’s representation, Lombard-based Town and Country Homes paid Marisa Costello of Cary $1 million after she suffered injuries when her backyard deck collapsed in 2009. She and her 4-year-old daughter fell 12 feet; she was able to catch her daughter.

— Barbara Vitello

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