2021
STEPHEN BLECHA
Stephen truly shines in his ability to understand the issues and present those issues and arguments in a concise and creative manner.” D edicated to his clients. That’s how his peers describe plaintiff’s trial attor- ney Stephen Blecha.
failure to settle a case. These results don’t surprise his peers. Andrew Prindable, partner with struc- tured-settlement firm Waterville Advi- sors, worked with Blecha on the medical malpractice case involving the Wiscon- sin Injured Patients Compensation Fund. He came away impressed with Blecha’s talents. “This was not a typical medical mal- practice case. It was very complicated medicine and the Fund aspect made the negotiations and the ultimate resulting decisions very tricky,” Prindable said. “Stephen cared so much not just about the lawyering that led to a great result, but also about what happened after the result was obtained.” Blecha also brings his talents to the ap- pellate court as a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) amicus committee. Miranda Soucie, a partner with Spiros Law, first met Blecha in 2017, when on behalf of ITLA, he submitted an amicus brief in a case before the Illinois Supreme Court. “Stephen truly shines in his ability to understand the issues and present those issues and arguments in a concise and creative manner,” Soucie said. “His work on the amicus brief was truly exception- al. His arguments shed new light on the issue and were complimentary of the ar- guments I was presenting.” Blecha is actively involved in ITLA and its Amicus Committee. He is an editor of the ITLA Trial Journal and a co-author of the “Negligence and Standard of Care” chapter of the ITLA Medical Malpractice Notebook.
Blecha has developed a reputation as a committed advocate for his clients, help- ing them recover financially from medical malpractice, trucking accidents, and other personal injury cases. And the common thread with all these cases? Blecha works tirelessly to earn the best results for his clients. “Stephen is exceptionally bright, in- sightful and curious, and is not content to look at traditional litigation and trial issues in a conventional way,” said Christopher Norem with Chicago’s Parente & Norem. “He is very gifted at legal writing and caus- ing a court to look at an issue with a new perspective.” Blecha is not afraid of a challenge. He picked up a trucking case a month before trial after the handling partner suffered a medical emergency. He learned every aspect of the case and helped secure a $15 million verdict, the largest verdict in Winnebago County. In another Winneba- go County verdict ($1.5 million), Blecha organized the cross-examination of the defendant doctor using the defense’s own demonstrative timeline— a moment that jurors said sealed the case for the plaintiff. Blecha is aggressive at all stages of lit- igation. Recently, he successfully barred a defense geneticist and several other expert opinions, resulting a $13 million settlement for a birth injury against the Wisconsin Injured Patients Compensation Fund. His depositions of defense experts and motion for punitive damages led to a $11.5 million settlement in a bad-faith
FIRM Coplan & Crane
LAW SCHOOL University of Illinois College of Law
AREA OF PRACTICE Plaintiff’s civil litigation
40 Under Forty 2021 CHICAGO LAWYER & CHICAGO DAILY LAW BULLETIN
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