Unfortunately, even though the man displayed key signs of neurological dete- rioration while waiting for the MRI, no one told the neurosurgeons. This led to the man suffering paralysis. The defense waited until one week before trial to make its settlement offer, in which the hospital would admit fault and that its negligence caused the paraly- sis suffered by Pfaff’s client. The defense offered $7 million. Pfaff recommended against taking the settlement, and his advice proved sound. The case went to trial, and Pfaff and his legal team earned a jury ver- dict of $10 million for his client. With interest, the client collected about $11.5 million. “This was a big deal,” Pfaff said “He and his wife both worked hard their entire lives. They were solid citizens. It took a lot of courage for him to turn down $7 million. I appreciated his confidence in my ability to get the job done.” That was Pfaff’s last case for the firm that he founded. As Pfaff says, when he works on a trial, that case becomes all-consuming. It doesn’t matter the day: He’ll work 12 to 16 hours on the case. Pfaff said that it was time to step away from those long days. This isn’t the first time that Pfaff made a key decision about the direction of his career. He was working with a big plaintiff’s law firm in the early 1990s in Chicago and was doing well. The problem? He had too many clients. The work level was unsustainable. He had 100 clients, all of whom were relying on him to provide them with the best representation.
Bruce Pfaff receiving the ITLA 2024 Leanard Ring Award.
Bruce Pfaff (center) wrote a check for $283,500 for The Chicago Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service, the largest percentage fee in CBA history, after winning a $9.3 million jury award in a medical malpractice case. Pictured with Pfaff are Brenda Ott (left), director of the CBA service that referred the case to him, and CBA President Joy V. Cunningham.
64 JURY VERDICT REPORTER • 2024 ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYER EXCELLENCE AWARDS
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