Bill speaking to JVR TLE attendees after accepting his Lifetime Achievement Award (2025).
“ Bill Cunningham is one of the finest at - torneys I had the pleasure of working with over my 43 years in the profession. His calm demeanor, rigorous and creative preparation coupled with his unparal - leled work ethic routinely resulted in wins for his clients. Over my 22 years on the bench in DuPage County, I believe that Bill tried more cases with me than any other attorney and I cannot recall that he ever lost. Above and beyond his trial record, Bill offered generous mentoring to scores of younger attorneys. With his colored markers and calm delivery, he modeled the best of ethical advocacy. One of my most memorable experiences with him was a birth injury case where he represented the defendant physician. The young plaintiff suffered from severe cerebral palsy. Plain - tiff’s counsel was a well known bankruptcy attorney, with little experience in this arena. Bill calmly dealt with the dramatic histrion - ics in the courtroom and secured a victory for his client, while the hospital was not as fortunate. Bill demonstrated day in and day out that diligent preparation and respectful presentation are the best ways to advo - cate for those who were lucky enough to be represented by him. He stands as a gi - ant in our legal community and I send my sincere congratulations to him for this well- earned honor.”
“You find nuggets that you never saw before, even though they are there for everyone to see,” Cunningham said. “Those nuggets can make a difference in a case, those important factors that everyone else has overlooked. That is some- thing that happened to me on more than one occasion because of my dedica- tion to preparation.” Cunningham has won several big verdicts and settlements for his clients, but some cases stand out. The case in which Cunningham established the “empty chair” defense is one. But Cunningham also points to a case in which he repre - sented a doctor who had passed away before the trial began. As Cunningham says, that case was a challenge because he could not speak with his client. He instead had to rely on the doctor’s records, which weren’t complete. One thing Cunningham could, and did, do was find a doctor who ran a similar practice to the physician whom he was representing. Cunningham tapped this professional to be a key expert during the case. “I didn’t want someone whose livelihood was being an expert,” Cunningham said. “I wanted someone who was in the trenches. This doc- tor had never testified as an expert. He had a very homey way of talking about things. That helped me. He was an expert that the jury could and did relate to.”
Thanks in part to this expert, Cunnigham earned a positive result for his client in this com- plicated case. Cunningham’s work defending doctors and hospitals in medi- cal malpractice cases earned him a spot on CNA Insurance’s Birth Trauma Team. Cunning- ham was one of only nine
Hon. Hollis L. Webster (Ret.)
Bill, when a young lawyer (1979)
JURY VERDICT REPORTER • 2025 ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYER EXCELLENCE AWARDS 49
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