| Lindsay, Rappaport & Postel is a firm of attorneys dedicated to excellence in the practice of tort defense litigation, insurance coverage practice, insurance related litigation, and appellate practice in the Chicago and Northern Illinois area. We are not only advocates of our clients' interests, but stewards of their resources as well. We litigate a variety of civil matters ranging from high exposure, multi-party cases to more customary tort cases, to insurance coverage disputes. We also have expertise in appellate practice.
We have earned a reputation for being thorough yet efficient, as well as creative, aggressive, and ethical. We are staunch advocates of our clients' interests from start to finish, whether the case calls for early resolution, dispositive motion practice, mediation or alternative dispute resolution, trial to verdict, or appeal. Our firm is guided by the principle that our professional efforts must be directed, first and foremost, to serving the needs of our clients.
Lindsay, Rappaport & Postel has offices in Waukegan, Illinois, and in the Chicago loop. A large portion of our case load is pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County, with a substantial portion in the northern and northwestern collar counties. We regularly accept cases in the federal and state courts throughout Northern Illinois. We take pride in our ability to provide top notch legal services in a manner competitive with the larger downtown firms, but with the responsiveness of a smaller firm. We are committed to providing great service to our clients.
Our goal is to be our clients' first choice in law firms for tort defense litigation and insurance coverage practice in the Chicago area and throughout Northern Illinois. To achieve that goal, we have positioned ourselves as a small firm that competes with the large defense firms in terms of quality, results, effectiveness, and rates.
What sets us apart from other firms? A law firm should be evaluated by its results, and we have achieved significant results for our clients. Our significant verdicts and other case dispositions are listed on this website, and we take pride in them. However, a law firm is also evaluated by how well it handles the day to day, week to week interaction with its clients. Our firm has a strong focus on responsiveness, client communication and teamwork. We understand that keeping our clients well informed, without "over-reporting," can be every bit as important as what we do in the courtroom. The managing partner of our firm, William Lindsay, earlier in his career served as a key member of a claims / legal action team for Liberty Mutual, and was responsible for developing significant improvements in communication and teamwork between claims and legal counsel. This experience provides a unique insight into the day-to-day issues faced by a claims department, and in turn guides our practice on a day to day basis.
We understand that our clients deserve and expect early evaluation of cases, a targeted litigation plan, prompt reporting of all material developments, and the best experience, expertise, judgment and effort we can offer. By consistently approaching our practice with these principles in mind, we have been very successful at building long-term partnerships with our clients.
We understand that claims professionals and clients should not have to track down their counsel to find out what is happening on a case, and we take steps to make sure they don't have to do so. Our office has important reporting and client contact protocols, including: (1) prompt notification of all material developments, and all important upcoming dates; (2) prompt return of phone calls and emails (within 24 hours); (3) status reports every thirty days, whether it be a simple two sentence e-mail as to upcoming events, or a more a detailed analysis of the case when necessary; and (4) deposition reports within two weeks of the deposition. We communicate with our clients according to their needs, so these protocols may be modified where the client has specific guidelines. In every case, however, and for every client, we make it a point to report as to all significant developments, promptly, and accurately.
We take seriously our duty to be good stewards of our clients' resources. For cases where we are retained by an insurer to defend its insured in liability litigation, our firm is guided by the dual fiduciary duty under Illinois law to act in the best interests of the insured client we represent as well as the insurer client that retained us. We take this fiduciary duty seriously. Each and every aspect of the way we handle cases flows from it. This includes our obligation to act as a good steward of our clients' resources. We represent our clients vigorously, but we always make sure that our efforts are efficient, and sensible. This is reflected in our billing. In its own study, Nationwide Insurance Company found our billing to be the most cost-effective in comparison to the billing of other Chicago area defense firms.
Why did Nationwide come to this conclusion? Perhaps it is because we do not make a practice of litigating cases by following a form checklist of discovery tasks, filing every conceivable pleading or motion, or deposing every conceivable witness. Our approach is a focused and targeted one, and is driven by the needs of the case at hand. From the initial assignment, we work with the claims professional and client to develop a resolution strategy appropriate to the particular case. We focus our efforts on activities that will have the maximum positive impact on the resolution of the case.
This approach may be somewhat different than the norm, but it may also explain why we have never viewed the insurance defense counsel audit process with concern. We've never had a problem with the audit process, and in fact, we're proud to say that we've never lost an insurance carrier as a client.
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