Levinson and Stefani Injury Lawyers

Client-first legal representation for injury victims. Injured? Free Consultation:

(312) 376-3812

Firm News

Ken Levinson Recognized as 2022 Top 100 Super Lawyer

by Leave a Comment

Levinson and Stefani congratulates Ken Levinson on being recognized as a Top 100 Super Lawyer in Chicago for 2022!

Levinson has been selected as a Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters for over a decade, and is beyond honored for this recognition in the new year.

“We’re thrilled for the acknowledgement from our peers–this is truly a vote of confidence and recommendation by fellow lawyers in the community, and by fellow Illinois attorneys who screen their colleagues throughout the state,” Levinson said. “To be recognized by my peers is fantastic and I’m just really thrilled and honored to be in the top 100 category–it’s just really humbling.”

Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers chooses outstanding attorneys through a multiphase selection process, including peer nominations, thorough evaluations, and independent research, with candidates being evaluated on a dozen criteria in regards to personal, professional achievement and peer recognition.

The overarching goal of Super Lawyers is to comprise a comprehensive listing of attorneys who go above and beyond so that clients can find the best legal counsel possible to fit their needs.

Levinson and Stefani’s Jay Levinson was also chosen as a top 100 Super Lawyer for 2022, about which Levinson is equally as thrilled.

“It really shows how much effort we put into our cases and how much we truly care about our clients,” noted Levinson. “This reflects upon our representation within the community–but it’s all about our clients, really. That’s the focus. It stems from our hard work and the dedication we have to our clients.”

To see a full list of Illinois’ 2022 Top 100 Super Lawyers, click here.

Levinson and Stefani Welcomes Brett Kaplan, its Newest Associate Attorney

by Leave a Comment

Levinson and Stefani is excited to welcome its newest Associate Attorney, Brett Kaplan! 

Kaplan, who earned his Juris Doctor in 2015 from Chicago-Kent College of Law, has spent the last six years litigating corporate and injury cases, although his passion lies strongly in securing successful results for his clients regarding personal injury matters. 

“I like the aspect of helping people who are in need of assistance when they don’t really have anywhere to look or don’t really know what the right thing to do is,” explained Kaplan. “Everyone has seen movies about lawsuits, but they don’t really know what goes into them. A lot of the time, we’ll see these clients who are really in need of legal assistance and guidance, and I think it’s nice to be there for those people. I kind of got into this field by luck–but that’s what has kept me so intrigued by it.”

In fact, Kaplan wasn’t necessarily searching for a new firm when he was informed of an open role at Levinson and Stefani–which goes to show his new position was indeed meant to be.

“I got a call from a family member of mine who knows Ken and Jay–he reached out to me and said there was an opportunity,” he said. “He told me a bit about them and had great things to say, so I took a few calls and was very impressed. After some time, I decided to make the move.”

Now, Kaplan is thrilled for a chance to grow even further in his experience as an attorney, and to do so alongside some of Chicago’s most widely-respected personal injury lawyers.

“My goal is to learn more about legal practice and to maximize my ability as a litigator,” Kaplan noted. “The reason I came to this firm is because I believe this is the right place for that. I know I’ll learn a lot; I’ve had a lot of experience, but I always want to continue to learn and become a better attorney. I think there’s a lot of potential at this firm and my hope is that I will be one of the catalysts that can help bring the firm to new heights.”

Updates in 2021-2022 Edition of Ken Levinson’s Book Series

by Leave a Comment

The 2021 to 2022 Edition of Litigating Major Automobile Injury and Death Cases, written by Levinson and Stefani’s own Ken Levinson along with Tom D’Amore, has some new updates in its latest version.

The two-volume series, which aims to offer legal and scientific insight regarding how best to prepare auto injury cases for the best possible awards, has some updated materials in Chapter 1, “The Importance of Law Firm Marketing.” This chapter covers how best to build your firm brand using internet marketing, organic and local SEO, and Google search result rankings, as well as how to use social media and email marketing to your advantage.

“This series is designed to provide plaintiff attorneys with clear guidance on representing major automobile injury and death cases, and strategies for winning large damage awards with the least expenditure of effort,” explained Levinson.

Additionally, Chapter 8–Depositions–is revised to look further into how to boost remote deposition success when so many depositions are now held over Zoom following the pandemic. Specifically, this chapter covers how to allow all participants to see exhibits and witnesses as clearly as possible, how to maximize your video and audio quality, and as how to minimize background or technical difficulty disturbances.

“Our objective is to help attorneys achieve maximum damage awards on behalf of their severely injured clients,” said Levinson. “The series features written discovery, depositions, medical, and other expert witness testimony, and aspects of automobile jury trials–as well as the necessary forms needed to handle a case from beginning to end.”

The series, published Thomson Reuters, is available here.

Levinson and Stefani Welcomes Newest Associate Attorney, Vanessa A. Gebka

by Leave a Comment

Vanessa A. Gebka

Levinson and Stefani is thrilled to announce the firm’s newest associate attorney, Vanessa A. Gebka! Vanessa served as a law clerk for the firm for nearly two years before rising up to her new position, and earned her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago’s School of Law. 

“I hit the ground running the day after I was sworn in,” said Gebka of her start as an associate attorney. “I had a lot on my plate, as far as cases go, but I was happy to have the opportunity. Within about a week of being sworn in, I had already appeared in court for the first time as an attorney of record, I was able to file a motion under my name as the attorney, and I was also included in a deposition where I was listed as an attorney for the plaintiffs–so that’s all amazing to me and very exciting.”

At Loyola, Gebka worked on the Chicago Bar Association’s Moot Court Team and as a Student Clinician in Loyola’s Civitas ChildLaw Clinic. During her schooling, it didn’t take long for her to find the area of law that would become her passion.

“I’ve always wanted to work in personal injury,” she explained. “I always felt like it was the right area for me because I’ve always wanted to help people who have been harmed. I found this area of law and have been involved in it since the beginning of my law school career, and I really enjoyed it. Because I was a law clerk here for almost two years, I was able to become really familiar with everyone in the office and with the team here, and they’ve been very supportive.”

Gebka noted that she is incredibly grateful now that she gets to go to bat for the clients she cares about most.

“First of all, I think it’s a privilege and an honor for somebody to trust you in something as serious as a case where they’ve been seriously harmed or injured in something as traumatic as a car crash, even if that injury doesn’t happen to be as significant as other ones–just going through that kind of accident is very traumatic,” she said. “Just trusted as someone who can take care of that for them is an honor. I’m happy and thrilled to step up to the plate and be that person for these clients who are everyday people who have just been involved in something awful and just want someone to be their voice and advocate and help them get back to where they were before–to make them whole again.”

Ken Levinson to Speak at Connectionology Webinar

by Leave a Comment

On Tuesday, November 30th, Levinson and Stefani’s own Ken Levinson will be speaking in a free Connectionology webinar named “Over $400M in Verdicts, Thousands of Focus Groups: Lessons Learned.”

Levinson is thrilled to be part of this event as he believes deeply in attorneys sharing their unique methods and insight into helping their clients, because any lawyer should be willing to expand their own perspectives as often as possible.

“These are lessons about what the best lawyers in the country do to win their cases and their mentality in doing so,” explained Levinson. “One takeaway I’ve discovered from all the lawyers I’ve worked with–which includes some of the best in the country–is that they’re always willing to improve and learn. They never feel like they have all the answers, and they’re always looking to better themselves as trial lawyers and learn the best ways to tweak their cases for the better.”

Also speaking at the virtual conference will be Lauren D. Fraser or Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins, P.C., and moderating will be Destiny R. Barbosa of Romano Law Group.

“We’ll also discuss some things lawyers make mistakes about,” Levinson continued. “For instance, they might have a great theme, but the wrong case. They’ve got to match, otherwise they’re going to lose. We’re going to talk for an hour or so and try to help lawyers help their clients.”

Any plaintiff and criminal defense attorneys, as well as paralegals, are invited to attend the webinar, which Levinson notes will be beneficial for anyone looking for an outside perspective into the world of focus groups and successful cases.

“We get lost in our own world and our own silos and how we prepare cases,” he said. “We sometimes get lost in the weeds and in the details of our cases. This event is a nice way to step back and see what other lawyers in the country are doing to best help their clients, get more perspective on what some other trial attorneys do to prepare, and how we can use that insight to help our clients.”

The free webinar event will take place between 3:00 P.M. and 4:30 P.M. EST–plaintiff attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, and paralegals can register here.

Ken Levinson Serving as Featured Speaker at Annual IAJ Convention

by Leave a Comment

On Friday, November 5th, Levinson and Stefani Injury Lawyers’ own Ken Levinson will be a featured speaker at the Iowa Association for Justice’s 48th Annual Convention.

This hybrid event allows attendees to join either virtually or in-person, but will be held at the Downtown Des Moines Hilton. Other speakers include the New President of AAJ, Navan Ward of Atlanta, as well as IAJ’s Nick and Courtney Rowley, Lauren Fraser of New Jersey, and Karen Koehler of Seattle.

IAJ prides itself on gathering some of the most prominent speakers from across the state of Iowa and the country itself to discuss innovative litigation solutions and trial advocacy techniques.

Levinson will be sharing his ideas regarding focus group utilization methods and practices for the present day as compared to pre-COVID.

“I love teaching,” Levinson said of his participation in the convention. “I love helping fellow trial lawyers. I’ll be discussing how we’ve pivoted from focus groups and preparing our cases before COVID to how we do so now–by using Zoom more, getting input from other lawyers and participants, and using virtual focus groups along with surveys and other methods.”

Levinson noted that before the coronavirus era, many trial lawyers didn’t think much about other ways to hold focus groups–and they’ve now been forced to think outside the box.

“We used to only do focus groups in person,” he said. “We didn’t really consider any other method to test our cases and help our clients with focus groups. Now, we’ve made changes in the middle of COVID to do focus groups remotely and it’s been interesting; it’s easier, in a lot of ways, to find participants because sometimes they’re more comfortable at home.”

Not only is it easier to find participants, but focus groups can be held with more people than ever before when done virtually.

“We can do some interesting things online and get more people, because by definition, a conference room only holds so many individuals–but you can do a virtual Zoom focus group with around 50 people,” Levinson added. “A conference room size can be limiting. Now, we’ve been able to survey people and have them fill out questionnaires in real time, whereas in person, it’s a lot harder to do that. It’s been really seamless, especially when we need to show exhibits from our computer. We’ve done a lot of focus groups in jurisdictions and states far away, but from the comfort of my office in Chicago.”

For information on attending IAJ’s Annual Convention virtually, click here, or head here for details on joining the in-person event in Des Moines.