Firm News

On Tuesday, September 14, founding partner Ken Levinson was the featured speaker for a Michigan Association for Justice webinar. In his presentation, "Maximizing Your Trucking Cases Using Focus Groups," Ken taught fellow trial lawyers how to best utilize focus groups to most effectively help their clients in trucking cases.

With Ken’s background helping our firm's clients, as well as having conducting hundreds of focus groups for other trial lawyers across the country, he understands how to utilize a variety of methods at every stage of a case. His presentation addressed how to better understand, identify, and highlight the most compelling issues for a trial; recognize the weakest points of a case at the earliest opportunity; find both positive and negative characteristics of clients and witnesses; and test evidence and develop themes before reaching a jury trial. “It is always an honor to be invited to teach fellow trial attorneys – I am happy to be back giving a presentation for the Michigan Association for Justice,” Ken said.

Jay Stefani, the firm’s managing partner, was recently elected Chair of the American Association for Justice‘s Sole Practitioner & Small Firm Section. He previously served in other leadership positions within the section. As the leader of the section for the 2021-2022 term, he will also sit on the section’s executive committee and is now a member of AAJ’s Section Leaders Council.

“It’s an honor to be chair of this group, especially considering how many of my fellow trial lawyers across the country are in small firms,” said Jay. The section focuses on small business issues facing sole practitioners and small firms, such as technology, human resources, marketing, and firm management.

Jay is looking forward to improving and growing the section. “I’m excited to grow our section and increase the sense of community. We all face the same ‘problems,’ and the section is a fantastic opportunity for our members to share their solutions with each other.”

Ken led a discussion at DePaul University College of Law on professionalism in the legal field. The program, organized by the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, is devoted to establishing and defining principles of integrity, professionalism, and civility within the next generation of lawyers on their very first day of law school. Last year, during the peak of the pandemic, this event was fully virtual, but optimistically the program this year was mask-required and in person. “I really cherish this wonderful opportunity to speak to future lawyers on the first day of law school — it’s something I look forward to every year,” Ken said.

Each scenario in the discussion-based orientation program highlights potential pitfalls young lawyers might encounter regarding honesty, integrity, and civility. The fact patterns fostered discussion surrounding real world topics from social media’s role in litigation today to young lawyers’ obligation to promote professionalism and civility. Using his experience, Ken cultivated new students’ problem solving skills while widening their perspectives.

Ken invited the students to keep in touch with him. He relishes the past mentoring opportunities he’s had over the years, staying connected with law students through school and into their legal careers. Taking a leadership position in Illinois’ legal community allows Ken to stay abreast of new and developing issues in the profession, thereby helping Levinson and Stefani Injury Lawyers stay a quality firm for all of our clients.  

Ken was honored at the recent American Association for Justice Annual Convention in Las Vegas. He was awarded a Certificate of Recognition for 2021. The certificate is given to members who have made contributions through membership, education, or fundraising to sustain and strengthen the organization. AAJ currently has approximately 20,000 members across the United States.

Ken continues to show his leadership and service amongst trial lawyers, and though he does it because it’s the right thing to do, the recognition is welcome. Throughout a difficult 2020, Ken continued teaching and coordinating virtual education programs for trial attorneys.

“I truly enjoy the opportunities I have to help make all trial lawyers better advocates for their clients. I do it because we all have an obligation to raise the bar of the profession, but the recognition is a humbling honor,” said Ken.