David Sethi

David learns his client’s practice, trade or product like it’s his own. His clients appreciate that he takes their defense personally and he knows when to take an educated risk. In his first assignment as an associate, he wrote the initial litigation analysis for a construction client being sued after a subcontractor’s employee was electrocuted. Everyone involved with the case believed a judgment for the plaintiff was likely – except David. Five years later David’s client was awarded summary judgment and nine years after the suit was filed, David argued before the Appellate Court to defend the ruling and won. The decision re-established the validity of the notice defense in construction negligence cases after the Illinois Supreme Court’s Carney ruling and proved David’s ability to think outside the box.

Today David represents truckers, auto workers, retailers, manufacturers and distributors in personal injury suits against alleged violations of work and safety standards and claims of catastrophic injuries. He also represents construction managers, general contractors and upper tier subcontractors in multi-party injury suits involving complex disputes over jobsite safety.

Preparation is key to David’s defense strategy. He has developed first-time liability experts when he feels an individual has the tools to provide a better defense for the client than other experts in the field. He once led the recreation of an accident that resulted in the death of a bicyclist to prove that the insured trucker’s testimony regarding his line of sight was credible.

Outside the office, David is an Advisory Board Member of Legal Prep Academy, the first school of its kind in Chicago to utilize a legal-enhanced curriculum to provide students in an underprivileged community with the tools to seek higher education and eventually, law school degrees. David’s most rewarding moments in this role include preparing freshman students for a year-end mock trial and seeing their excitement when they realize they are capable of carrying out real life opening statements and cross-examinations.