Brian Hurst

Brian Hurst grew up in Chicago and has served the city and surrounding community as an attorney for over two decades. He has been recognized by various organizations for his exemplary legal services, talent as a trial lawyer and commitment to the community. Among the various honors, awards and recognitions he has received throughout his career, Mr. Hurst is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, has been consistently named a “Top Illinois Lawyer” by SuperLawyers.com, and is recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer”.

Prior to embarking upon a career in law, Mr. Hurst graduated from Eastern Illinois University, where he obtained his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude-with highest honors. He then attended the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he obtained his law degree. Mr. Hurst previously served on the College of Sciences Advisory Board of Eastern Illinois University.

Mr. Hurst is married with two small children. His son suffers from profound cerebral palsy and requires full-time care. A lifelong resident of Chicago, Mr. Hurst and his family now live in the western suburbs and are actively involved in supporting several charities including Feed My Starving Children, The Salvation Army, the Brain Injury Association of Illinois and Almost Home Kids.

As an attorney, Mr. Hurst has litigated cases on behalf of injured people and the families of wrongfully deceased people for almost a quarter century. In his career as a civil litigator, Mr. Hurst has tried medical malpractice cases before civil juries in counties across the State of Illinois, including Cook, Will, Sangamon and DuPage, as well as in other states, including New Jersey and Georgia.

Mr. Hurst has obtained several millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts on behalf of injured people in cases involving medical malpractice and other personal injury, including wrongful death, transportation catastrophes and premises liability. In May, 2006, Mr. Hurst, along with his partner Ernest W. Beutel, obtained an Illinois record jury $5 Million verdict for a negligently performed incontinence surgery in the Circuit Court of Cook County on behalf of a couple formerly of Du Page County. In 2016, a Cook County jury awarded a client of Mr. Hurst and his partner, Thomas F. Boleky, an $8.7 million verdict for a major vascular injury suffered during a routine exploratory laparoscopy performed by a resident physician. In June, 2019, Mr. Hurst and Mr. Boleky, obtained an Illinois record verdict of $7 Million on behalf of a 59-year-old suburban woman who suffered a delay in diagnosis of her breast cancer. The DuPage County jury returned the largest reported verdict in Illinois history for delayed diagnosis of breast cancer.

Mr. Hurst has also successfully represented injured people before the Illinois Appellate Court. In Booker v. Lal, 312 170, 726 NE.2d. 638, 244 Ill. Dec. 663 (1st Dist. 2000), leave to appeal denied, 731 N.E.2d 762, 246 Ill. Dec. 913, Mr. Hurst successfully represented, on appeal, the rights of heirs of the estate of a deceased woman whom the defense had sought to exclude as wrongful death beneficiaries. Mr. Hurst authored the main and reply briefs and argued the case before the 1st District Appellate Court, Justice Cahill, presiding.

Mr. Hurst has lectured extensively on health care law and personal injury law, including medical malpractice and liability of managed care providers. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the American Association for Justice, and has served on the Chicago Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Committee. Mr. Hurst has been admitted to the bar in Illinois and the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois.