Jeffrey Thomas Bash

Jeff Bash is the managing partner of the Madison County, Illinois office and vice-chair of the firm-wide Asbestos Litigation Practice. He focuses his practice on the defense of manufacturers, retailers, suppliers and premises owners in toxic/mass tort and environmental litigation. Mr. Bash also has extensive experience representing health care providers, trucking and insurance companies. He also provides proactive solutions aimed at reducing potential liability and exposure to clients. He is licensed to practice in the State Courts of Illinois and Missouri and the United States District Courts for the Southern District of Illinois and Eastern District of Missouri.

Mr. Bash has successfully managed complex commercial litigation for Fortune 500 corporate clients in Madison County and St. Clair County, Illinois and in neighboring counties in Missouri for over a decade. He has tried cases to verdict and specializes in mitigating risks for the firm's clients through diligent trial preparations, motion practice and settlement negotiations. He has been retained by clients to negotiate settlements and dismissals nationwide. Mr. Bash has taken the lead in pressing defenses such as a lack of personal jurisdiction, forum non conveniens, products liability statutes of repose and medical causation. He has also drafted and argued numerous dispositive motions including motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment. Mr. Bash has defended the firm's clients in hundreds of depositions of plaintiffs, corporate representatives, co-workers, medical providers and experts. He also has extensive experience defending clients in benzene exposure claims, wrongful foreclosure and general insurance casualty claims.

Awards & Honors:

Best Lawyers In America, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants, 2016

Leading Lawyers (Illinois) – 2014, 2015. Personal Injury Defense Law: General; Products Liability Defense Law; and Toxic Torts Defense Law

Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star 2012 & 2013, Civil Litigation Defense

Top Attorneys - Illinois Outstanding Young Lawyers - Civil Litigation Defense, 2013. Published in Chicago Magazine.

Representative Cases:

Rozumek v. Union Carbide Corporation.

United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, July 2015. Personal Jurisdiction. The Court granted Union Carbide Corporation’s, a miner and supplier of asbestos fibers, Motion to Dismiss based upon a lack of personal jurisdiction.

Nichols v. The Dow Chemical Company.

Jury Trial, City of St. Louis, Missouri, February 2014. Served on trial team in this wrongful death action seeking punitive damages and $21,000,000 in compensation. After a three-week trial, the jury returned a defense verdict in Dow's favor.

Mwesigwa v. DAP Inc.

637 F.3d 884 (8th Cir. 2011). Summary Judgment. Products liability labeling claims against DAP Inc. preempted by Federal Hazardous Substances Act after Mwesigwa used a can of DAP Gel Formula Contact Cement which allegedly resulted in a flash fire causing burns to 80% of his body, $2,000,000 in medical expenses and his ultimate death.

Ratermann v. Tri-County Elec. Co-op., Inc.

229 Ill.2d 658, 897 N.E.2d 263, 325 Ill.Dec.15. Jury Trial, Marion County, Illinois, 2009. Not guilty verdict for electric utility where plaintiffs claimed a power surge resulted in a home fire. Plaintiffs relied upon res ipsa loquitur and plaintiff's cause and origin expert maintained there was physical evidence of a massive high voltage surge of electricity causing simultaneous fires in two breaker panels.

Berry v. American Standard, Inc.

382 Ill.App.3d 895 (5th Dist. 2008). Summary Judgment. Denial of use of deceased plaintiff's discovery deposition as admissible evidence to defeat defendant’s summary judgment motion.