About Us

ROBERT H. HANAFORD

For over 25 years Robert H. Hanaford has represented clients in the trial and appeal of civil and criminal cases in both State and Federal Courts. He has established himself as a leading personal injury attorney concentrating on lawsuits involving death and serious injury resulting from transportation, construction, workplace and product accidents.

Most recently he was co-lead plaintiff counsel in the Fox River Grove Train/Bus crash lawsuit stemming from an October 25, 1995 collision between a Chicago Metra commuter train and a high school bus that resulted in the deaths of seven students. The case settled after 8 ½ years for a record 28.3 million dollars.

Mr. Hanaford has successfully handled other complex cases, including the 1979 Rosemont Horizon roof collapse, crash of a Hallmark Jewelry airplane and a lawsuit against Commonwealth Edison for the death of a commercial diver at its Marseilles Nuclear Power Plant. Mr. Hanaford has a pilot certificate and was appointed panel attorney for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association where he represents and counsels clients on issues involving Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board regulations.

Mr. Hanaford’s community and professional involvement includes appointment by former Governor Jim Edgar to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Review Board in 1993, a position he continues to hold; two terms on the Board of Trustees for the Village of Fox River Grove (1989-1995) and Chairman of the Villages Public Health and Safety Committee; Chairman of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) Civil Practice & Procedure Council (2004-2005); Co-Editor of the ISBA Trial Brief newsletter and the ISBA Insurance Policy newsletter; Editor of the ISBA Civil Practice Update Manual; and Co-author of the Illinois Trial Lawyers’ Association Medical Malpractice Trial Handbook.

Mr. Hanaford is also a frequent author and speaker for the Illinois State Bar Association and an instructor to state and federal law enforcement agents on control tactics and liability under state and federal law.

BRETT J. SWANSON

Brett J. Swanson graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science degree, and earned his Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School.

Mr. Swanson worked as a law clerk for the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, General Law Bureau and he was former law clerk to The Honorable Paul P. Biebel, Jr., Presiding Judge of the Cook County Criminal Courts.

He was appointed to the Illinois State Bar Association Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council, and has been active in assisting in the presentation of numerous seminars for the ISBA.