Practice areas: Personal Injury, Construction Litigation, Medical Malpractice; view more
Licensed in Illinois since: 1993
Education: The John Marshall Law School
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2005 - 2026 Call today:
312-580-2040
Free Consultation Wise Law Offices LLC
161 North Clark StreetSuite 3250
Chicago, IL 60601 Visit website
Founding partner of Wise Law Offices, Attorney David Wise has established himself as one of Illinois’ top plaintiff attorneys, with over 100 verdicts and settlements exceeding $1 million each. Since founding the firm in 2002, David Wise has personally achieved verdicts and settlements that collectively now exceed $400 million. In 2021, he set the record for the highest pre-trial settlement with disputed liability in Illinois history when he secured $90 million for a worker catastrophically injured on the job. He has also set the record in McLean County, Illinois ($7.25 Million) and Crawford County, Illinois ($1.5 Million) for the highest personal injury settlements in each county’s history. David Wise has successfully argued in front of Illinois State courts, the Illinois Appellate Courts, the Illinois Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and numerous federal courts throughout Illinois and the country.
David Wise is listed as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers Association, awarded to the top 5% of Illinois lawyers, and has been selected as a Leading Lawyer and Super Lawyer every year since the distinctions were first awarded. He is also rated AV Preeminent in the Martindale-Hubbell rating system – the highest professional distinction available. David Wise was recognized as one of the “40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty To Watch” by Chicago Lawyer in 2001 when he was only 34 years old, a recognition based upon review and recommendations of judges, bar leaders, and other lawyers.
In over three decades of practice, David Wise has successfully tried and settled cases in all areas of personal injury against America’s biggest companies, insurance carriers, manufacturers, hospitals, and employers. His areas of practice include, but are not limited to, product liability, construction site accidents, workplace accidents, medical malpractice, plane crashes, crane accidents, bridge collapses, gas explosions, railroad accidents, truck accidents, motor vehicle accidents, road design cases, electrocution cases, premises liability, pedestrian and cyclist accidents, motorcycle accidents, nursing home negligence and abuse, sexual abuse and assault, and general negligence.
David Wise is a member of the American Bar Association, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA), the Chicago Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA). He has participated in many presentations on litigation, personal injury, and Illinois civil procedure related topics for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education and the Illinois State Bar Association and has served as an adjunct professor of law at UIC Law (formerly John Marshall Law School).
Practice areas
Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff, Construction Litigation: Consumer, Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff, Personal Injury - Products: Plaintiff, Transportation/MaritimeFocus areas
Admiralty & Maritime Law, Birth Injury, Brain Injury, Construction Accident, Construction Defects, Delayed or Incorrect Diagnosis, Informed Consent, Medical Devices, Medical Malpractice, Motor Vehicle Accidents, Motor Vehicle Defects, Personal Injury - Plaintiff, Pharmaceutical, Premises Liability - Plaintiff, Railroad Accident, Sexual Abuse - Plaintiff, Transportation Law, Trucking Accidents, Wrongful Death
- 20% Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff
- 20% Construction Litigation: Consumer
- 20% Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff
- 20% Personal Injury - Products: Plaintiff
- 20% Transportation/Maritime
First Admitted: 1993, Illinois
Professional Webpage: https://www.wiselawoffices.com/our-legal-team/david-wise/
Bar / Professional Activity
- American Association for Justice
- Chicago Bar Association
- U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- American Bar Association
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Illinois, 1993
Verdicts / Settlements (Case Results)
- $90 Million for a worker that suffered severe burn injuries from improperly maintained equipment that lacked safety devices. The injuries necessitated the amputation of both arms at the shoulder.
- $35 Million for a newborn who sustained severe brain damage with spastic quadriplegia and cerebral palsy due to failure to timely perform a C-section.
- $11.2 Million for a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury when a ladder he was on collapsed. Following a not-guilty verdict rendered while plaintiff was represented by another firm, which left plaintiff with nothing, Mr. Wise took over the case and appealed the verdict to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Mr. Wise won a new trial for plaintiff and successfully tried the case to verdict in plaintiff’s favor.
- $10 Million for the family of a man killed by a weapon stolen from defendant’s premises.
- $8.8 Million for a 50-year-old ironworker who suffered an ankle injury when improperly stored conduit piping fell on him at a worksite. Plaintiff’s injury progressed to complex regional pain syndrome with debilitating pain, which required implantation of a spinal cord stimulator.
- $7.25 Million for a man nearly 70 years of age whose legs were crushed and subsequently amputated due to an auto double rear-ending accident on a bridge in central Illinois where he got out of his car on the bridge to inspect damage and then got hit by a following vehicle.
- $5.6 Million for a motorcyclist hit by a car in a road construction zone due to improper construction zone set-up.
- $5.5 Million for a pedestrian hit by a semi-tractor trailer while crossing the street suffering leg injury, fractured pelvis, and soft tissue damage.
- $5.2 Million for the family of a worker crushed to death when a gantry crane at a railroad yard collapsed due to a turntable bearing failure secondary to improper maintenance.
- $5 Million for a roofer who fell off a roof and sustained traumatic brain injury and partial paralysis.
- $5 Million for an electrician who was performing work in Bridgeview when his unsecured ladder slid off the wall causing him to fall 12-15 feet and sustain wrist and ankle fractures requiring fusions.
- $5 Million for a man who was using an inversion table when a spring-loaded pin failed, causing him to fall head-first to the floor and sustain injuries that left him paralyzed below the shoulders.
- $5 Million for the family of a mother and son killed when their newly built house in Downers Grove exploded as the result of improper installation of a natural gas line and appliances.
- $4.75 Million for the family of a 37-year-old machine operator crushed to death and killed instantly at his place of employment when he stepped between a cycling stone cutting machine and a building column.
- $4.5 Million for an electrician who slipped and fell on wet PVC roof while performing work duties and sustained a hamstring injury requiring surgery.
Honors
- Selected to Super Lawyers: 2005 - 2026, Super Lawyer, https://profiles.superlawyers.com/illinois/chicago/lawyer/david-c-wise/1161ee36-57a1-41bc-b119-3a88349a8772.html
- 2024 Top 10 by State (Illinois) Personal Injury Division from the American Institute of Legal Council, https://ailegalcounsel2.org/2024-10-best-by-state/2024-personal-injury-division/illinois/
- 2023 Top 10 by State (Illinois) Personal Injury Division, https://ailegalcounsel2.org/2023-10-best-by-state/2023-personal-injury-division/illinois/
- Illinois Leading Lawyers (Selected as a Leading Lawyer & to the Advisory Board) Aviation Law Personal Injury Law: General Personal Injury Law: Professional Malpractice Personal Injury Law: Transportation Including FELA & Maritime Personal Injury Plaintiff's Law: Product Liability, Leading Lawyer, https://www.leadinglawyers.com/
- AV Preeminent Rated by Martindale Hubbell for over 10 years., AV Preeminent, https://www.martindale.com/attorney/david-casey-wise-916116/
- Chicago Daily Law Bulletin's "40 Under 40" Illinois Attorneys to watch for his accomplishments as a Litigator
Educational Background
- University of Illinois, B.A.
Other Outstanding Achievements
- Highest Reported McClean County Verdict or Settlement in a Pedestrian Case JVR Trial Lawyer Lawyer Excellence Awards, 2025
- Highest Reported Illinois Settlement for a Work Injury Case - $90,000,000 Work Injury Leads to Amputation of Both Arms JVR Trial Lawyer Lawyer Excellence Awards, 2022
Office location for David C. Wise
161 North Clark Street
Suite 3250
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312-580-2040
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2005 - 2026
