Attorney Profiles
NICHOLAS J. MOTHERWAY
ROBERT J. NAPLETON
JOHN M. SALETTA
DANIEL T. MADIGAN
NICHOLAS T. MOTHERWAY
DON M. SOWERS
NICHOLAS J. MOTHERWAY
Nick Motherway co-founded the firm of
Motherway & Glenn in 1982, which became the firm of Motherway, Glenn
& Napleton on January 1, 1999. On January 1, 2003, the firm became
Motherway & Napleton. He has been a trial lawyer since he began
prosecuting criminal cases for the Cook County, Illinois State's Attorney's Office. Before
he left that office he prosecuted literally thousands of cases, in the process
obtaining two death penalty verdicts against convicted killers of police officers and
securing the conviction and incarceration of hundreds of violent criminals while
he served as Chief of Organized Crime and Special Prosecutions. He then entered the private
practice of law as a civil trial lawyer representing plaintiffs, primarily in cases
involving profound injury or death. He continues to concentrate in that area, while also
litigating selected commercial cases. He has obtained numerous multi-million dollar
verdicts and settlements while remaining active in numerous trial lawyer organizations. He
is a graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Chicago and has
served as Chairman of
its Advisory Board.
Mr. Motherway is a member of the American, Illinois and Chicago Bar Associations. He is an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He is a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee. He serves on the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. He was elected to the Board of Governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America three times, serving for 5 and 1/2 years. He was invited to membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates, and is a past-president of the Illinois Chapter. He is currently a member of its National Board of Directors. Since 1983, he has been a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, whose membership by invitation is limited to no more than one percent of the bar of the members' state. He was selected for membership in "Leading Illinois Attorneys" based upon a peer selected survey. He is listed in Who's Who in American Law and in Who’s Who in America.
Nick is a frequent lecturer before bar groups and his lecture materials are reprinted on this page from time to time.
ROBERT J. NAPLETON
Bob Napleton is a name partner of Motherway & Napleton. He was born in Evergreen Park, Illinois and is a product
of the far Southwest Side of the City of Chicago. He graduated from Brother Rice High
School in 1981 and Loyola University in Chicago in 1985. He went on to attend Loyola
University of Chicago's Law School (J.D. 1988) while serving as a law clerk for the
Honorable Judge James E. Murphy of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Division. During
law school, he also worked as a law clerk for the Cook County State's Attorney's office in
Markham, Illinois.
In May 1987, Bob started his career at Motherway & Glenn as a law clerk for Nick Motherway and Bob Glenn. In November 1988, Bob began working at the firm as an associate specializing in handling catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases, with a concentration in medical malpractice, product liability, and automobile negligence cases exclusively on behalf of plaintiffs. Bob has experience in handling a wide variety of product liability cases involving such products as asbestos, breast implants, aircraft, DPT, punch presses, milling machines, CNC lathes and automobile defect cases. At the present time, approximately seventy-five percent of his caseload is devoted to the prosecution of medical malpractice cases against local physicians and hospitals. Bob is an active member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), Chicago Bar Association (CBA) and the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), where he served as a member of the Board of Governors from 1994 to 2000. He also is on the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA). In 2000, Bob was elected by his peers as one of Illinois top "40 lawyers under 40" and nominated as a "Leading Illinois Attorney" by his peers. He was also recently awarded membership in the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers group, whose membership is limited to no more than one percent of the bar of the membership state.
Bob has authored several articles and lectured at various professional seminars with regard to various discovery and trial techniques. Click below for his resume summarizing his professional credentials and an itemization of verdicts and settlements since 1990.
JOHN M. SALETTA
John Saletta
Bob Napleton and Mr. Saletta recently obtained a $2 million
dollar verdict on behalf of a client who developed a drop foot condition
as a result of a physician's failure to timely diagnose a bilateral
compartment syndrome. In 2005, Mr. Saletta obtained a $5.5 million dollar verdict
on behalf of the family of a mother who died of pneumonia while in the
hospital. In 2003, he and Nicholas J. Motherway obtained a $16 million
dollar verdict on behalf of a 5 year old girl who suffered cerebral palsy
as a result of her mother’s uterus rupturing during labor.
He also won a record medical malpractice verdict on behalf of a
woman who experienced several minutes of anesthesia awareness during a
cesarean section.
Mr. Saletta graduated
from the University of Notre Dame in 1983 and received his law degree from
DANIEL T. MADIGAN
Mr. Madigan is an associate with Motherway & Napleton and is primarily concentrated in plaintiff's personal
injury litigation. Mr. Madigan has been with Motherway & Glenn, P.C. (now
Motherway & Napleton) since 1996. Prior to joining Motherway & Glenn, Mr.
Madigan was an Assistant Corporation Counsel with the City of Chicago Law Department and
was a prosecutor responsible for the prosecution of numerous offenses relating to gangs,
firearms and consumer fraud.
Mr. Madigan has substantial trial experience which aids in his current practice and he has obtained numerous verdicts and settlements on behalf of injured victims. These cases involve an array of subject matters including products liability, medical malpractice and premises liability.
He is a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association, Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association. In addition to practicing in the state courts, he has been admitted to the Federal District Court of Northern Illinois and the Federal District of Western Michigan. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, he received his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1993. Mr. Madigan is currently a member of the University of Illinois College of Law's Advisory Board.
Nick
is an associate with Motherway & Napleton since March 1, 2003.
Prior to joining Motherway & Napleton, Nick worked as an
Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County.
He began working as an attorney in the Cook County State's
Attorney's Office in the child support enforcement area.
He then successfully prosecuted hundreds of misdemeanors within the
First Municipal District. Nick finished his career as an Assistant State's Attorney
within the Torts and Civil Rights Division defending the County of Cook
and the Cook County Sheriff. In
his last case before entering private practice, he won a Federal jury
trial defending Cook County Sheriff's investigators against brutality
charges.
He is a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Illinois State Bar Association. Nick graduated from Indiana University in 1993, receiving his B.A. degree, and graduated from DePaul College of Law in 1997, receiving his J.D. He is also admitted to the Federal District Court of the Northern District of Illinois.
He is currently an elected member of the Illinois State Bar Association Assembly.
Don Sowers was born in Oak Park, Illinois, grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
He graduated from Glenbard West
in 1978, Texas Christian University (B.B.A. 1982) and The John Marshall Law School (J.D. 1986). His entire career has been devoted to personal injury lawsuits involving catastrophic injuries caused by medical malpractice, pharmaceutical and product liability, automobile collisions and nursing home abuse and neglect.
Mr. Sowers began his career 1986 defending personal injury matters, ultimately becoming a partner at one of Chicago's most respected defense firms. In 1998, Mr. Sowers determined that his compassion and legal abilities would be better suited counseling and representing individuals and families whose lives were greatly affected by personal injuries. Since 1998, Don has specialized in representing clients in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases with a concentration in medical malpractice cases.
Mr. Sowers has obtained numerous significant settlements in Cook, Lake, McHenry, Will and Winnebago Counties. He has also obtained numerous verdicts at trial in excess of one million dollars in Cook and DeKalb Counties, including the first medical malpractice verdict on behalf of a plaintiff in DeKalb County in over five years. In his last six trials, the defendants' insurance company refused to offer any amount of money prior to the start of trial. In each of those trials, Mr. Sowers obtained significant verdicts and/or settlements on behalf of his clients.
Mr. Sowers believes that integrity compassion and justice are of utmost importance and is a tenacious advocate for Motherway & Napleton's clients. He is a member of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the Federal Trial Bar, the American Association for Justice, The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association. Click below for an itemization of Mr. Sowers' significant verdicts and settlements since 1998.