Bruce R. Pfaff to be Awarded Leonard M. Ring Lifetime Achievement Award

Bruce R. Pfaff will be awarded the prestigious Leonard M. Ring Lifetime Achievement Award at the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association’s (ITLA) annual convention on Friday, June 7, 2024. The convention will be held at the Sheraton Grand in Chicago, Illinois.

The criteria of the award are as follows:

“This award is given annually to someone selected by a committee appointed by the president. The recipient is someone who has devoted, as Leonard did, a substantial part of their life and their practice to ITLA, someone who has done more than is called for. Someone who has the standards of Leonard, the work ethics of Leonard and the commitment to ITLA that Leonard had. At the same time, it keeps alive the memory of Leonard Ring.”

Bruce Pfaff, 69, recently completed his work at Pfaff, Gill & Ports, Ltd., which he founded in 1991. He was a trial lawyer for 45 years, representing people injured or killed by wrongful conduct. Pfaff focused his practice on medical negligence and product liability, actively practicing in Chicago and in Central Illinois.

Pfaff graduated from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976. He graduated from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, in 1979. He was admitted to the California Bar in 1979 and the Illinois Bar in 1984.

Pfaff practiced for five years with a San Francisco plaintiff’s firm before listening to his wife, Deborah, and moving to Chicago for a two-year tryout. He joined Corboy & Demetrio in 1984 and left to start his own practice in 1991. Mrs. Pfaff had a good idea to move back to her home state.

Since 1984, Pfaff has been an active member of ITLA. Most notably, he has chaired ITLA’s Amicus Curiae Committee since 1994 and chairs the Amicus PJI subcommittee. He has appeared in every case challenging the prejudgment interest statute statewide. He has authored more than forty amicus briefs filed in supreme and appellate courts.

Pfaff has written and presented over 90 articles on a wide range of topics at seminars and conventions throughout his career.

He was privileged to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court’s IPI Civil committee from 1999-2010 and to have chaired the Supreme Court’s E Business Committee in 2011. That committee’s work led to electronic filing and electronic case management in Illinois courts.

Pfaff is a Director of the Western Golf Association and is committed to expanding the scope of its Evans Scholars program. He and his wife founded scholarships at Moraine Valley Community College in honor of his past client, Riley Spreadbury, and at Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine in honor of their daughter, Liza Pfaff D.V.M.

As one of the top attorneys in Illinois, Pfaff has received many notable awards. He received the ITLA’s President’s Award in 2000 and 2022. He has been recognized as one of the Top 10 of Illinois Lawyers as ranked by Superlawyers every year since 2018.

“I had the distinct privilege of working alongside Leonard Ring and Phil Corboy in prosecuting the Tylenol Poisoning cases. Their styles were completely different, but they were both incredibly successful and generous in teaching me and all those around us how to do the best job possible. To receive this award named for Leonard is the highest honor I have received as a lawyer. It is humbling to be among the wonderful lawyers who have received this award.”

Having ended the day-to-day practice of law leaves Bruce with the opportunity to devote his full attention to his wife, their small farm, its four-footed inhabitants and their children and grandchildren. He will continue to be active with ITLA, the ISBA, ABOTA and will work on the occasional special project. You will also find him on a golf course from time to time.