MICHAEL J. SALVI
Born: February 10, 1959. Education: Bachelor of Arts, Saint Mary's College, Winona, Minnesota, 1981; Juris Doctorate, The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, 1984. Clerkships: Arnold & Kadjan, Chicago (1982, 1983), and Law Office of Albert Salvi, 1984. Practice Areas: Personal injury and wrongful death; general civil litigation including contract and real estate litigation. Memberships and Appointments: Illinois Trial Lawyers Association; Illinois State Bar Association; American Bar Association; Lawyers for Public Justice; Federal District Court Trial Bar -- Northern District of Illinois; Admitted and qualified United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; Lake County Bar Association Arbitrator; Circuit Court of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Illinois, Lake County Arbitration Committee; Village of Hawthorn Woods Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals. Experience: Mike joined The Law Office of Albert Salvi in 1984. His general practice included personal injury litigation, traffic, real estate transactions, insurance law, landlord-tenant litigation, election law, construction litigation, criminal defense and family law. Since the early 1990's, Mike's practice has become more focused upon representing plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits.
Currently, Mike continues his general civil litigation practice, but concentrates on personal injury and wrongful death cases. He has tried hundreds of civil and criminal cases, including trials and hearings in the Circuit Court of Los Angeles, California, The Federal District Courts in Boston, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois, and the Illinois state circuit courts in Lake, Cook, McHenry, DuPage and Kane Counties. A few recent professional accomplishments include: $1,012,000 settlement in 2005 for injuries sustained in automobile accident in the Cook County case Gardner v. Watson; $1,200,000 fraud award won for his client in the case of Blatt vs. Demas; a $585,000 jury verdict in the Federal District Court in the case of Johns vs. Town & Country Jewelry Corp.; $835,000 wrongful death settlement in the case of Lovitz vs. DeGuide; a $425,000 personal injury settlement for a child who suffered burns on the back of her thigh at a day care facility; and the successful defense of a Federal Election Commission suit. In that high profile case, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) sought $1,000,000 in fines. Mike's "res adjudicata" defense resulted in the dismissal of the government's case. On appeal, in a decision cited in the Illinois Bar Journal, the FEC's claim was again rejected in favor of the novel and aggressive defense. Federal Election Commission vs. Munsel, Federal District Court, Northern District of Illinois (2000). Mike has presented lectures to attorneys, students and law enforcement officers on subjects such as civil rules of discovery and evidence, rules of procedure in arbitration cases, criminal procedure and constitutional law.
Mike Salvi resides in Hawthorn Woods, Illinois with his wife, Debbie, and three children, Alexander, Samantha and Johnathan