Patricia (Tricia) Gifford earned her Juris Doctorate from the John Marshall Law School, Chicago, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude in January 2006.  Graduating second in her law school class, her GPA was 3.94.  While at John Marshall, Tricia was a member of The John Marshall Law Review, a Dean's Scholar, a Herzog Scholar, and participated in the National Mock Trial Team Competition.  She received the highest scholastic honors in Torts, Evidence, Products Liability, Civil Procedure, Family Law, Constitutional Law, Estates and Trusts, and Corporations.  While attending law school, she also interned with both the DuPage and Cook County State's Attorney's Offices.  Tricia served as a law clerk for Levin & Perconti during 2005, passed the Illinois State Bar Exam in February 2006, and was invited to join the firm as a trial associate.

In her role as trial associate at Levin & Perconti, Tricia has displayed the dedication and perseverance necessary for a successful trial lawyer.  In her first trial in September 2009, Tricia helped to achieve a $1 million Cook County jury verdict for the family of a 54-year-old nursing home resident who exited a window at the nursing home and died from fall-related injuries. 

Tricia also played a key role in the investigation and development of evidence in a premises liability case involving a tragic fire that claimed the lives of 6 children and severely injured 2 others which settled for $6 million without even completing written discovery. 

Tricia has assisted in writing numerous successful pretrial and mediation submissions resulting in a recent $5.35 million settlement for the estate of an eighteen-year-old girl misdiagnosed with pneumonia and boarded in the hospital’s emergency room for over fifteen hours before she died.  Additionally, Tricia has played a crucial part in a number of other settlements including a $1.35 million settlement for an infant who suffered a severe brachial plexus injury at birth, a $1.25 million settlement for a pedestrian struck by vehicle, and a $1.25 million recovery against a hospital in a brachytherapy case.

Tricia earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign and began her career in the private business sector.  After 12 years of corporate success, she decided to leave her position as Director of U.S. Field Operations for a $550 million client services organization to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an attorney.

Tricia’s leadership, organizational, and technological skills along with her unsurpassed dedication and commitment to her clients makes her an asset to the Levin & Perconti.