
Steven M. Sandler
AssociateDownload VCard
Phone: 312-332-2872
Fax: 312-332-3112
325 N La Salle Dr #300
Chicago, Illinois 60654
Levin & Perconti’s intake attorney Steven M. Sandler handles the critical first steps of meeting with prospective clients to learn more about their current situation and to determine how our attorneys can best assist them.
With more than 40 years in practice across multiple areas of law, Steven draws upon his experience to answer prospective clients’ questions as clearly and thoroughly as possible. Steven’s primary goal is help those who have experienced an injury or an injustice make the best possible decisions about how to exercise their legal rights.
Before joining Levin & Perconti, Steven was a trial attorney for a Chicago personal injury firm handling transportation, aviation, medical negligence and product liability matters. He successfully secured a number of multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts for his clients. For example, in one personal injury case, Steven obtained $3.8 million for his client, a steel mill employee who sustained second and third degree burns over 80% of his body when chemicals were ignited by a demolition crew. He also negotiated a $3 million dollar award for a surgical patient whose doctor failed to recognize her respiratory distress or resuscitate her during a routine surgical procedure.
This deep experience in handling personal injury matters enables Steven to offer advice and perspective on how clients can most effectively pursue their cases, what they can expect at various points in the process and the pros and cons of various strategies.
Steven is an adjunct professor at the DePaul University School of Law teaching product liability law.
Some of Steven’s most notable achievements include:
$2.8 million to a passenger in a vehicle “T-boned” causing pelvic fractures, leg fractures, and cognitive loss of memory when the defendant ran a red light.
$1.5 million to the estate of a charter airplane passenger who died as the result of a plane crash in Michigan. The charter undertook its flight and did not divert to a tower-controlled landing field despite poor visibility.
$1.2 million to a sexual assault victim at a major music venue where security guards failed to protect the victim or intervene once the assault commenced.
$1.1 million to a passenger in a van that slid off a slippery road in Pennsylvania deteriorating weather condition causing multiple fractures and requiring surgeries.
$1.1 million to a driver who suffered multiple fractures when he struck a commercial vehicle that turned in front of him.
National Institute of Trial Advocacy, 1980
J.D., Honors, IIT-Chicago Kent College of Law, 1978
B.A., University of Illinois, 1974
Illinois Supreme Court, 1978
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 1978
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar, 1984
Admitted Pro Hac Vice, Indiana, 2005, 2016
United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, 2014
Admitted Pro Hac Vice, Texas, 2018
Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association – Panel Attorney Legal Services Plan
Chicago Bar Association
Member Since: 2004 – Present
- Aviation Law Committee: Chairperson 2005-2006
- Aviation Law Committee: Vice-Chairperson 2004-2005, 2011-2012
- Aviation Law Committee: Legislative Liaison 2006-2007
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
Illinois State Bar Association
Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association
- American Bar Association National Institute on Aviation Litigation – Faculty 2015, 2016, 2019
- Tenth Annual McGill University/PEOPIL Conference on International Aviation Law: Liability, Insurance & Finance, 2017, Montreal, Canada; Panel member on Product Liability
- Chicago Bar Association – Aviation Law Committee – 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019
- EAA AirVenture Oshkosh – Aviation Accident Litigation, 2005 – 2010, 2012 – 2016, 2017– 2019
- Presenter, Midwest Aviation Conference and Trade Show, St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri; 2006
- Illinois Leading Lawyers
Plaintiff Personal Injury in 2018, 2019
- Illinois Super Lawyers
Civil Litigation as both Plaintiff and Defense counsel in 2013 - 2020
- Martindale-Hubbell
AV Preeminent Rated
Client Distinction Award, 2013