Dawn Wrona Eby

Practice areas and experience

Dawn has tried cases in Federal and state courts and argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  During her 17 years as an attorney, Dawn has handled a broad range of litigation including commercial, insurance coverage, bankruptcy, employment, probate, banking, real estate, legal and medical malpractice, and tort cases, as well as substantial breach of contract, property damage, product liability, premises liability, personal injury and wrongful death claims. 

Before joining Jones Lemon & Graham LLP, Dawn was a partner at Arnstein & Lehr in Chicago, where her practice focused on litigation, including numerous matters involving defense of Fortune 100 companies.  Dawn also helped manage litigation for one of that firm’s major corporate clients, handling numerous mediations, arbitrations and trials nationwide.  Dawn before then was a litigator for Aronberg, Goldghen, Davis and Garmissa and Sanchez & Daniels in Chicago. 

Before attending law school, Dawn was a computer software engineer for Motorola Corporation.

Education

Indiana University Maurer School of Law, J.D., 1992; University College of London, London Law Consortium, international law emphasis, 1990; Princeton University, B.S.E., Computer Science Engineering, 1989.

Admitted to Practice

Illinois; United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Representative Matters

• Obtained $1 million judgment for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee in a bench trial in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court by suing two brothers who owned the bankrupt company
• Won a jury verdict for a major national retailer at trial in Truth or Consequences, N.M. in a wrongful death case where plaintiff claimed the retailer’s improper installation of tires caused the death and sought $4.2 million in damages
• Successfully dismissed pediatrician from a medical malpractice lawsuit in which the remaining defendants were slapped with one of the largest medical malpractice verdicts in Illinois history
• Successfully dismissed doctor and medical practice group defendants from a medical malpractice lawsuit involving failure to diagnose and treat a small bowel obstruction in a young girl
• Defended a major national retailer in a suit brought by a man who was hit in the head by a falling George Foreman grill and claimed substantial personal injuries.  Plaintiff demanded over $1 million and the jury verdict was $220,000, significantly less than the retailer’s offer to settle the case
• Defended a software company in a high profile, wrongful death chemical plant explosion case
• Defended insurers against a multi-million dollar financial institution bond claim involving fraudulent letters of credit
• Successfully tried a sexual harassment case in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Successfully tried a Structural Work Act case in the Circuit court of Cook County, Illinois

Reported Cases

• Sophie Chung, a Minor, by Her Parents and Next Friends, Howard Chung and Myunghee Chung, and Howard Chung, Individually and Myunghee Chung, Individually v. Advocate Health Care, et. al.;271 Ill. Dec. 105, 784 N.E  2d 323 (1st Dist. 2002)
• Janmark, Inc. v. James T. Reidy and Dreamkeeper, Inc.; 132 F.3d 1200 (7th Cir. (Ill.), Dec 24,1997)
• Krol v. Wilcek (In re H. King & Assocs.), 295 B.R. 246, 291 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2003)

Professional activities and achievements

Dawn was selected to Illinois Super Lawyers (2005) and is a member of the Kane County Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association and a former chair-qualified arbitrator for the Circuit Court of Cook County Mandatory Arbitration Program. Dawn also has taught applied economics to inner-city high school students through Junior Achievement and is a volunteer for Operation Snowball, a drug and alcohol prevention program for teenagers.