William Gibbs

William T. Gibbs is an Equity Partner at Corboy & Demetrio and concentrates his practice on cases arising from railroad negligence, automobile collisions, participation in sports, unsafe pharmaceuticals or medical devices, construction negligence, medical negligence, premises liability, product liability and aviation litigation. For more than a decade at the firm, Bill has obtained numerous record-setting and multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements on behalf of his clients.

Bill was part of a team that secured a $29.6 million verdict on behalf of a woman who was brain damaged in the derailment of a speeding train in Chicago, the largest in Illinois for an individual injured in a mass transit crash. In a Federal District Court case, he obtained a $6.6 million verdict for a family injured in an automobile collision, the largest verdict ever in that Court. In another case, Bill and Thomas Demetrio secured a $6.75 million settlement for the family of Justyna Palka, a pedestrian killed by a tour bus in Chicago.

Some of his high-profile cases involve the representation of amateur and professional athletes. Bill was appointed to the Plaintiff's Executive Committee by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson in Minnesota in litigation involving the National Hockey League and brain injuries. In addition to this leadership role in the multi-district litigation, Bill represents the Estates of Steve Montador and Todd Ewen, deceased NHL players who died with CTE. He also represents numerous retired NFL players, including the family of former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson, in claims against the NFL stemming from concussions. Bill and Thomas Demetrio represented Hall-of-Fame White Sox player Frank Thomas in a medical malpractice action that was resolved amicably.

Bill has appeared on national and international television networks discussing sports and C.T.E., including CNN, FOX Business News, Al Jazeera, and Canadian National TV, and has been quoted by the New York Times, ESPN and Sports Illustrated. He serves as Co-host of Corboy & Demetrio's video podcast, Masters of Trial Law, and previously served as a regular contributor to the Sporting Judgment section of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, writing the column Sports Torts.

In 2025, Crain's Chicago Business selected Bill for its elite Notable Litigators & Trial Attorneys. In 2026, he was elected to serve on the Board of The Society of Trial Lawyers, an invitation-only group of the city's top litigators. Bill has been selected to The Best Lawyers in America since 2022 in Mass Tort/Class Actions - Plaintiffs, Personal Injury - Plaintiffs and Medical Malpractice - Plaintiffs, and he earned the designation Lawyer of the Year in Mass Torts/Class Actions in Chicago by Best Lawyers for 2024.

In 2020, Bill was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to serve on its Committee for Jury Instructions in Civil Cases. He received a 2017 Trial Excellence Award from the Jury Verdict Reporter for having the Highest Reported Verdict or Settlement in Jackson County. In 2026, Bill was named to Illinois Super Lawyers in personal injury, a designation he has earned for 10 consecutive years; from 2009-2015 he was designated an Illinois Super Lawyer, Rising Star. Since 2020, he has been selected to Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, and since 2023 to Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. He has been selected to Illinois Leading Lawyers since 2015, and in 2009 was named to the Law Bulletin Publishing Company's list of 40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch.

In 2013, The National Trial Lawyers named Bill one of the Top 40 Under 40 Lawyers in the country, and in 2020 he was named to The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 Trial Lawyers for the sixth consecutive year. Since 2017, The National Trial Lawyers named him to NTL's Brain Injury Trial Lawyers Association Top 25. Since 2018, he has been named to the national Irish Legal 100.

In 2008, Bill authored an article, A Quick Guide to the Illinois Dead Man's Act, published in the Illinois Bar Journal. He is a frequent panelist and lecturer to local and state bar associations, CLE seminars and law schools throughout the country. Active in many community organizations, Bill is a member of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation Advisory Board, and in 2018 was appointed to the Advisory Board of The Mike Adamle Project: Rise Above. Bill was formerly a high school teacher and varsity football, basketball, and baseball coach, and while at the University of Notre Dame he was a defensive back on the varsity football team.