$33.4 Million Verdict After Gunman Kills Three Lawyers at 500 West Madison

On December 8, 2006, Joseph Jackson walked into the Citigroup Center at 500 West Madison Street in Chicago carrying a revolver, a hammer, a hunting knife, and a chain and padlock. He had hired patent attorney Michael McKenna four years earlier to pursue a patent on a portable toilet designed for truck drivers. McKenna told him the idea was not patentable because similar patents already existed. Jackson believed McKenna had stolen his invention and spent years fixated on revenge.

That morning Jackson told security officer Robert Brown he had a gun, and Brown, rather than trigger an alert or call for help, used his access card to escort Jackson to the 38th floor where the Wood Phillips law office was located. Supervisory officer Sidney Chambers had noticed Jackson loitering outside the building for hours before the shooting but took no meaningful action. Once on the floor, Jackson shot and killed McKenna, fellow attorney Allen Hoover, and attorney Paul Goodson. A fourth person, office secretary Ruth Zak Leib, was shot and survived. Chicago police officers shot and killed Jackson at the scene.

Suits filed on behalf of all four victims were consolidated in Cook County Circuit Court. The plaintiffs alleged AlliedBarton Security Services was negligent in failing to train its officers in duress codes, failing to respond to the observable threat Jackson presented, and failing to follow the protocols the company had contractually undertaken to protect building occupants. A 2013 summary judgment dismissal was reversed by the Illinois First District Appellate Court in June 2015, which held that AlliedBarton's voluntary undertaking of security duties created an actionable duty to the victims.

Joseph A. Power Jr. represented the estate of Michael McKenna. Larry R. Rogers Jr. represented the estate of Allen Hoover. After a five-week trial in late 2017, the jury returned a gross award of $33.4 million: $14.6 million to the McKenna estate, $11 million to the Hoover estate, $2.8 million to the Goodson estate, and $5.05 million to Ruth Zak Leib. On the contribution claim, jurors apportioned 40 percent of fault to AlliedBarton and 60 percent to Jackson's estate, making the net amount collectible against AlliedBarton approximately $13.4 million, with the balance allocated to the shooter's estate.

The case is McKenna v. AlliedBarton Security Services LLC, Cook County case nos. 15 L 12124 and consolidated matters.