Stephan Blandin

Stephan D. Blandin is Of Counsel at Romanucci & Blandin, which he started with Founding Partner Antonio M. Romanucci in 1998. Mr. Blandin and Mr. Romanucci were young-gun associates at another firm, and together they formed Romanucci & Blandin while sitting at the Palace Grill lunch counter on Madison Street in Chicago. Like the two attorneys, most of the firm's clients come from working-class backgrounds for nearly three decades of R&B's existence. Some of these clients have been victims of medical malpractice. Other clients' children have suffered birth injuries due to obstetric negligence. Fathers have been electrocuted at work, while other clients are immigrant moms and dads who have been treated as expendable and suffered fatal burns, amputations or crush injuries. Mr. Blandin learned early that you must work hard and fight for what's most important. He attended public grammar and high school in Chicago, began working at 12 and has been working hard since then. He left home at 16, supported by great friends, and was blessed with people who helped and loved him. His admission to DePaul University was a fortunate next step that led him to meet his wife there. After they both graduated, he continued at DePaul University College of Law. They started their family in Edison Park and now live in a Chicago suburb. Much of the suffering Mr. Blandin sees in his clients is due to corporate greed. Sometimes, human carelessness or indifference has caused injuries or loss of life. All this conduct is referred to as Civil Tort liability. Romanucci & Blandin has also been proud to fight in support of victims of clerical, educational and institutional abuse. We have taken on those who have caused cancer by dumping their chemicals into the soil, air and water. We have brought class actions against corporations that rip off consumers. We fight for civil rights victims and litigate for mass shooting victims. His cases have included the fight for justice for residents of Union, Illinois, who were made sick after being unknowingly exposed to the toxic chemical TCE for years. He is proud to fight for numerous members of the community with claims of cancer and other significant health conditions. In 2023, Mr. Blandin and his co-counsel filed dozens of lawsuits against a former OB/GYN in the Chicagoland area for years of sexual abuse of patients. Additionally, in 2023, Mr. Blandin led a medical malpractice team that secured a $35 million settlement for a birth injury against the same former doctor. He is also involved in mass shooting litigation, has authored blogs and spoken to the media about these high-profile cases. Mike Tyson is credited with saying that everybody has a plan until they get in the ring, and then, when they are punched in the face, it becomes a street fight. As an advocate for his clients, Mr. Blandin understands this way of thinking and often refers to litigation against insurance companies and corporations as a "street fight." Since that lunch counter meeting almost 30 years ago, when Romanucci & Blandin was formed, the firm has secured more than $1 billion in jury verdicts and settlements for our clients. We always fight like hell because our clients' lives depend on it. We take our clients' and their families' suffering personally. It is our motivation for the fight to come. Mr. Blandin has committed his career to delivering justice for those harmed by victims of negligence, abuse and wrongful death. Mr. Blandin has focused his practice on catastrophic plaintiffs' cases arising from Medical Malpractice, Environmental & Toxic Tort pollution, corporate corruption, Construction and Workplace Injuries, Birth Injuries, Transportation & Car Accidents and airplane crashes, Product Liability, civil rights violations and Nursing Home Negligence. He takes pride in the firm's litigation impact for clients across the country and in the firm's contributions to legislation related to its cases, aimed at improving community safety. At Romanucci & Blandin, Mr. Blandin has strived to serve clients with passion and preparedness. His commitment and attention to detail have contributed to the firm's success, obtaining more than $1 billion in verdicts and settlements for clients - dozens of results in excess of $1 million, including: a record-breaking $50 million settlement for the wife of a worker who died following a workplace injury in the Chicago area in 2016; a record-breaking $44.7 million verdict on behalf of a young man left bound to a wheelchair and with permanent brain damage following a gunshot wound to the head; $40 million awarded by a jury for a child paralyzed due to a spinal cord stroke that occurred during heart surgery; a $35 million settlement for following a three-week trial for a birth injury resulting in cerebral palsy; a $30 million settlement for a family after their son was left permanently disabled and brain injured as a result of 25 experimental surgeries; a $24 million surgical and medical malpractice settlement; a $22.3 million award in a medical malpractice case which left a ten-year-old boy with disabilities; a $22 million settlement for clients abused at a private high school by a staff member; an unprecedented $17.6 million jury award in a police chase case where a bystander was left with quadriplegia; a $14 million settlement on behalf of a middle-aged female worker who had multiple fingers amputated while operating a metal fabrication machine at a factory in the Chicago area; and a record-breaking $12.35 million settlement on behalf of the family of a client whose doctors failed to diagnose her breast cancer in a timely manner, which ultimately led to her death at 37-years-old. Mr. Blandin has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America(c) - a list he has been on for over a decade. He has been repeatedly named a Top 100 Super Lawyer in Illinois and a Leading Lawyer since 2004. In 2022, he was named a Top 10 Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer by Leading Lawyers and a Top 25 National Trial Lawyer by the Brain Injury Trial Lawyers Association. He is a member of America's Top 100 Medical Malpractice Litigators. Additionally, Martindale-Hubbell has awarded Mr. Blandin its AV-Preeminent* rating for his superb record and ethical standards. Crain's recognized him as a Top Litigators and Trial Attorneys member in its The Book 2024. Mr. Blandin is a member of many professional organizations, including the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice and the Illinois State Bar Association. Mr. Blandin also serves as an American Bar Foundation Fellow. Less than 1% of lawyers in each state are considered for the honor, which consists of a review of their legal and civic contributions. From 2012 to 2019, he served as a Hearing Board Commissioner on the Illinois Supreme Court Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission (ARDC). Mr. Blandin was one of more than 75 hearing board members who would make recommendations on disciplinary matters of lawyers in Illinois under the authority of the Supreme Court. Heavily involved in the community, he has served as a board member of several nonprofit organizations, including the Knapp Burn Foundation, Salute Inc. and West Side Mentally Retarded Children's Aid Inc. Mr. Blandin also volunteers his time working with Legal Prep Charter Academy - a high school on the West Side of Chicago where students use a unique law themed curriculum to prepare for the future. During the COVID-19 crisis, Mr. Blandin spearheaded an effort within the legal community to support the critical work of Frontline Foods Chicago and World Central Kitchen, which helped restaurants stay open by making meals for healthcare workers and community members in need. The media calls upon Mr. Blandin as a legal expert who provides context on his cases and national legal trends. His remarks and cases have been featured in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, WGN-TV and Radio, WTTW-TV, NBC 5 Chicago, CBS 2 Chicago, the Madison-St. Clair Record, The Chicago Crusader and Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. After graduating from DePaul University with his Bachelor of Arts in political science, Mr. Blandin earned his Juris Doctor in 1986 from DePaul University College of Law. He is admitted to practice in Illinois, Wisconsin and Arizona and before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.