Robert A. Clifford () is a Chicago trial lawyer and principal partner at Clifford Law Offices. Clifford's firm specializes in "personal injury, medical malpractice, mass torts, consumer and health care fraud, product liability, and aviation and transportation disasters." He attended DePaul University for both his undergraduate work and Juris Doctor, finishing in 1976. The firm was founded in 1984 to represent plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Education and early career Clifford, as a young attorney, was the protégé of Phillip H. Corboy who was considered a legend of Chicago law. Notable cases Rachel Barton Pine, an internationally acclaimed violinist, was dragged almost 300 feet along the tracks of a commuter rail train when the doors of the train closed on her bags, pinning her to the doors. Clifford Law Offices secured a $29.6 million jury verdict on her behalf. After appeals, the final amount paid out was $35 million. Clifford Law Offices obtained a $75 million settlement for the victims injured when the scaffolding collapsed at the John Hancock Building in Chicago. Faulty construction on the 12th floor of the Cook County Administration Building was found to be the cause of six deaths and sixteen injuries in a 2003 fire. Clifford Law Offices served as lead counsel for the plaintiffs and obtained a $100 million settlement. One of Clifford's clients is a former lawyer who was hurt in a car crash while riding in a taxicab in 2005. They sued the cab company, Yellow Cab Affiliation Inc., for $26 million. A jury found the cab company liable for the incident and awarded the verdict to Clifford's client. Within hours after the jury enter their verdict, the parent company of the cab company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Settlement payments law In February 2013, the Illinois Senate introduced Senate Bill 1912, which was passed by both chambers of the General Assembly and signed into law by the then-Governor Pat Quinn (Public Act 98-548). The bill was pushed by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA). Opposing the law were the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel (IDC), the Illinois Insurance Association and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. The law requires defendants who settle lawsuits to tender a release to the plaintiff within 14 days of the settlement agreement; and pay the settlement within one month of receiving the executed release. The president of ITLA said that the