Francis “Chip” Spina is an experienced civil trial and appellate attorney. His practice includes representing insurance carriers and insureds with regard to policy obligations and rights as well as litigating coverage disputes arising from many varieties of liability insurance policies. He also represents employers on a broad range of employment issues including federal and state statutory matters, discrimination claims, common law actions and personnel law issues. In addition, he has extensive experience at both the trial and appellate levels in general tort litigation.

Recent successes include two cases decided by the Illinois Supreme Court: Williams v. Manchester, 228 Ill.2d 404, 888 N.E.2d 1 (2008) and Virginia Surety Co., Inc. v. Northern Insurance Company of New York, 224 Ill.2d 550, 866 N.E.2d 149 (2007).

Chip is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), the American Bar Association and its Labor and Employment Section, and the Defense Research Institute and its Employment Law and Insurance Law Committees. He has long been an active member of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel (IDC) including its Insurance Law Committee. He served on IDC’s Board of Directors (1997-1999) and was a four-year editorial board member of the IDC Quarterly journal, including a stint as Editor in Chief. For several years, he authored a regular column on tort law and later on employment law issues for the IDC Quarterly. He has been on the faculty of the IDC Trial Academy since 2004 and has served as a speaker at numerous seminars held by DRI, IDC, the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education.

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame (B.A., 1977) and DePaul University College of Law (J.D., 1980), Chip was admitted to the Illinois bar and to the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois in 1980. He was subsequently admitted to the U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois; the District of Colorado and the Northern District of Indiana; the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit; the U.S. Supreme Court.