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About Louis Cairo
Louis C. Cairo is the managing partner and owner of GWC Injury Lawyers. The son of an Italian immigrant who ran a union construction company in Northern Illinois, Louis came to the firm with deep respect for construction tradespeople. He received his business degree from Marquette University and earned his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1983. In more than 42 years of practice Louis has been responsible for client recoveries exceeding $500 million, focusing on construction negligence, product liability, trucking fatalities, FELA claims, automobile accidents, slip-and-falls, and catastrophic injuries including traumatic brain injury, paralysis, amputation, and wrongful death.
He is a past president of the Society of Trial Lawyers and has served on the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. Two of his adult children, Deanna Cairo Arthur and Louis A. Cairo, have joined him at the firm. Louis has been selected to Super Lawyers every year from 2005 through 2026.
Proven verdicts and settlements
James Daniels, a Local 1 ironworker, fell about 23 feet from a form wall on the $978 million Fermilab PIP-II particle accelerator project in May 2023, suffering catastrophic injuries including a traumatic brain injury, rib fractures, and nerve damage; GWC Injury Lawyers recovered a $40 million settlement in 2026.
David O'Donnell, 27, died after an improperly anchored scaffold at the University of Chicago Cancer Pavilion construction site swung away from the building during a 44 mph wind gust and dropped him 140 feet; GWC attorney Louis Cairo secured a $23.5 million settlement for his family in June 2025.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.
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