About Us
Attorney George Bellas started what is now Bellas & Wachowski after leaving his position as a prosecuting attorney in 1973. The firm consists of six attorneys and eight support team members working in a wide range of legal fields, ranging from business litigation to auto defect claims. Our law offices are now in Park Ridge, Illinois, near O'Hare Airport and easy for our clients to reach from anywhere in the Chicago, Illinois area.
The history of our firm is, in large part, the history of our firm partners, George Bellas and Peter Wachowski. The highlights of their careers are detailed below. For more about them or our other lawyers, visit our Attorneys page. To set up an appointment to discuss your legal issues, contact us.
George S. Bellas: Honors
In its annual survey of attorneys who have obtained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement, Law & Politics selected George Bellas as an Illinois Super Lawyer for the fifth consecutive year in the practice area of business litigation. A "Super Lawyer" is selected for this award by other attorneys who were asked to nominate the best attorneys they have personally observed in action.
George was a recipient of the prestigious Steven Sharp Public Service Award by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) for his work in helping educate the public on the risk of SUV rollovers and of the Firestone tire and Ford Explorer catastrophe.
George has been admitted to the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, whose membership is limited to attorneys who have successfully tried or settled cases in excess of $1 Million.
George Bellas: Past Cases
George recently settled a class action lawsuit against a Fortune 100 company involving claims under the Federal Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"). The case was unprecedented in that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered the claims to proceed as a class action under the Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure. The suit alleged that management was improperly tracking productivity measures and impermissively included time taken for FMLA to determine performance.
George Bellas, in association with Clifford Law Offices, has filed a series of class actions against severalAAA not-for-profit hospitals alleging that these not-for-profits violate their tax exempt status by overcharging uninsured and indigent patients and then employing strong-arm tactics to collect from the indigent and uninsured, driving many people into bankruptcy. These lawsuits were featured in Time magazine in September, 2004 and on ABC's Primetime on December 16, 2004. Mr. Bellas addressed the Illinois State Bar Association's Health Care Section Council on this subject in April, 2005. One of those cases against a large Cook County hospital system recently settled in an unprecedented settlement.
George recently appeared before the U.S. District Courts' Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in Philadelphia and argued for consolidation of 51 cases filed across the country against Not-for-Profit Hospitals.
George filed a class action suit against Pfizer for the illegal marketing of Neurotin(R) for nonapproved uses. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of a local health and welfare fund (and all others similarly situated) which paid for these the prescription medications which had no greater benefit than sugar pills. This suit was consolidated with other lawsuits by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in the U.S. District court in Boston. The pharmaceutical drug Neurotin(R) was originally approved for use with the other drugs to treat epilepsy and as a treatment for nerve pain resulting from shingles. However, Neurotin(R) was illegally promoted for off-label treatment for bipolar disorders, attention deficient disorders and a wide variety of pain symptoms. These drugs had about the same benefit as a sugar pill but in some instances there have been reports of Neurotin(R) suicides. In one study the results showed that a placebo (a sugar pill) worked better than Neurotin(R). If you or a member of your family were prescribed Neurotin, you should consult with an attorney.
The firm of Bellas & Wachowski filed one of the first cases involving contaminated dog food and which consolidated into a nationwide class action. The settlement was recently approved by the Judge in New Jersey. Claim forms must be submitted by consumers by November 24, 2008.
While working with Clifford Law Offices, George obtained $22.5 million in a settlement of a case involving the rollover of a 1992 Ford Explorer which left two teenagers dead and another a quadriplegic. The 1992 Explorer rolled over after being struck by the driver's side rear wheel well by a Plymouth Sundance while traveling on the Eisenhower Expressway. It was alleged that the Ford Explorer had design defects that rendered it inherently unstable and that Ford's own testing showed that the Explorer was prone to roll over with only minimal variations in tire size, type and air pressure. George has since been involved with numerous Explorer rollover cases throughout the U.S.
In the area of complex business litigation, George Bellas has few peers. For example, successfully prosecuted claims against a multi-national corporation in the United States District Court in Chicago on behalf of a Brazilian business owner. The claims involved breaches of a joint venture and distributorship agreement. The cases settled with the terms subject to a confidentiality agreement.
George S. Bellas: Articles and Presentations
George authored an article entitled, "Electronic Discovery: Wave Goodbye to Paper," which was published in the summer 2008 edition of the Trial Journal of the Illinois Trial Lawyers.
George addressed the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Association of Technical Accident Investigators ("MATAI") in Sioux, City, Iowa in May, 2008.AAA The topic of the presentation was "Sport Utility Vehicles: Is Bigger Safer?"AAA MATAI consists primarily of accident investigators from eight states consisting primarily of state troupers from these states.AAA In this annual meeting the attendees were also shown a demonstration of a test of an accident avoidance maneuver of a Sport Utility Vehicle which resulted in a rollover crush.
An article by George Bellas was featured in the January, 2005, issue of Trial magazine published by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA). The article was titled, "Portable Litigation Support."AAA AAA This was a follow up to a presentation made by George at the annual meeting of ATLA in Boston in 2004 regarding the use of portable litigation support.AAA George was also featured in an article in the National Law Journal in which George discussed howAAA Summation was used to help manage documents in connection with rollover litigation.
George submitted two papers to the annual meeting of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) at their Annual Meeting in Seattle in July, 2006. One is on the use of "Electronic Discovery in Auto Products Liability Cases" and the other is on the use of trial presentation software during trial. This marks the third time in five years that George was asked to present papers to this annual meeting of the Best Lawyers in America.
The Sedona Conference in April, 2005, focused on Litigation of Mass Torts, and George was invited to participate in several panel discussions as a faculty member of this prestigious organization. George also gave a presentation entitled "Explorer: More Than Just the Tires" to the Products Liability Section of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) at their Annual Meeting in Montreal. He also addressed the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers to discuss automobile rollover litigation and recently his articles were published by the Colorado Trial Lawyers, the Utah Trial Lawyers Association, and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.
Peter C. Wachowski
Peter Wachowski was recognized as one of "40 Lawyers under 40 to Watch in Chicago" by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. This is a very unique honor and recognizes the accomplishments of Peter in serving the needs of his clients and the community.
Peter has served as President of the Advocates Society, which is the bar association forAAA Polish-American attorneys. Peter is completely literate in Polish.
Peter has been admitted to practice since 1990, and is a member of the American, Illinois and Chicago Bar Associations. He also managed his family's construction business, giving him valuable experience in the needs of general contractors.
Peter and George were recently awarded lifetime memberships in the National Registry of Who's Who in America. Peter has been rated "Excellent" and "Recommended" by Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory.
Peter successfully argued a case before the Illinois Supreme Court in which a murder conviction was reversed.
Contact Us
Please contact Bellas & Wachowski about any questions about our firm, or to set up a consultation about your legal issues.