Vincenzo Chimera is a partner in the Mass Tort and Product Liability practice group. Vincenzo concentrates his practice on toxic tort matters, including defense of matters involving exposures to asbestos, ethylene oxide, benzene, and other alleged contaminants. Vincenzo has a proven track record of success for his clients, including second chair trial experience in defense of a steel manufacturer and successful appellate defense in the Illinois First District Appellate Court and US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the Federal Trial Bar for the Northern District of Illinois. Vincenzo's experience includes complex case management in mass tort actions, National Coordinating Counsel oversight of attorneys throughout the country in asbestos litigation, and significant trial court motion practice, including objections to personal jurisdiction, admissibility of expert testimony and other evidentiary issues.
Vincenzo has extensive experience in all phases of discovery in civil litigation, defending bet-the-company cases in the highest risk jurisdictions in the country. He has taken numerous depositions of plaintiffs claiming toxic exposures, regularly conducting lead examination in multi-defendant mass tort actions, and depositions of expert witnesses in industrial hygiene, toxicology, medical causation, and genetics. He provides extensive analysis of toxic exposure claims and liability, providing invaluable contributions for client defense and complex risk management.
Vincenzo's experience extends to product and premises liability in defense of steel and industrial equipment manufacturers, railroad litigation, and federal civil rights matters. He successfully argued a motion for dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds and a motion to dismiss a time barred claim as precluded from filing under vested due process rights in Illinois state court. He also twice prevailed on Rule 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss in federal court addressing the pleading standard in discrimination cases. Prior to his admission to the bar, Vincenzo served as a judicial extern for Judge Thomas M. Durkin of the Northern District of Illinois and the late Judge James P. Flannery Jr., who presided over the Cook County Law Division. Vincenzo also completed an internship with the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, where he prosecuted petty offenses, prepared a Seventh Circuit brief, and assisted a wire fraud prosecution trial team in obtaining a conviction.
- Chicago Bar Association Regulatory and Compliance Committee webinar, PFAS - Regulatory Scrutiny and Litigation Landscape, June 2025
- Harris Martin’s Midwest Asbestos Litigation Conference, Issues in Employee Cases, September 2021
- “Emerging contaminants: Defending litigation,” Westlaw Today, May 2025
- "Regulatory Scrutiny and Litigation Landscape for PFAS Continues to Expand," Illinois Defense Counsel Quarterly, p. 10-11, March 2025
- “The Litigation Issue 2023–Chemical Considerations,” Best Lawyers, 1 September 2023
- “Can the New Illinois Asbestos Exemption Amendment to the Construction Statute of Repose Revive Time-Barred Claims?” IADC Committee Newsletter: Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation, May 2015.
- Quoted, “New Illinois Law Opens The Door To More Toxic Tort Litigation,” Law360, 23 September 2025
