Hon. Larry R. Rogers Jr., Commissioner Cook County Board of Review

In his professional life, Larry R. Rogers, Jr. has committed himself to being an advocate for victims and victims’ rights. Unfortunately, in our society, public safety and caution are often cast aside in favor of financial gain or expediency, resulting in innocent people being harmed. Even worse, where this occurs, negligence is rarely admitted, leaving the victims with the burden of proving how the failure to follow safe practices resulted in their injury or loss. Mr. Rogers has represented victims against negligent parties who, all too often, place personal or business interests above the safety of their customers, consumers and patients.

As a trial attorney, Mr. Rogers has successfully settled or tried to verdict a variety of cases, obtaining multi-million dollar results for his clients. As of September, 2010, he has personally resolved in excess of $20 Million in cases for his clients.  Mr. Rogers’ successes have resulted in justice for his clients, in particular, and a safer community for the citizens of Cook County at large. Most notably, Mr. Rogers and managing partner, Joseph A. Power, Jr., obtained a record $100 million dollar settlement in a case in which a Reverend and his wife were severely burned and their 6 minor children killed when their Chrysler minivan’s fuel tank was pierced by a piece of road debris and the vehicle erupted in flames.  While this was the largest settlement to a single family in the country, the significance of the case was even greater. As a result of Messers. Power and Rogers investigation, it was discovered that employees of then Illinois Secretary of State George Ryan’s office were selling Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs) to unqualified truck drivers, leading to the re-testing of thousands of truck drivers making the roadways safer for the citizens of Illinois and beyond.

In addition to his trial law practice, Mr. Rogers serves as one of three Commissioners on the Cook County Board of Review. On November 4, 2008, Mr. Rogers received over 520,000 votes (over 80% of the votes cast in a three person race) and was re-elected to a second 4-year term as Commissioner. In 2004, after being fed up with unreasonable property tax increases, Mr. Rogers decided to do more than complain: he ran for public office. With no support from mainstream politicians, he entered a hotly contested primary election against a long time, entrenched politician, and with the support of his family, friends and the people, he won. Since that time, Mr. Rogers has been applauded for his work at bringing government services to the constituents, most notably through community outreaches aimed at reducing excessive property tax assessments for property owners.

Mr. Rogers has been appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Board of Directors of the Lawyers Assistance Program, where he has served since 2003.  In 2009, he was appointed by United States District Court Chief Judge James Holderman to the Magistrate Judge Merit Review Panel and he has served as a  judicial evaluator for the Illinois State, Chicago, and Cook County Bar Associations. He has been a contributing author and lecturer on subjects important to the practicing trial attorney. He has been voted a ASuper Lawyer@ by his peers, and is a member of the American Association for Justice, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, National Bar Association, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Cook County Bar Association. In 1999, he was elected Vice-President of the National Bar Association (YLD) for 2000-01 and he was elected to serve as chairperson of various committees within the bar and community at large. Mr. Rogers is also a member of the NAACP, Kappa Alpha Psi, and other civic and community organizations. He obtained a B.S. degree in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis in 1990 and J.D. of Law from IIT-Chicago Kent College of Law in 1993 where he was the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Academic Award for Trial Advocacy II, the area in which he concentrates his practice today.