CRAIG M. BARGHER
PARTNER
Craig has practiced with Chittenden, Murday & Novotny LLC since it was formed in 2003. He has bench and jury trial experience, and litigates civil matters in state and federal trial and appellate courts throughout the United States. Craig advises and represents clients in civil matters involving ERISA benefits claims, life, health, and disability insurance contract claims, Structured Settlement Protection Act claims in various jurisdictions, as well as commercial claims.
Education/Admissions
EDUCATION
- J.D., DePaul University College of Law, 1993.
DePaul Law Review.
Assistant Casenote Editor, DePaul Journal of Health Care Law.
DePaul-LCA Journal of Art & Entertainment Law & Policy. - A.B., History and Public Policy, Brown University, 1990.
CLERKSHIPS
- Law Clerk, Illinois Appellate Court, 1998-1999.
ADMISSIONS
- Admitted to practice in Illinois and New York.
- Admitted to practice in the following courts: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; the United States District Courts for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois, the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana, the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, the Northern District of Texas, the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin, and the Northern District of Ohio; and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
- Craig is a member of the Defense Research Institute.
Practice Highlights
Craig’s cases include: Simmers v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., No. 11-C-1009, 2014 WL 107002 (E.D. Wis. Jan. 9, 2014); In re: Forman, 365 Ill. App. 3d 608, 850 N.E.2d 387 (Ill. App. Ct. 2006); Clark v. Hewitt Assoc. LLC, No. 03 C 3114, 2004 WL 2397278 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 22, 2004); Canada Life Assurance Co. v. Salwan, 353 Ill. App. 3d 74, 817 N.E.2d 1021 (Ill. App. Ct. 2004); Lauer v. Am. Family Life Ins. Co., 199 Ill. 2d 384, 769 N.E.2d 924 (Ill. 2002); and Gerdes v. John Hancock Mut. Life Ins. Co., 199 F. Supp. 2d 861 (C.D. Ill. 2001); O’Donnell v. Boyer, et al., No. 1:20-cv-00880, 2021 WL 242488 (M.D. Pa. Jan. 25, 2021).
With Sean P. MacCarthy, Craig tried a wrongful death action in Illinois state court – in which the plaintiffs alleged the negligent issuance of a life insurance policy – to a jury verdict in favor of CMN’s client, the insurance company. With Donald A. Murday, Craig successfully defended CMN’s insurance company client in an ERISA benefits claim bench trial in federal court.
Publications
- Author, “Rule 12(b)(6) Motions to Dismiss Mental Health Parity Act Claims: Various Approaches Within The District of Utah Provide Lessons for Plaintiffs and Defendants”, (ABA’s Committee News, Health and Disability & Life Insurance Law Edition (Spring 2020).
- Co-author, the Illinois Chapter of The Law of Life Insurance, Key Issues in Each State, DRI Defense Library Series (2017).
- Co-author, Approaches to Discovery after Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Glenn, Life, Health & Disability News (The Newsletter of the DRI Life, Health & Disability Committee), Winter 2009, at 10.
- Author, Understanding Section 2-619(a)(3) Motions to Dismiss or Stay, 87 Ill. B.J. 327 (June 1999).
- Author, The Export of Cultural Property and United States Policy, 4 DePaul-LCA J. Art & Ent. L. & Pol’y 189 (1994) (lead article).
- Craig also contributes each year to “Recent Developments in Health Insurance, Life Insurance, and Disability Insurance Case Law,” published in the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal.
