William J. Hoffmann

William Hoffmann is a founding member of Grotefeld Hoffmann. He has been engaged in the subrogation industry for over thirty years with a concentration in products liability and consolidation of claim matters for the insurance industry. Mr. Hoffmann has achieved an AV Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell rating, the highest possible rating for an attorney for both ethical standards and legal ability.

Mr. Hoffmann studied at the University of Oxford and graduated from Lake Forest College in 1989. He then graduated from The John Marshall Law School in 1993. Mr. Hoffmann’s experience in the insurance industry includes working as a claims adjuster and then as a subrogation specialist at one of the nation’s largest insurance carriers. After obtaining his law license, Mr. Hoffmann transitioned from the insurance industry to working for one of the nation’s largest subrogation law firms as an attorney.

Mr. Hoffmann’s litigation experience is quite extensive, having prosecuted thousands of subrogation claims including several multi-million dollar large fire losses, insurance coverage, special investigation cases, mass tort, and class action matters. He currently serves as national litigation counsel for three of the nation’s largest insurance companies, coordinating the litigation and arbitration of all products liability claims against five of the largest market share home product manufacturers in the United States. Mr. Hoffmann has successfully brought consolidated litigation of product liability claims against manufacturers, having consolidated hundreds of subrogation claims in one lawsuit. Mr. Hoffmann has also appeared before the Federal Court Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation arguing for the formation of a MDL for certain product liability claims. He has also appeared as counsel for several of the world’s largest insurance carriers in MDL litigation involving product defect cases representing their collective subrogation interests. Mr. Hoffmann has been appointed as lead counsel in mass tort cases before the federal MDL court and is currently leading several large mass tort cases nationally.

Mr. Hoffmann has been involved in multiple organizations, including the American Bar Association, where he is a member of the Tort and Insurance Practice Committee, and the National Association of Subrogation Professionals (NASP), where he has served as a co-chair for the General Track at the NASP National Conference, co-chair for the NASP Litigation Skills Conference, and is the former chair of the NASP Illinois Chapter. He has also been a member of the American Association for Justice where he was a committee member of the electric blanket group and has participated in the Property & Liability Research Bureau.

Mr. Hoffmann has spoken at numerous events, including at the March 2015 PLRB Claims Conference & Insurance Services Expo on “Defective Warnings & Subrogation,” and in November of 2015 NASP National Conference on “Aggregating Claims for Aggravating Circumstances.”

In addition to speaking professionally at numerous events and conferences Mr. Hoffmann has also written several articles, including “How to Properly Answer Corporate Discovery Served Against the Subrogating Plaintiff,” published in the Subrogator for NASP and “Failure to Warn,” an article published in the Product Liability Newsletter of the American Association for Justice.

Founding Partner

407 S Third Street
Suite 200
Geneva, Illinois 60134

(630) 262-1112

Education

  • Wosley Hall, Oxford, England, 1985
  • Lake Forest College, B.A. 1989
  • The John Marshall Law School, J. D., 1993

Admissions

  • Illinois
  • Texas
  • United States District Court- Central District of Illinois
  • United States District Court- Northern District of Illinois
  • United States District Court- Southern District of Illinois
 

Affiliations

  • American Bar Association
  • American Association for Justice
  • Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
  • Kane County Bar Association
  • National Association of Subrogation Professionals

Volunteer / Public Service

  • Tri-City Chargers Youth Football Coach
  • Former Cal’s Allstar Angels Business Advisory Board
  • Former Servantworks Business Advisory Board
  • Small Group Leader with local church
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AV Preeminent

Our Team in Geneva

Anna T. Ratterman

Associate, Geneva

Anna Ratterman focuses her practice in the areas of insurance subrogation and general liability defense for insurers, including premises liability, products liability, and general negligence actions.

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Catherine E. Carter

Associate, Geneva

Catherine Carter focuses her practice in the areas of insurance subrogation and general liability defense for insurers, specifically products liability, premises liability, construction defect litigation, and general negligence actions.

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William J. Hoffmann

Founding Partner

William Hoffmann is a founding member of Grotefeld Hoffmann. He has been engaged in the subrogation industry for over thirty years with a concentration in products liability and consolidation of claim matters for the insurance industry.

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Mark G. Meyers

Partner, Geneva

Mark Meyers is a partner in the firm’s Geneva office. He focuses his practice on insurance subrogation and general liability defense for insurers, specifically within the areas of products liability, premises liability, construction defect litigation, and general negligence actions.

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Kathleen A. Reid

Managing Partner, Geneva

Kathleen Reid is the managing partner of the firm’s Geneva office. Ms. Reid’s main area of concentration includes the defense of products liability, premises liability, and discrimination claims for a variety of self-insured retail and other businesses, product manufacturers and suppliers, and national insurance carriers.

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Michael J. Scola

Partner, Geneva

Michael Scola is a partner in the firm’s Geneva office. Mr. Scola’s practice focuses primarily on insurance subrogation and defense matters, specifically products liability, premises liability, and construction defect litigation.

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Joseph F. Suareo III

Associate, Geneva

Joseph Suareo is an associate in the firm’s Geneva office. Mr. Suareo’s practice focuses on insurance subrogation and general liability defense for insurers, specifically products liability, premises liability, construction defect litigation, and general negligence actions.

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Jonathan J. Tofilon

Partner, Geneva

Jonathan Tofilon is a partner in the firm’s Geneva office. He focuses his practice on civil litigation, specifically within the areas of products liability, wrongful death, food contamination and recalls, construction defect litigation, and catastrophic losses

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News & Insights

Hosts of 2024 Lloyd’s of London 30 Under 30 Tour

Grotefeld Hoffmann had the honor of hosting the 2024 Lloyd’s of London 30 Under 30 Tour in Miami, Florida. During this biennial event, up-and-coming members of the Lloyd’s of London insurance market study insurance-related businesses.  Joel Radakovich and Meghan Rodda organized the event, which featured presentations and discussion with scientists from University of Miami Rosenstiel […]

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2024 Combined Claims Conference-Wild, Wild West of Claims

Grotefeld Hoffmann is excited to be part of the 2024 Combined Claims Conference-Wild, Wild West of Claims in Garden Grove, California on May 13-15. Susan Benson, William Hoffmann, and Jeffery Korinko will be attending. The CCC kicks off on Monday, May 13 with the Bill King Memorial Golf Tournament, which helps fund the CCC Scholarship […]

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