Scott C. Sands
Scott C. Sands has over 30 years of experience in the area of personal injury litigation and trial law and has earned a reputation as an expert and leader in the field of Railroad Law. He represents injured railroad employees under the Federal Employer’s Liability Act (FELA), the Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA), and the Safety Appliance Act (SAA). He has tried cases in both state and federal courts in multiple states including Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Tennessee, and Montana. He takes great pride in protecting the rights of the injured.
Prior to joining Anesi, Ozmon, Rodin, Novak & Kohen, Ltd., he practiced at Sands & Associates where he served as lead counsel on more than 200 personal injury cases. Sands tried and settled several multi-million dollar cases under FELA, the Jones Act, the Defense Base Act, and Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act cases, in addition to other personal injury cases. Scott also spent five years as a felony trial attorney with the Public Defender’s Office in Chicago.
Notable Settlement and Verdicts:
- $3.26 million settlement for a Local 1 construction laborer who was struck by a Vermeer-hopper machine while working in the CTA’s redline tunnel
- $3.0 million for a railroad freight conductor who sustained a traumatic arm amputation when struck by a moving train
- $3.0 million settlement reached during trial in Federal court in Jackson, Tennessee, for a laborer struck at a crossing by a freight train and permanently disabled
- $2.34 million verdict for an Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad engineer injured when his locomotive was struck by another locomotive
- $1.86 million verdict for a BNSF conductor who sustained injuries due to negligence by the railroad
- $1.6 million settlement for unemployed laborer struck by a commercial truck
- $1.4 million settlement reached during trial for a locomotive engineer struck by another train
- $1.28 million verdict for a Canadian Pacific railway engineer injured when a seat collapsed
- $1.26 million verdict for a worker due to a defective railroad track switch
- $1.58 million verdict for a worker due to grab-bar breaking off a railcar, causing a fall and disabling injuries
- $1.10 million verdict for a freight conductor injured when he fell off a freight car
- Seven figure confidential settlement for the wife and children of a freight conductor killed when pinned between two freight cars.
Areas of Practice
- Railroad Negligence
- Personal Injury
- Mediations
- Negotiating Settlements
- Medical Dispositions
Bar Admissions
- Illinois, 1986
Court Admissions
- United States District Court Northern District of Illinois
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Trial Bar
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
- United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
Education
- The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois
- J.D. – 1986
- Southern Methodist University
- B.A. – 1983
- Major: English Minor: Business Administration
Languages
- Fluent in Spanish
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Illinois State Bar Association
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
- Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys