Law Clerk at Corboy & Demetrio 'A Little Freaked Out' by Fire Sunday; Multiple Law Offices Closed
A quiet day at the office Sunday became unexpectedly dramatic for a number of workers after a fire broke out on the ground floor of a 25-story downtown Chicago highrise.
Stephanie Sainsbury, who works as a law clerk at Corboy & Demetrio, was one of 10 to 15 people escorted by firefighters from the upper floors after a police officer patrolling on a bicycle spotted a “wall of fire” in the Bank of America branch on the ground floor, according to the Chicago Tribune.
After smelling smoke and calling 911 the second-year student at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago waited alone on the 21st floor for firefighters to come get her. “I’m fine, I’m just a little freaked out,” she tearfully told the newspaper after exiting the building.
The building houses a number of law firms in addition to Corboy & Demetrio. The well-known personal injury firm—along with all the other businesses in the building—is closed today because the building still lacks electric service. However, Tom Demetrio tells the ABA Journal that “when all is said and done, it’s an irritant, nothing more.”
It’s unknown when the building will reopen, as authorities investigate to determine the cause of the fire and why, at least as far as the two floors on which the Corboy firm is located, no fire alarm sounded in what Demetrio describes as an excellent, well-managed building. But today’s closure fortuitously occurred on a court holiday, he notes, and that has given lawyers and staff some breathing room to figure out a plan for tomorrow.
The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, which publishes docketing information, provided the firm with a list of its court hearings tomorrow. And, since Corboy & Demetrio still has phone and computer service, it won’t be necessary for the firm to accept generous offers of office space from fellow personal injury lawyer Bob Clifford, a former chairman of the ABA Section of Litigation, and other lawyers.
“Casimir Pulaski Day is my new favorite holiday,” says Demetrio, “and thank God it was today because the courts were closed. We sort of got lucky there.”
