Geoffrey Waguespack
Partner | Chicago
gwaguespack@butler.legal
312-462-9157
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Geoffrey M. Waguespack practices in our Subrogation and Recovery department. He is admitted in Illinois and has handled lawsuits in Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, Nebraska, California, Texas, Idaho, and Ohio. He handles claims both nationally and internationally.
His subrogation and recovery practice includes pursuing recovery for clients through negotiated resolution and, when necessary, litigation. He has litigated large, multi-party, complex subrogation cases in multiple jurisdictions, in both state and federal courts. He has experience handling cases for multi-national companies seeking recovery for losses involving significant property damages, product defect, fire, explosion, fire spread, water loss, breach of contract, negligence, and other tort-related issues.
Geoffrey has experience handling cases involving employment law, construction, construction defect, and appeals. He has represented Illinois clients in state and federal courts where death or catastrophic injury or loss has occurred and damages have exceeded insurance policy limits. Geoffrey also has experience in defending personal injury cases arising from construction accidents, automobile accidents, operation of heavy machinery, construction defects, and dangerous conditions on premises.
During law school, Geoffrey was a member of a moot court team and served as the Executive Editor of Publications for the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal.
After law school, Geoffrey served as the judicial law clerk to the Honorable Morton Denlow, Presiding Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He also served as a staff attorney for the Illinois Appellate Court, Second District.
Geoffrey has co-authored articles published in the Subrogator. His publications include Historic Hotel, Restaurant & Nightclub Fires Provide Common Threads For Developing Significant Subrogation Recoveries (2016), (Un)Reel Legal Ethics: Obscure Critiques of Ethical Issues in Hollywood Films About Civil Litigation (2015).
Geoffrey has made significant contributions to the IDC Quarterly, a legal publication distributed to judges, practitioners, and industry representatives throughout the state of Illinois. He contributed articles regularly and co-authored several Monographs from 2005 to 2015. He served as the editor-in-chief for that publication from 2013 to 2014 and served on its editorial board from 2007 to 2013. Geoffrey contributed to the IDC Survey of Law from 2011 to 2014, serving as the editor-in-chief for that publication in 2015.
Admissions
- Illinois
Recognitions
- Cali Awards in constitutional law and legal writing
- Contributed to the IDC Survey of Law from 2011 to 2014
- Leadership & Service Award from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law
- Meritorious Service Award (2013, 2014, 2015)
- Served as the editor-in-chief for the IDC Survey of Law in 2015
- Wrote a regular employment law column for the IDC Quarterly (2006 to 2013)
Education
- The College of William and Mary in Virginia
Bachelor’s Degree in Government and Philosophy - Loyola University Chicago School of Law
Doctor of Jurisprudence
Memberships
- Chicago Bar Association
- Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM)
- National Association of Subrogation Professionals (NASP)
- Property & Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB)
Courts
- Arkansas (Pro Hac Vice)
- Georgia (Pro Hac Vice)
- Missouri (Pro Hac Vice)
- Texas (Pro Hac Vice)
- California (Pro Hac Vice)
- Illinois Department of Employment Security
- Illinois Department of Human Rights
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh District
- U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Media
Indiana Rejects Subrogation Waiver Argument Where Contractor Performed Work at the Request of Another
In U.S. Automatic Sprinkler Corp. v. Erie Insurance Exchange, 21A-CT-580, 2022 WL 906142 (Ind. Ct. App. Mar. 29, 2022), the Indiana Court of Appeals held that a subrogation waiver in an insured’s maintenance contract did not bar recovery by the plaintiff insurer for a water loss at a leased space because the defendant contractor’s work was not performed under the contract with the insured. The...
Congratulations to our Newest Partners!
As we move into the new year, please join us in congratulating our firm’s newest Partners! You can learn more about them by clicking on their individual photos....
Sparking Subrogation Recoveries by Investigating Electrostatic Discharge as the Cause of Fires and Explosions
As far back as 600 BC, the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, Thales of Miletus, observed that, when amber was rubbed against fur, it would emit an invisible force that would attract small fibers and could be discharged with a shock. This observation is one of the first known recorded experiences with what we now understand to be static electricity. Static electricity fascinated t...
Court Finds AIA Subrogation Waiver Inapplicable; Appeal Pending
In Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Fowlkes Plumbing LLC, 17-cv-010-GHD-DAS, 2018 WL 842169 (N.D. Miss. Feb. 12, 2018), the District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi held that the subrogation waiver of Section 11.3.7 of AIA Document A201-2007 bars recovery for damages to property associated with a window restoration project that compromises the “Work” only. The Court granted...
Data Center Fires – Working Through The Cloud Of Potential Liabilities In A Subrogation Recovery Pursuit
Geoffrey Waguespack presented the webinar "Data Center Fires – Working Through the Cloud of Potential Liabilities in a Subrogation Recovery Pursuit" on July 23, 2019 for the National Association of Subrogation Professionals (NASP). This webinar explored the challenges of subrogation recovery for data center fires, with a focus on four key components: power, cooling, maintenance, and fire supp...
