Kenneth J. Allen

Education

Valparaiso University with a B.A. in English

Studied at Cambridge (England) where he was a member of the Cambridge

University Boxing Team (C.U.A.B.C.)

Indiana University – Bloomington, where he was a Stephenson Fellow and received his J.D., cum laude (with honors).

Experience

Mr. Allen is a principal in the law firm of Allen Law Group, LLC. The firm limits its practice to representation of plaintiffs in serious personal injury and wrongful death litigation, exclusively. Mr. Allen has appeared as counsel for the plaintiff in over 100 trials and published appellate court decisions. His cases have been listed among the country’s “Top 10 Verdicts” and recognized in such publications as USA TODAY, WALL STREET JOURNAL, VANITY FAIR, CRANE’S CHICAGO BUSINESS, CHICAGO SUN TIMES, LA TIMES, BOSTON GLOBE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, AND THE NEW YORK TIMES.

Mr. Allen was also named to Plaintiffs’ Discovery Committee in the United Airlines DC-10 airplane crash (In re: Air Crash Disaster at Sioux City, Iowa). He has also been interviewed on CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, WGN, FOX, Dateline, Inside Edition, and on Oprah.

Mr. Allen is a former Judge, pro tempore. He also is a 30-year member of the Carpenter’s Union and worked as a Piledriver and Millright (UBC), Teamster (IBT) and RR Trackman (BMWE).

Admissions

Mr. Allen is a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Indiana and Illinois Supreme Courts and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Services/Community Activities/Awards

Mr. Allen has been a member of the Jeremiah Milbank Society, an elite group of philanthropists dedicated to supporting local Boys & Girls Clubs in America; the IU Arbutus Society, supporting the IU Foundation; the Kimberling Society supporting the Mauer School of Law; the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy; the IU School of Medicine: J.O. Ritchey Society. He is a lifetime member of the NAACP (Chairman’s Circle); and was named to the United Way’s Tocqueville Society, which recognizes local philanthropic leaders and volunteer champions in the United Sates and France. He was the recipient of the Fifth Annual Child Safety Advocate Award “for outstanding dedication in forwarding the issues of child safety,” awarded by the IU School of Medicine and the INDIANA SAFE KIDS COALITION. He is a proud supporter of Lambda Legal, Legal Services for the Poor, the Equal Justice Fund and Unite 2 Fight Paralysis. Honored by the Boy Scouts of America-Calumet Council for his community and legal contributions, Mr. Allen has supported that organization as well as the YMCA, the Methodist Hospital Foundation Inc., and the Provena-Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation.

Mr. Allen has been a longtime supporter of the United Way, sponsoring the Kinderprint program, providing ID kits and safety education to thousands of schoolchildren and the Reading Buddies program, providing 4,000 first and second graders with stuffed animal “buddies” to whom they read for 15 minutes each day. Mr. Allen is also a proud supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs sponsoring the Kids’ Stop program which provides before and after-school child care for needy families at the local Boys & Girls Club. He also sponsors the Teacher’s of Excellence program, which selects and honors area elementary and high school teachers every week in area newspapers. Working through charities, local schools and Ken4Kids.org, Mr. Allen has also provided thousands of winter coats, bicycle helmets, backpacks filled with school supplies, Thanksgiving meals and Christmas gifts to needy children and families throughout Northwest Indiana for two decades. He has also donated extensively to Catholic Charities as well as the Caring Place for Women and Children and supported the Rainbow Shelter, the Stepping Stone Shelter for Women, St. Jude House, Hilltop Neighborhood House, the Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, Sojourner Truth House, and Chicago South Side Youth.

Presentations / Publications

Mr. Allen’s lectures and legal publications include:

• Expert Witnesses in Civil Litigation (2021)
• Interrogation with DDC in Semi-Truck Cases (2017)
• Creative Presentation of Evidence in Traumatic Brain Injury Cases (2017)
• Things You didn’t Learn in Law School (2016)
• Representing Your Client in Federal Court: Testimony Tactics (2016)
• Winning Brain Injury Cases (2014)
• Getting the Most Out of Expert Witnesses (2014)
• Trial, Damages and Obtaining the Excess Verdict (2014)
• “Big Screen Strategies”, Trial, Vol. 49, No. 1 (January 2013)
• Presenting Damages & Life Care Planning Experts in Construction Accident Cases (2012)
• Theories of Liability in Semi-Truck Crashes (co-author) (2012)
• “Spoliation of Evidence” (co-author) Truck Accident Litigation, 3rd Ed., ABA (2012)
• Powerful Demonstrative Evidence (2012)
• Trial Technique in Action: What Role Playing Can Reveal, Trial, Vol. 47, No. 12 (December 2011)
• Trial Techniques in Trucking Cases (2011)
• Trial Presentation in Trucking Cases (2010)
• Building Your Civil Trial Skills (2009)
• Getting the Most Out of Your Evidence (2008)
• Five Keys to Successful Cross-Examination (2008)
• Insurance Bad Faith, Discovery and Assertions of Privilege (2007)
• Voir Dire: A Primer (2007)
• “Chapter 32: The Trial–Developing and Utilizing the Theme” (co-author) Truck Accident Litigation, 2nd Ed., ABA (2006)
• “Chapter 7: Spoliation of Evidence” (co-author) Truck Accident Litigation, 2nd Ed., ABA (2006)
• The (Revised) Ten Commandments of Cross Examination (2005)
• Superior Deposition Strategies (2003)
• Personal Injury Settlements (2002)
• Advanced Personal Injury Practice (2002)
• You’re On Trial (2001)
• Civil Discovery: Arguing the Tough Issues (2000)
• Achieving Success in the Practice of Personal Injury and Wrongful Death law (1998)
• Bad Faith Litigation In Indiana (1997)
• The ‘New’ Indiana Constitution (1996)
• Tort Reform, Auto Cases and Premises Liability (1995)
• Insurance Bad Faith Law (1994)
• Crashworthiness and Products Liability (1992)
• Trying Auto Injury Cases (1991)

Professional Association Memberships

Mr. Allen’s professional honors and association memberships, past and present, include:

• The American Association for Justice (Leader’s Forum Patron).
• The Indiana and Illinois Trial Lawyers Associations (sustaining member)
• Indiana and Illinois State Bar Associations
• The American Bar Association
• The Chicago Bar Association
• Mr. Allen is also a member of the National Asbestos/Mesothelioma Trial Lawyers Association, the National Brain Injury Trial Lawyers Association, and the National Aviation Trial Lawyers Association
• Mr. Allen has been repeatedly listed in THE BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA and by LAW DRAGON as one of the Leading Plaintiff’s Lawyers in America
• Mr. Allen is a Senior Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America
• Mr. Allen is a Life Member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum-The Top Trial Lawyers in America, listed in Who’s Who in American Law and named to the National Advisory Board of the Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America
• Mr. Allen was also named among the 500 Leading Lawyers in America
• Mr. Allen is a Life Patron Fellow and served as President of the INDIANA BAR FOUNDATION (2016-2017) and was also honored by the INDIANA LAWYER as a Distinguished Barrister “for leadership in the law”.