Gregory Odom

Greg Odom defends clients in mass toxic torts and commercial litigation. Greg also advises businesses and business groups on cybersecurity issues, with an emphasis on biometric privacy law compliance. An experienced trial attorney, he represents individuals, local businesses, and Fortune 500 companies in state and federal courts across Illinois and Missouri, with an emphasis on defending clients in southern Illinois and the metropolitan St. Louis region. Greg is a native of southern Illinois, graduating from Crab Orchard High School and attending SIUC for both college and law school. Currently, he resides in Jefferson County, Illinois, with his wife, a Clerk for the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in Benton, and two children.

Greg's mass toxic torts litigation experience includes defending product manufacturers, premises owners, talc suppliers, and a variety of other companies in hundreds of asbestos and benzene exposure cases. In this role, Greg oversees case investigation, discovery, dispositive motion practice, expert discovery, settlement negotiations, and trial preparation. He has helped his clients win motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment, as well as obtain voluntary dismissals, even when evidence against his clients was presented. 

Greg's commercial litigation experience includes representing individuals, businesses, and government agencies in cases arising from various types of commercial projects, ranging in value from $20,000 to over $25 million. He has tried multiple commercial litigation cases to verdict.

In addition to his toxic torts and commercial litigation work, Greg has pursued and defended declaratory judgment actions, pursued subrogation claims, conducted insurance coverage analyses, and assisted insurers in determining language to be used in insurance policies. Greg also has represented individuals and businesses in personal injury claims, including auto accident, slip-and-fall, and construction accident claims. Finally, Greg has represented multiple state and local government agencies, including municipalities, police departments, and conservancy districts in a variety of claims, such as civil rights, wrongful termination, wage dispute, intentional torts, and commercial litigation.

Examples of recent case results: 

• Obtained court order finding that the plaintiff was not entitled to conduct jurisdictional discovery against his client under Missouri law, resulting in a voluntary dismissal for his client, in an asbestos lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri. 
• Obtained a settlement with a value of more than $1.5 million for a client in a complex commercial lawsuit arising from a significant commercial expansion project.
• Obtained summary judgment in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in an asbestos claim for a premises owner on the basis that it owed no duty of care to the plaintiff.
• Won motion to dismiss in an asbestos claim in the Circuit Court of Madison County, Illinois, for a home remodeling products manufacturer based on lack of specific personal jurisdiction.
• Won motion to dismiss in an asbestos claim in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, for a home remodeling products manufacturer based on lack of general personal jurisdiction.
• Obtained a defense trial verdict for a trucking company on a property damage claim in the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Illinois.
• Obtained a defense trial verdict for a trucking company and truck driver on a personal injury claim arising from a catastrophic semi-truck accident. 
• Obtained a plaintiff’s trial verdict for a homeowner in a breach of contract and consumer fraud claim against a roofing contractor.
• Successfully argued appeal of a defense trial verdict for a property owner in a slip-and-fall case based on the Illinois open and obvious doctrine.
• Obtained summary judgment for an insurance carrier in the District Court for the Central District of Illinois based on a co-insurer’s duty to defend and reimburse the client for fees and expenses incurred in an underlying lawsuit.
• Obtained summary judgment for a police department in a civil rights claim based upon no duty owed to the plaintiff and due to immunity.
• Obtained summary judgment in the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois for an insurer in a declaratory judgment action on the basis that the insurer owed no duty to provide coverage to the insured.

• Autism Society of Southern Illinois - Volunteer
• Habitat for Humanity, Edwardsville-Glen Carbon - Volunteer
• Jefferson County, Illinois Chamber of Commerce - Member