William M. Cannon

Attorney William M. Cannon is a member of one of Wisconsin’s best-known and most prominent legal families extending over four generations of personal injury lawyers, beginning with his grandfather’s admission to the Wisconsin Bar. This four-generation legal family has practiced continuously in Milwaukee and other communities throughout Wisconsin for over 100 years. Mr. Cannon has won more $10 million paid verdicts and settlements for his clients than any other lawyer in Wisconsin. His cases have been featured on the CBS program “60 Minutes” and the “ABC Evening National News”. He has continuously been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Over 25 consecutive years.

Raymond J. Cannon. (Grandfather) Admitted to Wisconsin Bar, 1914. Partner in Milwaukee law firm of Cannon & Waldron. U.S. Congressman, Milwaukee (4th District) 1933-39. He was the most famous trial lawyer of his generation. Some of his famous clients were World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Jack Dempsey, Shoeless Joe Jackson (Chicago Black Sox Scandal) and Wallis Simpson. Between 1914-1921, he successfully tried and won over 100 consecutive jury trials, resulting in a banquet hosted by the Milwaukee Bar Association honoring him for this achievement. The Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin has named an award after him in memory of his trial accomplishments, “The Ray Cannon Justice Award”. Read about Raymond J. Cannon History (PDF Download).

Judge Robert C. Cannon. (Father) Admitted to Wisconsin Bar, 1941. Milwaukee County Civil and Circuit Court Judge, successfully re-elected 1945-79; first Presiding Judge, Wisconsin Court of Appeals, 1979-82. Legal Advisor To Major League Baseball Players Association.

Kelly Gildea Cannon (great-granddaughter of Raymond J. Cannon and daughter of William M. Cannon) is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law (J. D.) in Chicago, Illinois. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois and New York. She has received her Masters of Law (LLM) in International Dispute Resolution at Kings College in London, England. She has also received her Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism.

Conor Michael Cannon (great-grandson of Raymond J. Cannon and son of William M. Cannon) is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School (J.D.) in Madison, Wisconsin. He is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Notable Awards and Settlements:

$159 million in settlements against multiple insurance companies, for their failure to fufill their duty to defend their insured in violation of insurance policies issues to their insured. These settlements include three settlements of $10 million or more in addition to the total settlement. – Location: Milwaukee County, WI

$25.24 million jury verdict, judgment and settlement awarded to the parents and their daughter’s estate in a medical malpractice case involving a resident physician who failed to diagnose an acute abdomen in a 15-year old girl and failed to seek a consultation from a senior resident over an 11-hour time span, which led to the ischemic death of the girl’s small bowel and its removal. Complications from this loss of small bowel required 89 additional subsequent surgeries, including two failed small bowel transplants, and ultimately led to her death two years later. This is the second largest medical malpractice jury award in Wisconsin history.* – Location: Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI

$17.2 million jury verdict in a premises liability case involving severe burn injuries to three masons. This is the first eight-figure personal injury jury verdict in Wisconsin history.* – Location: Manitowoc, Manitowoc County, WI

$16 million awarded to a patient in a medical malpractice case where a physician inappropriately ordered high dose steroids for an undiagnosed condition. The doctor discontinued the steroids in the face of an infection masked by the steroids. This event sent the patient into Addisonian Shock, which destroyed her nerves and muscles.This case represents the second largest medical malpractice pretrial settlement in Wisconsin.* – Location: Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI

$13.5 million awarded in a food-borne illness case to a family whose 3-year old daughter died 11 days after eating contaminated food at a restaurant. The source of the contamination was E. coli 0157:H7 from a whole intact tri-tip piece of meat manufactured and sold by Excel Corporation, a subsidiary of Cargill Corporation. This is the largest food-borne illness award in Wisconsin history.* – Location: Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI

$12 million awarded in a medical malpractice case to the family of an infant who suffered a cerebral palsy brain injury at birth due to a failure to timely perform a C-section. – Location: Oshkosh, Winnebago County, WI

$12 million awarded in an automobile accident case to two families after an illegally overloaded cement truck ran a red light and struck a van, causing the death of the driver and serious permanent brain injuries to the passenger. – Location: Waukesha, Waukesha County, WI

$10 million awarded in a truck accident case in Michigan to the family of a 37-year old married mother of two after a Waste Management truck ran a stop sign and struck her van, causing her death. – Location: Grand Rapids, Kent County, MI

$10 million awarded in a medical malpractice case to an 8-month old baby boy for the negligence of a doctor in prescribing an overdose of morphine which caused severe brain damage. – Location: LaCrosse, LaCrosse County, WI

$10 million settlement in a medical malpractice case involving a 10-year old boy. Arterial and venous lines from a heart/lung machine were reversed during open heart surgery resulting in severe brain damage. This is the first eight-figure personal injury settlement in Wisconsin history.* – Location: Green Bay, Brown County, WI

$9.7 million awarded in a products liability case to an 11-year old boy whose left arm was amputated in a Laundromat accident and subsequently reattached. The European manufacturer was aware of a defect that allowed the washing machine door to be opened during operation for 10 years before the accident, but never fixed the defect or warned users of the defect. – Location: Sturgeon Bay, Door County, WI

$8.9 million recovered for a woman who suffered substantial brain damage after receiving an overdose of Dilaudid® pain medication from a nurse who was a temporary hospital employee. – Location: Milwaukee, WI

$7 million award in a medical malpractice case for the failure of a family practice physician to call the attending obstetrician for an emergency C-section. The baby suffered severe late heart rate decelerations during labor and delivery causing severe brain damage. – Location: Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI

$6 million recovered in a legal malpractice case against a law firm that engaged in numerous conflicts of interest and failed to give appropriate tax and legal advice to a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation. – Location: Milwaukee, WI

$5.25 million awarded to the family of a woman involved in an automobile accident. A car making a wide turn came into contact with a school bus, causing the bus to crash into a van operated by the woman. The woman suffered severe brain damage confining her to a nursing home for the remainder of her life. – Location: Sheboygan, Sheboygan County, WI

$5 million settlement in a medical malpractice case involving a man whose pathologist misdiagnosed a brain lesion, treatable with steroid medication, as a malignant tumor. The misdiagnosis resulted in an unnecessary surgical removal of a portion of the man’s brain rendering him a totally disabled hemiplegic with severe brain damage. – Location: Oshkosh, Winnebago County, WI

$4.8 million settlement in a medical malpractice case involving an emergency room physician who negligently diagnosed ventricular tachycardia on an EKG and negligently ordered medicine which caused the 67-year old patient’s heart to stop for almost 20 minutes. The doctor also failed to timely resuscitate the patient, causing severe brain damage which placed the patient in a persistent vegetative state. – Location: Waukesha, Waukesha County, WI

$4 million settlement in a products liability case involving a Halothane vaporizer that malfunctioned during pediatric surgery causing extensive brain damage in a 1-year old child. – Location: Madison, WI

$3.45 million jury verdict, judgment and settlement awarded to minor plaintiff against physician who failed to properly treat patient suffering from seizures following vaccine administration. – Location: Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI

$2.5 million judgment and settlement awarded to plaintiff, under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), for failure of the defendant to properly hook up the plaintiff patient undergoing open heart surgery resulting in extensive permanent brain damage. This case was featured on CBS 60 Minutes television program. – Location: Milwaukee, WI Federal Court Eastern District (709 F.2d 1158 (7th Cir. 1983)

Accolades