Craig and Craig

Attorneys at Law

Established 1868

Mattoon, IL

(217) 234-6481

Mt. Vernon, IL

(618) 244-7511

John F. Watson - Partner

On May 10, 2011, John F. Watson completed a jury trial in Coles County, Charleston, Illinois in which he obtained two defense range verdicts in a motor vehicle accident case. The litigation constituted two separate lawsuits consolidated together for trial and involved the driver and a passenger of a rear ended vehicle both seeking monetary damages. The jury returned verdicts in favor of both of the Plaintiffs but in amounts slightly over the medical expenses incurred (when a contributory fault finding was factored into the judgment for the driver). Further, the amounts awarded for the driver and passenger, $10,312.35 and $3,125.60 respectively, were substantially lower than the pre-suit settlement demands made by the Plaintiffs.

John F. Watson, Partner in the Mattoon office of Craig & Craig, published a featured article in the most recent IDC Quarterly Journal. The article followed the presentations made on October 5, 2010 at the joint symposium hosted by the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel, the Chicago Bar Association, the Cook County Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association. The article is entitled Judicial Selection: A Discussion of Elective and Appointed Systems in Light of Current Developments in the Law, 21 IDC Quarterly J. 37 (2011).

John F. Watson, Partner in the Mattoon office of Craig & Craig, and J. Matthew Anderson, an attorney with Webber & Thies in Champaign, Illinois, published an article on the Medical Peer Review Privilege in the ABA Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal for the Fall of 2010. The article is located at J. Watson & J. M. Anderson, The Medical Peer Review Privilege: Illustrative Cases of the Public Policy Supporting the Privilege and a Practical Approach to Presenting the Case for Protection, 46 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L. J. 95 (2011).

John F. Watson has been an attorney with Craig & Craig in the Mattoon office since July of 1999. He became a Partner with the Firm in 2003 and continues to practice out of the Mattoon office. Mr. Watson's fields of practice include general civil litigation, medical malpractice defense, municipal liability defense, insurance coverage and insurance law, intellectual property and criminal defense litigation.

Mr. Watson graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Bradley University in 1990 and received his Juris Doctorate, with Honors, from The John Marshall Law School in 1993. During law school, Mr. Watson served as an Associate Editor for The John Marshall Law Review and had his Note published in the Winter 1993 Volume of The John Marshall Law Review on the issue of public education in Illinois.

Mr. Watson began his practice in criminal law as an Assistant State's Attorney quickly being elevated to a felony prosecutor. In 1997, Mr. Watson took a position as the Special Assistant Drug Prosecutor with the State's Attorneys' Appellate Prosecutor's office, conducting drug prosecutions in the Fourth District of Illinois. In January of 1999, Mr. Watson became the First Assistant State's Attorney in Coles County. In July of 1999, Mr. Watson was hired by the firm of Craig & Craig and has focused his practice in civil litigation, medical and professional liability matters and insurance coverage litigation. Mr. Watson is a registered Patent Attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and handles Intellectual Property matters and criminal defense litigation.

Mr. John F. Watson has contributed to several legal bodies of work including making a presentation to the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel on Illinois Tort Litigation for the Fall Conference of 2009 and authoring Chapter 10, Third-Party Practice as part of the Illinois Civil Practice: Opening the Case Volume published by the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education. Mr. Watson is actively involved in the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel (IDC), served as the Co-Chair of the Fall Conference in 2009, and was part of a leadership group made up of the several bar associations (including the Illinois State Bar Assn., IDC, Chicago Bar Assn., Cook County Bar Assn. and the Women's Bar Assn.) which presented a Symposium on October 5, 2010, addressing the Judicial Selection Process in Illinois focusing on the pros and cons of merit selection and the election process.

Practice Areas


 

Education

  • The John Marshall Law School, J.D., with honors, 1993
  • Bradley University, B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1990

 

Bar Admissions

  • 1993, Illinois
  • 1999, U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois
  • 2005, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois
  • 2006, U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
  • 1994, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

 

Memberships

  • The John Marshall Law Review, Member, 1991-1993; Associate Leads Editor, 1992-1993.
  • John Marshall Moot Court Saul Lefkowitz Trademark Competition (1993).
  • Coles-Cumberland Bar Association (Secretary-Treasurer, 2001- 2004)
  • Illinois State and American Bar Associations
  • Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel
  • The Bar Association of the Central and Southern Federal Districts of Illinois (Member, Communications Committee, 2002-2006)
  • Tuscola Community Foundation (Board Member, 2010 - Present)  www.tuscolafoundation.org 

 

Publications

  • "The Cause, Effect and Constitutional Consequence of Unequal Funding: Public Education in Illinois," 26 J. Marshall Law Rev. 399 (1993).
  • "Illinois Tort Law Update," Illinois Defense Counsel Fall Conference (2001).
  • "Third-Party Practice, Supplement" published by the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Chapter 10S (2006).
  • "Third-Party Practice," Chapter 10, Illinois Civil Practice: Opening the Case published by the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) (2009).
  • J. Watson & J. M. Anderson, "The Medical Peer Review Privilege: Illustrative Cases of the Public Policy Supporting the Privilege and a Practical Approach to Presenting the Case for Protection," 46 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L. J. 95 (2011).
  • J. Watson, "Judicial Selection: A Discussion of Elective and Appointed Systems in Light of Current Developments in the Law," 21 IDC Quarterly J. 37 (2011).
  • "2012 Edition Illinois Civil Practice: Opening the Case", Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) (April 23, 2012).