John D. Risvold

Meet John D. Risvold

John D. Risvold

PARTNER/OWNER
Naperville, IL
jrisvold@collinslaw.com

John Risvold is an equity partner at Collins Law Group, P.C., based in the Chicago area. He represents individuals and families in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases, with a focus on commercial trucking crashes, rideshare and autonomous vehicle litigation, medical malpractice and birth injury, and product defect and negligent design claims.

John has tried cases to verdict in Illinois state court and litigated complex injury matters across the country. Over thirteen years of practice, he has recovered more than $50 million for clients. Before joining Collins Law Group, he defended major insurance carriers and multinational corporations in multimillion-dollar litigation. That background shapes how he evaluates, builds, and presents cases today, particularly when defense counsel and carriers refuse to value a case honestly.

Verdicts and Settlements

• Top 50 Verdict in Illinois, 2024 (DuPage County rear-end crash requiring four spine surgeries; State Farm sued for bad faith, total recovery exceeded $1.6 million)
• No. 1 Assisted Living Negligence Settlement in Illinois, 2024 (sexual assault of a mentally disabled woman in a group home, settled before suit)
• Top 30 Settlement in Illinois, 2020 (drunk driver rear-end with punitive damages and bad faith finding, three times policy limits)
• Top 20 Settlement in Illinois, 2019 (drunk driving UTV rollover with catastrophic leg injuries; retained as trial counsel, settled at mediation two weeks before trial)
• Top 50 Verdict in Illinois, Bigoness v. Krane
• Top 100 Verdict in Illinois, Johnson v. 53rd Woodlawn
• Top 100 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlement in the U.S., Moss v. Braun, et al.

Recognition

• Best Lawyers in America, Personal Injury Litigation, 2025 and 2026
• Illinois Super Lawyer, 2026
• Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2017 to 2025
• National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Civil Litigators
• National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40
• 10 Best Personal Injury Attorneys for Client Satisfaction, AIOPIA
• R. David Ray Excellence in Trial Advocacy Award
• Order of the Barristers, Trial Advocacy Honor Society

Professional Activities

John is an active member of the American Association for Justice, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Justice HQ, the Chicago Bar Association, and the DuPage County Bar Association. He has served as a Director of the Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section and on the ITLA Amicus Curiae Committee.

His cases and commentary have been featured in ABC7 Chicago, NBC5 Chicago, CBS2 Chicago, the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Herald, the Huffington Post, WBBM Radio, Super Lawyers Magazine, and the Naperville Sun.

Community

• Naperville Park District Commissioner, elected 2023
• Board Member, Naperville Education Foundation

Education and Admissions

John earned his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Missouri. He is admitted to practice in Illinois, Missouri, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

John lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with his wife, three children, and their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Malla.