Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

The estate of the decedent, Kamonie Slade, and his parents, brought a lawsuit against the administrators of the public school he was attending at the time of his death from drowning in a class outing. The case was brought under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court judge granted summary judgment for the defendants, the Board of School Directors, which also relinquished jurisdiction over the plaintiff's supplemental state court tort claim and dismissed the lawsuit.

The appeal brought to the Seventh Circuit in Chicago challenged the dismissal of the federal case. In addition to the board of school directors, the plaintiffs named the principal and assistant principal of the school. The court pointed out that the Wisconsin law caps the tort liability of a public employee at $50,000 per victim. That would make the maximum recovery under state law for wrongful death and loss of consortium $150,000, which the court of appeals pointed out was meager under the circumstances.

This case arises out of a planned field trip to a lake for graduating 7th graders on the last day of their school year. The public school district forbids recreational swimming on field trips unless a lifeguard is present. There was no lifeguard present when Kamonie drowned. There were 92 children participating in the outing.

Continue reading "Student Drowns But School Found Not Responsible; Slade v. Board of School Directors" »

In 2003, a three-story porch in Chicago's Lincoln Park collapsed during a party. Thirteen people were killed and another 29 were injured. Insurance coverage was an issue taken up in a declaratory judgment action in the chancery division of Cook County's Circuit Court. It was determined that the collapse of the porch constituted a single occurrence under First Specialty Insurance Corp.'s insurance coverage.The circuit court's decision was that there was $1 million of coverage for the occurrence, not $2 million in the aggregate.

The Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the lower court's decision after examining the policy language. It was concluded that there was nothing in the insurance policy that would support the plaintiffs' argument that the porch collapse was a multiple occurrence.

Forty-two people, including the families of the deceased victims and 29 others who suffered injuries in the collapse, filed a lawsuit against First Specialty in 2010. They argued that First Specialty should pay the aggregate amount $2 million rather than $1 million.

Continue reading "Limit in Insurance Coverage Affirmed in Porch Collapse Case; Ware v. First Specialty Insurance Corp." »

A 53-year-old construction worker was riding down a hotel elevator when it malfunctioned. The elevator dropped more than two floors and came to a hard stop as the emergency brake engaged. The worker was wearing a work belt with heavy carpenter tools on it. He was thrown into a metal instrument panel. The worker suffered herniated disks at C4-5 and L5-S1 and a left shoulder labrum tear that required surgery.

The construction worker continued to suffer pain and limited range of motion in his neck, back and shoulder. His medical bills total $236,000.

As a master carpenter, the worker was not able to return to the same level of carpentry that he did in the past. He now does part-time carpentry work.

Continue reading "$3.98 Million Jury Verdict for Elevator Malfunction Case; R.T. v. Schindler Corp., et al" »

David Solis, 19, was sitting on the hood of his car, which was stopped on the shoulder of eastbound Peterson Avenue at the off ramp of Interstate 94 (Eden's Expressway) when the defendant, a 66-year-old doctor, rear-ended his car. Solis suffered multiple injuries to his back that were all treated conservatively with physical therapy and injections. He lost 13 weeks of work as a Federal Express shipping laborer.

The defendant admitted liability. However, the defendant argued that the plaintiff's medical treatment was connected only to a degenerative disc disease and not this incident. The defendant also contended that there was proof that Solis had a pre-existing degenerative disc disease because it showed up on an earlier MRI. Any of the recent medical care that plaintiff received, the defendant alleged, was not related to this crash because there was a 3-year gap in medical treatment.

The jury, however, agreed with the plaintiff that he was injured to the extent he claimed and returned a verdict for $204,814, which included $41,993 for medical expenses and $3,031 of lost time from work.

Before the trial, the Solis demand to settle this case was $100,000. It was reported that the defendant driver offered $55,000 to settle the case before trial. The attorneys for Mr. Solis were David J. Schwaner and Christopher Cortese.

David Solis v. Spiros Giannoulias, 10 L 14503 (Cook County).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling car accidents, truck accidents, bicycle accidents and elevator accidents for individuals and families for more than 36 years, in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas including, Berwyn, Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Elgin, Naperville, Chicago (Lincoln Park), Alsip, Homewood, Rockport and Zion, Ill.

Related blog posts:

Illinois Verdict for Rear-End One Day Trial; Canfield v. Village of Creve Coeur

$411,000 Jury Verdict in Sudden Stop Rear-End Crash; Nowak v. Ball

Cook County Jury Verdict for $72,000 in Admitted Negligence, Rear-End Car Crash; Castillo v. Las

The Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed a decision by a Cook County circuit court judge that allowed an injured worker to file a claim for a different injury to her right leg from the same conduct. The two workers' compensation claims were consolidated prior to the arbitration in the Industrial Commission of Illinois. The petitioner/worker, Bessie Carnes, who was injured while in the scope of her employment, underwent surgery and physical therapy in April 1998 and was off work until May of that year.

Her employer, Modern Drop Forge, paid for her surgery and physical therapy through its group health plan covering nonoccupational disabilities.

In October 1999, Carnes first filed an application for adjustment of claim in the Illinois Industrial Commission alleging that the injury dating from September 1998, which she amended in August 2002, to have the current accident date of May 1996. At arbitration, Carnes's employer moved to dismiss the claim as being untimely filed arguing that she had 3 years in which to file a claim from the date of injury.

Continue reading "Illinois Appellate Court Approves Relation-Back Doctrine in Workers' Compensation Claim; Modern Drop Forge v. Workers' Compensation Commission" »

In a February 2010 lawsuit filed by the plaintiff, Sandra Relf, it was alleged that Joseph Pre Jr. was negligent when their vehicles crashed in February 2008. The Cook County Sheriff's Office could not serve Pre with a lawsuit, so Relf filed a motion to appoint a special process server to deliver a service of summons to Pre. However, he died in April 2008. When Relf learned of Pre's death, she filed a motion for leave to appoint a special administrator for Pre's estate.

The trial judge approved the motion to name the special administrator of Pre's estate. However, at the same time, Pre's family opened a probate estate for him in August 2008, four months after the appointment of the special administrator. Because the estate already existed at the time Relf filed her lawsuit, the estate asked the judge to rule that the lawsuit was void. The estate argued that the appointment of a special administrator was improper because Pre's family received no notice of it.

The response by plaintiff Relf was that she didn't know that Pre had passed away when her lawsuit was filed. However, the trial judge granted the estate's motion to dismiss and an appeal was taken.

The appellate court reversed the judge's ruling in a 14-page opinion. The estate contended that Relf failed to follow §13-209(b) of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure which allows lawsuits against an estate's personal representative within 6 months of death.

"It is unreasonable, and in this case it would have been impossible, to force a plaintiff to commence an action against the personal representative within 6 months of a decedent's death when the plaintiff does not even know that the decedent had died," wrote the majority opinion.

After learning of the death, Relf followed the requirements of §13-209(c) of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure. That section allows a plaintiff to proceed in a lawsuit against an estate's personal representative if the plaintiff did not know about the death when the suit was first filed.

"In this case, plaintiff did not know of decedent's death until after she filed her original complaint," Appellate Judge Sheldon A. Harris wrote. "This is not disputed by defendant."

The opinion squares with logic and makes it fair for this plaintiff to proceed with her lawsuit.

Sandra Relf v. Natasha Shatayeva, 2012 Ill.App. (1st) 112071.

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling car crashes, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents and bike accidents for individuals and families for more than 36 years, in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas including, Hinsdale, Villa Park, Oak Park, Northbrook, Buffalo Grove, Fox River Grove, Island Lake, Long Lake, Round Lake Beach, Chicago (Canaryville), Burbank and Chicago (Calumet Heights), Ill.

Related blog posts:

llinois Appeals Court Ruled in Helicopter Crash Case: It Has Jurisdiction Against French Maker of Ball Bearings - Russell v. SNFA

Illinois Federal Judge Finds Affidavit Rescues Injury Case From Summary Judgment; Scott v. BNSF

Illinois Appellate Court Reverses a Verdict Regarding Admitted Evidence of Misleading Photographs; Johnson v. Bailey

Edward Myles, a truck driver, claimed that he lost earnings due to the defendants' unfair acts and practices. The claim stemmed from the defendants' breach of contract relating to the sale of commercial trucking equipment.

Mr. Myles claimed loss of revenue due to the defendants' intentional interference with a third-party contract.

The defendants denied all of the plaintiff's claims and filed a counterclaim seeking to recover the unpaid balance on the equipment.

Continue reading "228,000 in Illinois Consumer Fraud Action on Contract; Myles v. E. King Construction Co." »

In 2002, the Illinois Central Railroad was sued in the State of Mississippi where plaintiff Walter Fennell lived. The lawsuit alleged that he and others were exposed to asbestos when working for the railroad. After discovery was completed in 2006, the trial court in Mississippi dismissed the case without prejudice. The plaintiff, instead of re-filing in Mississippi, filed the lawsuit in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County, Ill., in 2009.

Again after discovery had been conducted, the defendant, Illinois Central Railroad, moved the court to dismiss the case under the interstate doctrine of forum non conveniens. The St. Clair County circuit court judge denied that motion and the case was appealed to the Illinois Appellate Court, which also affirmed the trial judge's decision. This occurred in 2010. The case was then appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court.

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled that the citizens of St. Clair County should not be asked to bear the burden of this lawsuit because the vast majority of the identified witnesses, treating physicians and some of the plaintiffs were residing in Mississippi and not in Illinois.

Continue reading "Illinois Supreme Court Returns Asbestos Litigation to Mississippi Court; Fennell v. IL Central Railroad Co." »

Peggy LeGrande, who worked as a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, was injured when the plane she working in encountered severe turbulence. She brought a lawsuit against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. §2674, claiming that the air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were negligent when they chose not to warn the flight's captain that turbulence had been forecasted for the plane's flight path.

At the federal district court level, the judge ruled that FAA employees did not breach any duty owed to Ms. LeGrande and granted summary judgment to the United States. On appeal to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the plaintiff sought reversal of the district court's judgment.

On appeal and for the first time, Ms. LeGrande raised the issue that her injuries came from the negligence of a National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist. Because the FAA breached no duty owed to Ms. LeGrande and because she failed to give NWS the written notice that the FTCA statute requires, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the district court.

Continue reading "Federal Tort Claims Act Requires Written Notice to Federal Agency Before Lawsuit; LeGrande v. United States" »

A Cook County jury has found in favor of an injured driver whose car was rear-ended at a traffic light on eastbound Liberty Street at Route 59 in Aurora, Ill. The crash took place on Jan. 23, 2008 when the 19-year-old defendant failed to stop his vehicle and rear-ended the car driven by the plaintiff, Mr. Castillo. Although there was very little damage to the cars, Mr. Castillo, 38, was taken to the emergency room at Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora. He was released after x-rays were shown to be negative.

Mr. Castillo sustained neck pain and low back pain and received no medical treatment since 2008. He missed three months of work as a bricklayer totaling a claimed amount of $33,000 in lost pay.

However, at the time of the crash, the plaintiff was unemployed. He received a job offer after the crash, but was unable to accept it due to his injuries from this crash. The wage loss claim was based on the job he was forced to refuse.

Continue reading "Cook County Jury Verdict for 72,000 in Admitted Negligence, Rear-End Car Crash; Castillo v. Las" »

Four teenagers went out to dinner and later had a party in the basement home of the Gordons, the parent home of one of the teenagers. The incident took place in July 2006. Two of the individuals, Hoyle and Peabody, arrived and talked with the Gordon mother, Rachelle. Hoyle smoked one cigarette and believed that the younger Gordon and Peabody each smoked one cigarette too.

Hoyle remembered putting out her own cigarette when finished, and she and her friend Gordon left after midnight. Peabody and Blake left separately.

Keyth Security Systems and Security Associates International, Inc., were responsible for the Gordon's home fire detection system. That fire detection system failed to detect a fire that started in the basement that night. The fire resulted in the deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning of the Gordon family.

Continue reading "Illinois Appellate Court Affirms Summary Judgment for Deaths in House Fire; Rutkoff v. Security Associates International, Inc." »

Peter Nowak, 54, was stopped at a red light on eastbound Lake-Cook Road in Palatine, Ill., on April 14, 2010 when Nowak's car was rear-ended by defendant Ball. Nowak's testimony was that he never saw the Ball vehicle prior to the crash.

Nowak contended in his lawsuit that the impact from the crash aggravated a previously asymptomatic bulging disc at C5-6. The crash caused Nowak to experience cervical radiculopathy, which is described as neck pain that may radiate into the shoulder and arm. Nowak also claimed loss of range of motion and a cervical facet syndrome, which required two injections and possibly a future surgery. Cervical facet syndrome is a common cause of neck pain. This occurs when the joints of the neck become inflamed. The facet joints are located between the disc and the vertebrae in front of the boney bumps that can be felt on the back the neck.

In addition, Nowak claimed that he had developed severe pain from the neck injury, suffered from depression, anxiety, insomnia, nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Continue reading "411,000 Jury Verdict in Sudden Stop Rear-End Crash; Nowak v. Ball" »

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has found in favor of a truck driver, Billy Couch, employed by B&B Trucking, a U.S. Postal Service contractor that sued the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for injuries he suffered. The court considered whether the postal service was immune under the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act as a "borrowing employer."

However, since this case was a federal matter, the federal courts have applied an alternate definition of "loaning employer." Belluomini v. United States, 64 F.3d 299 (7th Cir. 1995), and Luna v. United States, 454 F.3d 631 (7th Cir. 2006).

In this case, Couch's employer was a contractor engaged by the U.S. Postal Service, hauling mail to postal facilities. Couch was delivering a truckload of mail to an Elk Grove Village, Ill., facility. A federal employee allegedly ran over Couch's foot with a forklift and injuring him. Couch died two years later from lingering complications stemming from that injury.

Continue reading "Court of Appeals Finds for Truck Driver Who Was Not Borrowed Employee; Couch v. U.S." »

A Will County, Illinois, jury verdict has been reversed by the Illinois Appellate Court for the Third District. In this case, Yvonne Johnson was injured in a Casey's General Store parking lot when she was struck by a vehicle operated by the defendant, Charles Bailey. At the Bailey deposition, photographs of the parking lot taken by Mr. Bailey were introduced. He had taken the photos using his own vehicle and that of his fiancé's as props.

At the Johnson deposition, she testified that she had injured her neck, head, shoulders and back in a 2005 fall unrelated to this incident. From that time on, she continued to see a chiropractor who completed her treatment, but he continued to treat her after she was injured in this accident.

Prior to the beginning of the jury trial, Johnson filed a motion seeking an order precluding the photographs of the parking lot outside the Casey's General Store. Johnson argued that Bailey had not laid a proper foundation for them in his deposition and that they should not be used at trial without laying a proper foundation.

Continue reading "Illinois Appellate Court Reverses a Verdict Regarding Admitted Evidence of Misleading Photographs; Johnson v. Bailey" »

A Cook County jury has found that FedEx was not responsible for injuries to Cesar Fernandez on June 13, 2009 when the car he was driving was rear-ended by a FedEx truck. Fernandez was stopped at a red light on Cicero Avenue at 31st Street when his car was rear-ended by a FedEx delivery truck.

The speed of the FedEx truck was disputed, but may have been between 5 mph to 30 mph. The driver of the truck did not testify at trial.

Fernandez, 45, complained of neck and back pain at the scene and was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where he was treated and released with a diagnosis of lumbar and cervical strain.

Continue reading "Cook County Jury Delivers Verdict for FedEx in Rear-End Crash; Fernandez v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc., et al." »