Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

An Illinois personal injury lawsuit settled for $2.93 million in Lake County, Illinois. The Illinois lawsuit of Jeffrey Cox v. Anthony S. Phillips, et al., No. 08 L 488, arose as a result of a 2006 car accident. The lawsuit carried claims not only of the personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff driver, but also involved a workers' compensation claim for the plaintiff's lost time from work following the Illinois truck accident.

In 2006, the plaintiff, 51 year-old Jeffrey Cox, was driving his pickup truck near the intersection of Hardigan Road and Rte. 12 in Lake County, Illinois. At the time of the Illinois truck accident, Cox was driving through the intersection with a green light. According to his Illinois personal injury complaint, Anthony Phillips t-boned Cox's vehicle after running a red light at the Lake County intersection.

Phillips was traveling at high speeds at the time of the t-bone truck collision, causing fairly severe injuries to Cox's shoulder and leg. While Cox's shoulder healed without any major interventions, Cox's leg injury required surgery, thereby increasing the time required for his healing process.

Continue reading "Illinois Auto Crash Settled for $2.93 Million - Cox v. Phillips" »

On May 25, 2005, the defendants’ 79,000 lbs.Mack truck rear-ended the plaintiff’s Toyota Tundra pickup truck at 10-15 mph. The impact, considered hard by the plaintiff, caused a C4-5 herniation in Keith Gallaugher’s neck and a tear in the posterior longitudinal ligament. The trucking accident eventually led to the filing of Keith Gallaugher v. Roy Cranmer, Arrow Specialized Carriers, Inc., 07 L 172.

About five months after this truck and pickup truck collision, Gallaugher, the driver of the Toyota pickup underwent an interior cervical fusion at C4-5 with bone and plate fixation.

Mr. Gallaugher sought at trial the recovery of $100,000 for loss of normal life and $200,000 for past and future pain and suffering. This was to go along with his medical expenses of $57,366 as well as lost time from work of $6,250.

The defendant admitted negligence, but denied causation and contested the nature and extent of the plaintiff’s injuries. The defendant used a biomechanical scientist to dispute the low-speed impact caused the cervical herniation. In low impact cases, it has become a common occurrence in jury trials for defendants particularly, to present biomechanical expert testimony to dispute the nature and extent of plaintiff’s injuries.

Continue reading "Illinois Rear-End Crash With Pickup Truck and Semi-Truck Results in a $100K Verdict in Gallaugher v. Arrow Specialized Carriers, Inc." »

The Union League Club of Chicago has been marking George Washington's birthday with an annual gala event for 124 years. The ULC George Washington Birthday Gala is meant to be a "salute to patriotism" and aims to not only celebrate America, but also Chicago. This year the keynote speaker was Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Mayor Daley has the distinction of being the longest-serving mayor in Chicago, serving for over 20 years. Daley has been credited with implementing innovative, community-based programs in Chicago, improving the quality of Chicago's public education system, and working hard to reduce crime in Chicago's neighborhoods.

Mayor Daley addressed the ULC on a number of different topics, including his service to community, his stance on gun control, and his views on public school education. In addition to discussing his own political views, Daley also paid tribute to his father, Richard J. Daley's, service as the former mayor of Chicago.

In addition to Mayor Daley's address, the ULC gala event featured the famous bagpipe music of the Chicago Police Department's Pipes and Drums, along with some songs by soprano Elizabeth Norman. Students from Carver Military Academy, a member of Chicago's Public School System, presented the flags' colors to kick off the event.

Continue reading "Chicago's Mayor Daley Speaks at Union League of Chicago's George Washington Birthday Gala" »

An Illinois personal injury lawsuit that was brought as a result of a 2006 car accident that left the plaintiff with back and knee injuries. The defendant driver was intoxicated at the time of the Illinois car crash and collided not only with the plaintiff's car, but also with several other stopped cars. The Illinois auto crash lawsuit was settled prior to trial for $5 million; Joseph Ambrogio and Debra Ambrogio v. Gary W. Ericksen and U.S. Fire Protection, Inc., 06 L 6380.

The Illinois auto crash lawsuit was brought against not only Gary Ericksen, the driver who allegedly caused the accident, but also his employer, U.S. Fire Protection, Inc. At the time of the Illinois car accident, Ericksen was driving a work van owned by U.S. Fire Protection, Inc. Under Illinois law, an employer is liable for any accident that occurs with their vehicles if the employee is operating within the confines of their employment.

Prior to the car accident, Ericksen had been working as a foreman sprinkler fitter at a Wheeling, Illinois construction site. He and some of his fellow crew members left the construction site to have lunch at a bar across the street. Ericksen was returning from lunch when he came to an overpass where a line of cars were stopped in traffic. Ericksen allegedly failed to stop in time and hit several of the cars; the plaintiff, Mr. Ambrogio, was the second vehicle in that line of cars.

Continue reading "Chicago Drunk-Driving Car Crash Case Settled for $5M - Ambrogio v. Ericksen" »

A Cook County jury returned a $750,000 against the City of Chicago as a result of an Illinois car accident involving a Chicago police officer. The Illinois jury verdict took into consideration the resulting chronic injuries to the plaintiff as well as his past and future lost time from work in Marek Rajewski v. City of Chicago and Judy Johnsen, 08 L 11949.

The Illinois auto accident occurred right outside of the Chicago Police Department's 16th District Jefferson Park Police Station, located at 5151 N. Milwaukee Avenue. The plaintiff, Marek Rajewski, was a 56 year-old maintenance employee who had been assigned to the Jefferson Park Police Station for almost ten years. After ending his janitor shift, Mr. Rajewski collected his car from the south employee parking garage and was exiting onto Milwaukee Avenue.

As he was turning north on Milwaukee Avenue, Rajewski collided with Officer Johnsen, who was driving southbound on Milwaukee Avenue against the flow of traffic. Officer Johnsen was driving her squad car into the same employee parking lot that Rajewski was exiting. According to her testimony, Johnsen was driving her squad car to her personal car in order to retrieve some police reports she had forgotten in her vehicle. She had elected to drive the 50 feet from the north employee parking lot to the south lot rather than walking.

Continue reading "Chicago Car Crash Involving Police Car Results In $750,000 Cook County Verdict - Rajewski v. City of Chicago" »

A Cook County jury returned a verdict for $2,131,587 which included punitive damages, in favor of ISB Products, Inc., a Canadian corporation, in its claim against Autotech Technologies, an Illinois limited partnership and its individual owner. The case centered around a joint venture that was dissolved in March 2000 after only nine months of operation.

ISB Products, Inc. v. Autotech Technologies Limited Partnership, Shalabh Kumar, 01 CH-5970 (transferred to Law Division).

In this case, which was originally filed in the Chancery Division, ISB alleged that the defendants, Autotech Technologies Limited Partnership and Shalabh Kumar, its individual owner, fraudulently induced ISB to enter into a joint venture agreement. It was alleged that the defendants engaged in a scheme whose purpose was to defraud the plaintiff.

The complaint alleged that defendants misrepresented the amount of the existing business that Autotech would transfer to the joint venture, misrepresented that Autotech’s research and development department would design a new press control for ISB, and that defendants misrepresented that the distributors for Autotech’s $200 million business would sell ISB products through the joint venture.

Continue reading "Cook County Jury Finds for Business in Fraud Case, $2.1M, Punitive Damages; ISB Products, Inc. v. Autotech Technologies" »

In the days leading up to the 2011 Blizzard, Chicagoans were faced with reports of large amounts of snow on the horizon, along with potential flood conditions and thunder snow. However, while some cities would shut down, Chicago bustled on and continued its workday. A city apparently so sceptical of weathermen that we refused to believe the snow was really coming until it came.

It wasn't until mid-Tuesday that businesses began to close down in anticipation of the impending storm. Kreisman Law Offices closed its doors early on February 1st so its employees would make it home from its loop office before the storm made travel impossible. And, like many other local businesses, Chicago's Kreisman Law Offices remained closed the following day.

Reports from The Chicago Weather Center indicated that the blizzard of 2011 was the third snowiest storm in Chicago's history. Taking the first position was the 23.0 inches that fell in the blizzard of 1967, followed by 21.6 inches in 1999. By final count the 2011 blizzard came in third, with 20.2 inches.

Continue reading "Chicago Blizzard Makes Record Books, Dubbed "Snowpocalypse"" »