Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

In 2007 a propane truck ran a red light and struck another car. The car's passenger, Anthony Villa, Jr., suffered fatal wounds and died two days later. An Illinois wrongful death lawsuit was brought by his wife, which recently settled for $7 million. Cheryl Villa v. Heritage Operating LP, et al., No. 08 L 11922.

The Illinois intersection accident occurred in Matteson, Illinois at the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Lincoln Highway. At the time of the car accident, Villa's vehicle was attempting to make a left turn onto Lincoln Highway when it was struck by a propane truck owned by Heritage Operating LP. While the truck driver was not injured, Villa was rushed to the hospital with severe wounds. He died as a result of these injuries just two days later.

The wrongful death lawsuit was brought by Villa's wife and their five children, two of which were minors at the time of their father's death. The Illinois complaint alleged that the truck driver and his employer were responsible for the truck accident that resulted in Villa's death. The defendants admitted liability for the intersection accident, confirming that it was caused by the truck driver running the red light.

Continue reading "Fatal Truck Accident Results in $7 Million Settlement for Surviving Family Members - Villa v. Heritage Operating Truck Company" »

The Illinois jury verdict of $700,000 in Marjorie McDonald, etc. v. Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corp., etc., 2011 IL App. (1st) 102766, was upheld by the Illinois First District Appellate Court. The original personal injury lawsuit involved a train accident involving a Metra train that occurred in 2002. The Cook County jury held the train engineer and Metra liable for the injuries Thomas McDonald sustained while in a pedestrian train crossing.

The 79 year-old McDonald was crossing the train tracks at a North Glenview Metra station when a train began approaching. The Metra engineer sounded the horn to alert McDonald; however, the train ended up striking the pedestrian. As a result of the train accident, McDonald's arm was severed. McDonald died of unrelated causes shortly thereafter and his wife brought a lawsuit against Metra and its agents on his behalf.

The Illinois personal injury lawsuit alleged that Metra was liable for the train accident because it had not ensured that pedestrian signals were installed. According to the plaintiff's attorneys, the lack of pedestrian signals failed to provide an adequate warning to McDonald that the train was approaching. Furthermore, the plaintiff alleged that the train engineer failed to sound the horn in time to provide McDonald with an adequate warning.

Continue reading "Metra Train Crossing Accident Verdict of $700,000 Upheld By Illinois Appellate Court - McDonald v. Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad Corp." »

Chicago is home to two baseball teams, the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox. The Cubs' Wrigleyfield ballpark is located deep in the heart of Wrigleyville and is most easily accessed by public transportation. While the White Sox's U.S. Cellular Field can also be reached via public transportation, it is also easily accessible from the expressway and has many parking options. As a result, many White Sox fans choose to drive to see their favorite team.

On game day traffic around U.S. Cellular Field can be extremely dense, as White Sox fans Nicholas Barbarigos and Dean Vla discovered on August 21, 2009. The Chicago fans were driving on the Dan Ryan expressway to see the White Sox battle the Baltimore Orioles. As Barbarigos's vehicle neared the exit ramp at 33rd Street, it encountered a sudden stop in traffic. While Barbarigos was able to stop his vehicle in time, the cab driving behind him was not. The cab rear-ended Barbarigos's vehicle, running it into the stopped car in front of it.

The White Sox fans brought an Illinois personal injury claim against the defendant cab driver and his employer, filed as Nicholas Barbarigos and Dean Vla v. Mohamed Ali Abdi and LW Cab Corp., 09 L 10066. The complaint alleged that as a result of the highway accident, both Barbarigos and Vla suffered from lower back pain. Barbarigos was able to treat his soft tissue injury and bulging lumbar disc conservatively. However, Vla needed to undergo a back surgery and fusion in order to repair the his severe cervical back pain.

Continue reading "Chicago Cab Rear-Ends White Sox Fans in Game Traffic - $291,681 Jury Verdict in Barbarigos v. LW Cab Corp." »

In the premise liability lawsuit of Tilschner v. Spangler, No. 2-10-0111 (May 6, 2011), the Illinois Appellate Court was asked to determine whether a specific law was applicable in Illinois. After reviewing past Illinois case law, the appellate court held that §318 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts has not been adopted in Illinois. The Illinois Appellate Court ruling essentially eliminated the legal basis of the plaintiff's claim, thereby affirming the lower court's dismissal of Count II of plaintiff's complaint.

Tilschner was brought against defendant Ralph Ruppel after he lit fireworks that injured Patricia Tilschner; Tilschner brought a common-law negligence count against Ruppel for his role in causing the injuries Tilschner sustained. However, the appeal involves the negligence claim Tilschner sought to bring against Lowell Spangler, the property owner hosting the party at which the fireworks injury took place.

In Count II of her personal injury complaint, Tilschner alleged that Spangler

[o]wed a duty to the Plaintiff and his other invited guests to keep control and care over his property and to protect them against any unreasonable risks of harm known due to acts of a third person under his control, including the Defendant, Ralph Ruppel, pursuant to the Restatement (Second) of Torts, §318.

Continue reading "Illinois Appellate Court Affirms Section 318 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts Does Not Apply in Illinois - Tilschner v. Spangler" »

It's summertime in Chicago and for many that means hot days, no school, and summer camp. Summer camps are a way for children to socialize with their peers, occupy their days, and give mom and dad an occasional break. But what happens when the people we entrust our children to do not protect our children? The Illinois wrongful death lawsuit of Estate of Barnabe Lucas, deceased minor v. Christian Youth Center Ministries, et al., 06 L 29, is a parent's worst nightmare.

In 2004, nine year-old Barnabe Lucas was enrolled in a Will County day camp. Like many summer camps, the Christian Youth Center Ministries day camp included several day trips with its campers, including a weekly trip to a nearby wading pond. The pond was owned and operated by Leisure Lake Membership Resort, who did not provide lifeguards, a fact which it alerted bathers to with a clearly posted sign.

Within 30 minutes of arriving at the pond, a fellow day camper discovered Lucas unconscious in 3.5 to 4 feet of water. The camp director immediately pulled Lucas out of the wading pond and began administering CPR; shortly thereafter Lucas was transported to nearby Provena St. Joseph Hospital. He remained unresponsive on a respirator for four days and was then transferred to University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago for further care. However, just two days after his transfer Lucas died.

Continue reading "Special Needs Child Drowns at Day Camp - $1 Million Jury Verdict in The Estate of Barnabe Lucas, deceased minor v. Christian Youth Center Ministries, et al." »

Legal venue is an important issue in many personal injury lawsuits, especially when the different states have different laws. In the product liability lawsuit of Joseph Murphy v. Mancari’s Chrysler Plymouth, Inc., No. 1-10-2178 (March 31, 2011), the Illinois Appellate Court sought to answer the question of whether Michigan law or Illinois law governed the case regarding issues of liability and damages.

The car accident at issue in Murphy occurred in Michigan. However, the plaintiff driver and the defendant car dealership where the plaintiff bought his car both were located in Illinois. The court then had to decide where the personal injury lawsuit should be heard - in Michigan, where the accident occurred, or in Illinois, where the plaintiff driver lived and worked.

Where the lawsuit was filed, or "choice-of-law," would be critical to the eventual outcome of Murphy because of the major differences in Michigan and Illinois law. When deciding product liability issues, Illinois law applies a strict liability rule, whereas Michigan law applies a pure negligence standard. This means that Illinois defendants cannot effectively argue that they were unaware of the risk of the design defect, whereas this could be a successful defense in Michigan where the standard of care is set by similar manufacturers. In addition, Michigan imposes a $500,000 cap on non-economic damages in any product liability lawsuits, whereas Illinois has no such cap on damages.

Continue reading "Appellate Court Holds Illinois Law Applies to Michigan Car Crash - Murphy v. Mancari’s Chrysler Plymouth" »

A Macon County jury entered one of the highest verdicts in its county's history when it awarded $3.09 million to an Illinois worker who sustained a brain injury at work. The Illinois personal injury verdict was entered against Tate & Lyle Ingredients Americas, Inc. for its failure to maintain a safe work environment in William C. Jones v. Tate & Lyle Ingredients Americas, Inc., 07 L 152 (Macon County).

At the time of the workplace injury, William Jones was working as a contract employee for Tate & Lyle at its Decatur corn processing plant. Jones had been hired to perform general maintenance work and was performing his duties in the vicinity of an above ground storage tank when the tank unexpectedly broke apart. Its contents burst out towards Jones, knocking him down.

The storage tank contained 300,000 gallons of corn gluten that was heated to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, which caused burn injuries to parts of Jones's body. In addition, the force of the fall resulted in a closed head injury, which was eventually diagnosed as a brain injury. The plaintiff contended that this brain injury caused Jones to suffer not only from short-term memory loss, but also from a perceivable personality change.

Continue reading "Illinois Work Injury Lawsuit Results in Record Macon County Verdict - $3.09 Million Awarded in Jones v. Tate & Lyle Ingredients Americas, Inc." »

Certain jobs carry a degree of risk. For example, while an office worker would not typically be in danger of falling from a scaffold, this is a reality for many construction workers. As a result, these higher risk jobs often have various safety standards and procedures in place to try and minimize the risk for workers. Yet these safety rules are not always followed, which opens manufacturers and construction companies up to liability for workers' injuries.

The Cook County wrongful death lawsuit of Jensen v. Earle M. Jorgensen Co., et al., No. 09 L 2754, involved the death of a worker killed during an industrial accident. The Illinois lawsuit alleged that various entities were involved in maintaining an unsafe environment which resulted in the circumstances that led to Jensen's death.

Twenty-eight year-old Brian Jensen was working as a service technician for Katso, Inc.; in the capacity of his employment, Jensen performed maintenance on Katso products housed at various facilities. At the time of his death, Jensen and some co-workers were performing maintenance and repair work on an automatic storage and retrieval system manufactured by his employer's parent company, Katso Machinenbau GMBH & Co. The machine itself was located at Earle M. Jorgensen, Co., an industrial plant located in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Continue reading "Cook County Industrial Plant Accident Leads to Worker's Death - $1 Million Settlement Reached in Jensen v. Earle M. Jorgensen Co." »

For decades, summertime in Chicago has been synonymous with construction. But in recent years, summertime commuters are turning more and more to bicycles as their primary means of transportation. And while the use of this alternate means of travel is more environmentally friendly, it is also more dangerous for the commuters themselves. Take for example the Chicago bicycle injury lawsuit of Ashley Ferry v. Bryan Pendleton, Enterprise Leasing Company of Chicago, et al., 07 L 9024.

Ashley Ferry was a 23 year-old junior at Chicago's Columbia College when she was riding her bike in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. Ferry was riding northbound on Milwaukee Avenue in one of Chicago's designated bike lanes when she was hit from behind by Bryan Pendleton. At the time of the Chicago bike accident, Pendleton was driving a car owned by his employer, Enterprise Leasing Company of Chicago.

Eyewitnesses testified at trial that Ferry had been thrown forward over her handlebars and then landed on her head about 20 feet away. She lost consciousness and needed to be revived by paramedics at the scene before being transported to Illinois Masonic Medical Center for medical treatment.

Continue reading "Chicago Bike Accident Results in $1.2 Million Verdict for College Student - Ferry v. Pendleton" »

An Illinois slip and fall lawsuit was recently settled for $2.25 million. While the case involved fairly severe injuries, what was really unique was the plaintiff's theory of liability.

In 2006, the 43 year-old plaintiff fell as she was leaving a Kmart store located in Midlothian, Illinois. As a result of the fall, she sustained a right knee fracture and tear in her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). In addition, she was diagnosed with a nerve injury that resulted in a foot drop. Since her fall at Kmart, the plaintiff has undergone a knee replacement and several additional surgeries aimed at repairing her peroneal nerve injury.

At her deposition regarding the Illinois personal injury lawsuit, the plaintiff testified that she fell after slipping on a sheet of paper that was lying in a puddle of water. That sheet of paper was actually a Kmart flyer; therefore, the plaintiff was able to connect the cause of her fall directly to Kmart. In addition, she blamed not seeing the Kmart flyer on a plant display.

Continue reading "Illinois Fall Case Results in $2.25 Million Settlement from Kmart" »

On June 24, 2011, a Union Pacific train traveling from Chicago to California was involved in a railroad crossing accident in rural Nevada. A semitrailer truck ran the crossing and struck the moving train, injuring several passengers and killing the truck driver and a crew member. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently conducting an investigation of what caused the crash and how it might have been prevented.

One of the avenues the NTSB is pursuing is whether or not the truck driver's judgment was impaired by drugs or alcohol at the time of the train crossing accident. However, because the driver died as a result of the crash, the NTSB must examine autopsy records in order to make this determination. In addition, the NTSB is reviewing the truck driver's driving history in order to gain insight into what might have happened.

The NTSB is also investigating the extent that the railroad itself contributed to the train accident. The NTSB will make sure that its safety standards were followed and that both the crossing lights and gates were operating correctly at the time of the train accident. However, report released by the Nevada Highway Patrol, who is also investigating the crash, stated that the warning lights and railroad gates were working at the time of the train accident.

Continue reading "Amtrak Train Crash Under Investigation by NTSB" »

When people think of frivolous lawsuits, most instantly think of the burn injury lawsuit brought by Stella Liebeck against McDonald's. However, "Hot Coffee," an HBO documentary, asks viewers to rethink their perceptions of the McDonald's lawsuit and exposes several other misconceptions about additional types of legal matters.

The HBO documentary is named for the personal injury lawsuit resulting from the third degree burns the plaintiff, Stella Liebeck, sustained after spilling a cup of McDonald's coffee on her lap. However, what is controversial about the film is that rather than framing Liebeck as an example of an overzealous American suing a company for insignificant injuries, "Hot Coffee" frames Liebeck as a case of the little guy versus the big, bad company.

For example, the documentary includes the little mentioned fact that the plaintiff did not rush to sue McDonald's Corporation. Rather, she first asked them to pay her out-of-pocket medical expenses she accrued as a result of her severe burns, an injury one would typically not expect simply from spilling coffee. It was only after McDonald's refused any liability and denied her request for reimbursement of medical expenses that Liebeck hired a lawyer.

Continue reading "HBO Documentary Shows Different Perspective on Personal Injury Cases and Medical Malpractice Lawsuits" »