Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer Blawg

February 22, 2011

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

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.

February 17, 2011

Chicago’s Mayor Daley Speaks at Union League of Chicago’s George Washington Birthday Gala

by Robert Kreisman

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.

February 15, 2011

Chicago Drunk-Driving Car Crash Case Settled for 5M – Ambrogio v. Ericksen

by Robert Kreisman

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.

February 10, 2011

Chicago Car Crash Involving Police Car Results In 750,000 Cook County Verdict – Rajewski v. City of Chicago

by Robert Kreisman

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.

February 8, 2011

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

by Robert Kreisman

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.

February 3, 2011

Chicago Blizzard Makes Record Books, Dubbed “Snowpocalypse”

by Robert Kreisman

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.

January 25, 2011

Cook County Intersection Accident Receives 97,433 Verdict for Injured Driver – Linkevich v. Alarcon, et al.

by Robert Kreisman

Despite the defendants’ claims that the plaintiff had not been seriously injured in a Cook County car accident, the Illinois jury awarded him $97,433 in Kenneth Linkevich v. Jose A. Alarcon and Yemi O. Oyewole, 09 L-635. The Illinois personal injury claim was filed by the plaintiff driver, who was injured when his car was struck by the defendants’ two vehicles after they collided at an intersection.

In 2007, plaintiff Linkevich was stopped at a red light at an Illinois intersection, facing east on Apple Valley Drive in Bartlett, Illinois. While Linkevich was waiting for his light to turn green, Jose Alarcon began making a left-hand turn from northbound Route 59. However, in the process of turning, Alarcon crashed into a southbound car being driven by Yemi Oyewole. Alarcon and Oyewole’s vehicles not only crashed into each other, but then spun and crashed into Linkevich’s stopped vehicle.

Plaintiff Linkevich was 39 years-old at the time of the Illinois car crash and was employed as a truck driver. As a result of the car accident, Linkevich sustained an acrominal impingement injury, a disc herniation in his lower back, and developed arthritis in his right shoulder. Linkevich was unable to return to work for at least two weeks following the car accident.

January 20, 2011

Illinois Engineering Expert Qualifications Clarified by Illinois Supreme Court in Thompson v. Gordon, et al.

by Robert Kreisman

In the Illinois auto accident lawsuit of Corinne Thompson v. Christie Gordon, et al., No. 110066 (IL Sup. Ct.), the Illinois Supreme Court held that an engineer does not have to be professionally licensed in Illinois in order to qualify as an “expert” witness in an Illinois civil lawsuit. The Supreme Court’s decision affirmed the decision made by the appellate court; however, it reversed the circuit court’s ruling that the civil engineer hired by the plaintiff needed to be licensed in the state of Illinois in order to testify as an expert witness in the pending civil suit.

In Illinois, qualifications for various types of trial witnesses are established under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 213. A civil engineer, such as the one in Thompson, who is hired to testify as to the standard of care within his or her professional field, would be handled under Rule 213(f)(3). This section deals with “controlled expert witnesses,” i.e., the party’s retained expert, and requires the party to provide the expert’s qualifications to provide opinions on the specialized subject matter.

In Thompson, it was these qualifications that were up for debate. While the plaintiff held that its civil engineer was qualified to testify based on his experience and education, the defendants held that without being professionally licensed in Illinois he could not provide opinions as to the standard of care required of the defendants’ engineers and contractors. The defendants brought a motion to strike the civil engineer’s testimony as to the design defects of a highway intersection, which was granted by the circuit court. Plaintiffs appealed this decision; without the civil engineer’s expert testimony it would be almost impossible for the plaintiff to prove her claims against the defendants.

January 17, 2011

Illinois Supreme Court Strikes Down Arbitration Clause; Carr v. Gateway, Inc.

by Robert Kreisman

William Carr filed a lawsuit against Gateway, Inc. accusing the computer company of consumer fraud after it misrepresented the speed of its computer processors to Carr and other consumers. Gateway, Inc. sought to have the case heard before an arbitrator rather than a judge and jury, citing an arbitration clause was found in the sales agreement that was mailed with the computer Mr. Carr purchased from Gateway in 2001. However, the Illinois Supreme Court struck down an arbitration clause found in a contract between William Carr and Gateway, Inc. in Carr v. Gateway, Inc., Illinois Supreme Court, Docket No. 109485.

Carr’s complaint alleged that Gateway had mislead consumers when it marketed its computers outfitted with Pentium 4 processors as being faster than the older Pentium III processors. Furthermore, Carr alleged that the Pentium 4 processor was actually slower than the Pentium III and Athlon processors from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD).

The Illinois Supreme Court lawsuit did not consider the claims of consumer fraud against Gateway, Inc., but rather dealt with the issue of arbitration proceedings. In Illinois, some contracts between parties include arbitration agreements, which essentially stipulate that if the party signing the contract has a legal claim against the party providing the services that the claim will be decided by an arbitrator rather than a jury.

January 15, 2011

Cook County 1.5 Million Verdict for Injuries Suffered When Railcar Grab-Bar Breaks Off; Walters v. Belt Railway Company of Chicago

by Robert Kreisman

A Cook County jury returned a verdict of over $1.5 million in Joseph Walters v. Belt Railway Company of Chicago, Chicago Northern Railroad Co., Gunderson Rail Services n/k/a Greenbrier Rail Services, 06 L-7349, an Illinois personal injury lawsuit for a railroad employee who was injured on the job. Since the railroad had already admitted liability for the train accident prior to trial, the Illinois verdict involved issues of damages only, e.g., loss of normal life, past and future pain and suffering, medical expenses, and lost income.

Joseph Walters was a railroad freight conductor working at a clearing yard owned by Belt Railway Company of Chicago in Bedford Park, Illinois. Mr. Walters fell from a train car after a grab-iron handhold that he was holding detached from the car. Grab-irons are the handles on the outside of trains that railroad employees use to hold onto the cars. As a result of his train accident, the railroad worker sustained a herniated disc at his L4-L5 spine and a rotator cuff tear.

The 41 year-old underwent multiple surgeries, including a spinal fusion and rotator cuff repair surgery, but was still left with permanent disabilities. In addition, Mr. Walters’s prolonged pain led to the long-term use of various narcotic pain medications, which he claimed led to chronic constipation, hemorrhoids, and hernia repair surgery.

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