On Jan. 17, 2011, Susan Buckel was at Villa Olivia, a ski hill in the far west Chicago suburban town of Bartlett, Ill. She had purchased a ticket to snow tube on a hill, but as she moved to sit down on the tube, a sharp object that was part…
Articles Posted in Premises Accidents
U.S. District Court Jury Finds Trucker 100% at Fault for His Own Traumatic Brain Injury
On Dec. 16, 2009, Terry Smith was employed by Sycamore Specialized Carriers. He drove his tractor-trailer to the defendant Casini Warehousing Corp.’s warehouse in Bensenville, Ill. Casini’s personnel used an overhead crane to load an injection molding machine onto Smith’s step-deck trailer. After the injection molding machine was loaded onto the…
Illinois Supreme Court Abolishes the State’s Long-Standing Common Law Public Duty Rule
The Illinois Supreme Court has reversed a decision by a trial judge and the Illinois Appellate Court that dismissed a lawsuit against the East Joliet Fire Protection District regarding the death of Coretta Coleman. Her family claimed that the defendant, East Joliet Fire Protection District and its ENTs, were both…
U.S. Court of Appeals Affirms Dismissal of Crane Accident Case for Lack of Proximate Cause
In July 2013, ALL Erection & Crane Rental Corp. of Independence, Ohio, leased a crane to White Construction of Clinton, Ind. The crane was a Manitowoc 2250 Crawler Crane. In the summer of 2012, Kyle Carson was working for White Construction at a wind farm in Indiana where his employer…
$4.25 Million Settlement Reached in Pedestrian Injury Case at Train Crossing
Gilberto Rebollar was 40 years old when he was struck and killed by a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority train (Metro). He was walking through a pedestrian crossing at the time of the incident. Rebollar suffered traumatic brain injury, foot amputation, dislocated left shoulder and fractures. His medical expenses…
Cook County Judge Enters Verdict of $1.875 Million Verdict for the Death of a Bicyclist Who Fell Through a Storefront Window
On May 24, 2011, Michael Racky was bicycling across 95th Street at LaCrosse Avenue in Oak Lawn, Ill. He jumped his bike over a 12-inch curb at the southwest corner to reach the sidewalk. There, the bike slowed and wobbled due to the loss of momentum. Racky was 52 years…
Illinois Appellate Court Affirms Decision Dismissing Case Where It Was Found That There Was No Business Relationship Between the Injured Plaintiff and the Defendant
On March 22, 2013, James McGinley, a delivery driver at the House of Blues in Chicago, was using a freight elevator to deliver heavy boxes of liquor to that location. However, when he was using the elevator, a descending door struck him and injured him. He filed a lawsuit against…
$24.75 Million Jury Verdict in Balcony Collapse Case Severely Injuring Three Family Members and Others
James and Vanesha Doran and their daughter, Candice, attended a dinner following Candice’s college graduation ceremony. The dinner was held at Arbor Station Apartments. As James, Vanesha and Candice were standing on the second-floor balcony with Sandra Miles and other guests waiting to enter Candice’s apartment, the landing suddenly collapsed,…
Cook County Jury Sides with Hotel after Passenger Dropped Off on Dangerous Pavement Patch
A Cook County, Ill., jury has found that the Double Tree Hotel Chicago was not negligent when its hotel shuttle bus improperly transported the plaintiff, Mary Larkin, to the upper level terminal at O’Hare Airport by dropping her off on an expansion joint in the roadway, which was unsafe. As a…
Illinois Appellate Court Finds That Evanston is Not Responsible for the Injuries to a Bicyclist Hurt in an Alley
In September 2010, Thomas Berz was riding his bike in an Evanston alley when he hit a pothole. Berz fell off his bike and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He sued the City of Evanston in July 2011 claiming that it was negligent for choosing not to maintain the surface of the…