Articles Posted in Firm News

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This 4th of July was the 232rd birthday of the United States. John Adams called the day in 1776: “a day of deliverance”, with “…pomp and parade…shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.” And that sense of revelry has continued to this day, as can be seen in Chicago’s lavish and extensive July 4th celebrations.

The fun kicks off early in Chicago with its annual Taste of Chicago. Starting on June 27th thousands of people flocked to Chicago’s lakefront to partake in the many and varied vendors. There are the old standbys, like the traditional cheesecake from Eli’s Cheesecake, deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, or the huge turkey leg from Helen’s Restaurant. But for me no trip to the Taste would be complete without a waffle cone overflowing with rainbow ice cream from the Original Rainbow Cone. And of course, any time you need a break from the endless rows of vendors you can veer off the main drag and listen to the many bands the Taste offers. Or you can just take a step back and people watch. The Taste attracts all sorts- from kids filling up their lazy summer days, out-of-town visitors trying to get a sense of Chicago, serious foodies with an extensive rating system for all the booths, or the suit-wearing business people running over for a quick bite during lunch. The Taste truly has it all and is a perfect way to jump start the July 4th festivities.

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On Sunday, June 22, 2008, I (Robert Kreisman) gathered with thousands of people to fight against hate in all forms. The 9th annual Race Against Hate is a race in memory of Ricky Byrdsong, a former Northwestern University basketball coach. The 5k course loops along Northwestern University’s campus and Evanston’s lakefront, starting and finishing on Long Field.

Early Sunday, the skies darkened and it rained briefly, delaying the start of the race for 30 minutes. But the rain did not dampen the spirits of those gathered for this annual event. I loved the juxtaposition of adults sweating through the 5k lakefront course and finishing to be rewarded with the sight of kids poised at the start line waiting for their opportunity to show their stuff in the follow up kids’ race. (See the photo below showing the start of the kids’ race.)
We enjoyed seeing neighbors and friends who both participated and rooted for those who ran or walked. It was an invigorating experience, without losing the connection of the root of the event, the tragic and senseless murder of an innocent man, Ricky Birdsong, because of the color of his skin.

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June 18, 2008- After a lengthy mediation session led by retired Cook County Circuit Court Judge Stuart Nudelman, the defendants, Victor Colin, M.D. and his professional practice, Elgin Family Physicians, agreed to settle the Illinois wrongful death case of decedent, Timothy.

Kreisman Law Offices handled the Illinois wrongful death claim which centered on the Illinois physicians’ medical malpractice as a result of an incorrect diagnosis and treatment of Timothy’s condition of fever, headache, and sleeplessness for at least two weeks. While these signs might not be overly alarming in your typical patient, Timothy’s circumstances weren’t those of your typical patient.

Born with a congenital heart valve defect of Tetralogy of Fallot, Timothy had undergone three open heart surgeries for valve repair, including a porcine (pig) valve replacement of his pulmonary valve in 1981. This history placed Timothy at high risk for bacterial endocarditis, which is a serious infection of the endocardium (the smooth interior lining of the heart) and the heart valves, typically caused by bacteria. It was this type of infection that eventually led to Timothy’s death.

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On Sunday, May 18, 2008, thousands of walkers turned out for Walk Now for Autism, a 5k walk to raise funds for autism research. Bob Kreisman, Yolanda Flores, and Catherine Russell of Kreisman Law Offices were all in attendance, each contributing in their own way.

Yolanda showed up at 6:00 a.m., two hours before registration opened, to help organize the tents and booths in preparation for the busy day. Once walkers began to arrive Yolanda headed up the t-shirt booth, handing out box upon box of t-shirts to participants over the course of the next several hours. And through the long day she always had a smile on her face and kept the atmosphere of the t-shirt booth light and fun.

Bob and Catherine both participated in the walk itself. The 5k (3.1 mile) course started at Soldier Field, then looped along Chicago’s lakefront before backtracking to Soldier Field. The course was full of families and friends of children with autism that came out to show their support for both their loved ones and for the organization itself. Oftentimes individual groups could be distinguished by t-shirts they wore or large banners with slogans and messages of support and love. Despite the large number of people there was not a cross word to be heard- everyone was happy and excited to be involved.

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A $2.1 Million settlement was reached against the hospital and doctors in an Illinois medical negligence lawsuit involving the wrongful death of a woman from brain herniation after being discharged from a hospital. She was discharged with complaints of headaches despite a diagnosis of a brain tumor.

Mary, a 50 year-old female, was diagnosed at South Suburban Hospital with a right frontal lobe meningioma in early September, 2003, at which time she was discharged from the hospital with a referral to a University of Chicago neurosurgeon. However, before seeing the neurosurgeon she presented back to South Suburban Hospital two days later complaining of headaches and vomiting.

She is given some pain medication and sent home. Early the next morning she is found unresponsive by her husband. She was taken by ambulance back to South Suburban, but died later that day. An autopsy revealed that the cause of the Illinois woman’s wrongful death was excessive fluid building up around her tumor causing her brain to shift to the left and down through the brain stem, putting extreme pressure on her brain, resulting in brain herniation.

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A trucker whose legs were crushed while freight was being shifted on his truck agreed to a $2.5 million settlement in an Illinois personal injury lawsuit.

The accord came on the second day of jury deliberations following more than a week of trial in this case against Precoat Metals, a division of Sequa Corp. Tom, an over-the-road trucker who lived in Shullsburg, Wis., went to a Precoat facility on the Southwest Side to pick up a load of steel coils.

A forklift driver employed by Precoat had agreed to arrange other freight on the flat bed trailer that Tom was using to accommodate the steel. The freight, 20 foot long steel channels, slipped off the forklift and fell on Tom’s legs, resulting in amputation of the left leg above the knee and surgical repair of his right leg. Tom has been unable to return to his work as a trucker driver.

The steel channels, 25 to a bundle, were secured together by four steel bands. There was a codefense raised by the defendant that it was the bands that were defective that caused the channels to break apart when being lifted by Precoat’s forklift driver. However, Precoat was unable to produce the broken bands that it claimed it had stored after this occurrence. Precoat’s safety manager had testified at deposition that although the bands were stored away, they could not be found now. Before the start of the trial, Kreisman moved to bar Precoat from asserting this defense because it could not produce the item that was alleged to be the cause of the injuries to our client. The court agreed and barred any reference to the broken bands during the trial. At the end of the trial and before jury deliberation, also on motion of plaintiff, the court went to the length of instructing the jury about the law as to “missing” evidence, the bands and documents relating to the accident that were also lost. That jury instruction, Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction 5.0 was read to the jury at the conclusion of the case.

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