Audrey Mivelaz had $9 million in assets and no estate plan, no testamentary capacity and no known heirs. However, she had several close, loving friends who knew her for decades and helped care for her as she sank into dementia. After an unsuccessful search for heirs, the plenary guardian of…
Reinaldo Cubillos was a passenger in a box truck that was stopped in traffic on a highway. A log truck driven by Jesus Ajete Perez rear-ended the Cubillos truck, which then hit the back of a minivan. Cubillos suffered aggravation of a pre-existing herniation at C5-6 and a Hill-Sachs lesion…
Michelle Olivarez was stopped in traffic when a vehicle driven by Kelsey Nelson rear-ended her vehicle. The crash aggravated Olivarez’s pre-existing neck pain, migraines and fibromyalgia. Olivarez, 39, also suffered a soft-tissue injury to her left knee. She received physical therapy for her knee injury, was prescribed medicine, and received…
Mary Perry Carmichael was an employee at Union Pacific Railroad Co. (UPRC). In that capacity, she was being transported by Professional Transportation Inc. (PTI) in a van when it was hit by a vehicle driven by Dwayne Bell. Carmichael filed a lawsuit against UPRC, PTI and Bell; the suits against…
The Illinois Supreme Court has reversed a lower court’s ruling in a case involving an alleged breach of fiduciary duty. In this case, the trial court first ruled that, although defendants had breached their fiduciary duties to the plaintiff, Indeck Energy Services, Indeck had failed to establish any usurpation of…
Sean Kleefeld, who was in his mid-40s, was leaving a commuter train and crossing a busy Chicago street in a crowd of other commuters. David Breese allegedly turned his vehicle onto the street, accelerated, fishtailed and hit Kleefeld, who suffered catastrophic injuries, including a compound fracture of his left femur…
In a federal district court matter, the district judge ruled that the obligation of a defendant who settled a negligence lawsuit wasn’t “uncollectible” and would not be reallocated between the remaining tortfeasors. The Illinois Supreme Court, answering a question presented by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, concluded that “the…
Mr. Doe was riding his moped in Raleigh, N.C., when he was struck from behind by a driver of Roe Co. truck. A bystander who witnessed the crash chased the driver of the truck and wrote down the truck’s license number, which was traced back to the Roe Co. Mr.…
Katherine Black sued two defendants for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Ultimately, the trial did not go as she had expected; the jury rejected her claims. On appeal, she argued that her trial was riddled with errors. She requested that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th…
The U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, affirmed the trial court’s decision that granted the defendant manufacturer’s (Clark Equipment Co.) motion to exclude the plaintiff’s expert witness and for summary judgment in the plaintiff’s strict product liability lawsuit. In this case, it was alleged that the plaintiff was injured because…