The plaintiff Michael Hawkins signed a release when he purchased a gym membership from X-Sport Fitness, which is owned by Capital Fitness Inc. The release document did not expressly cover the unusual hazard of falling mirrors, which occurred at the Chicago facility when a 3-foot by 8-foot mirror fell from…
Jimmy Garcia, a 67-year-old retiree, had a history of subdural hematoma and skull fracture, which had caused him temporary cognitive impairment. Garcia was crossing a city street in a crosswalk when a floral truck owned and operated by George Seretis struck him after turning left out of a parking garage.…
A car driven by Timothy Walsh rear-ended the vehicle occupied and driven by Joseph and Karen Skutas, husband and wife, in Downers Grove, Ill., on Dec. 7, 2008. Joseph, 60, sustained a full-thickness tear to his left rotator cuff and a partial tear of the right rotator cuff. He required…
On Nov. 13, 2007, Daniel Ruschke was walking southbound across Route 38 at the intersection with 3rd Street in Geneva, Ill., when he was hit in the crosswalk by the defendant’s car as it turned left from southbound 3d Street onto eastbound Route 38. Ruschke, 64, maintained that he sustained…
Alena Hammer owned and resided in a house located in Villa Park, Ill. Her mortgage was serviced by AmTrust Bank until AmTrust failed and was taken over by the FDIC in November 2009. The mortgage did not include an escrow account, and Hammer paid her real estate taxes and property insurance…
On Sept. 9, 2008, the plaintiff, Kevin Burkhamer, was injured when he was struck by a car driven by the defendant, Mel Richard Krumske. Burkhamer filed a lawsuit against Krumske claiming that he injured his hip, elbow, shoulder, left hand, neck and back. Burkhamer was employed as an ironworker and…
On March 13, 2011, Maria Ruth Garcia was walking northbound across Adams Street midblock near Des Plaines Street in Chicago when she was struck by the defendant’s backing car, which was allegedly going 40-50 mph in reverse. The defendant was Maureen O’Grady. Garcia, 56, suffered a bump on her head…
Former Republican U.S. Senator John Danforth has left the St. Louis law firm of Bryan Cave because of a high-profile case that involved a $77 million jury verdict against Wells Fargo & Company. It was an odd ending to a long relationship of a stalwart of Missouri politics and law.…
In August 2005, Trustgard Insurance Co. and G.A. Crandall & Co. came to an agreement that allowed Crandall to sell certain types of Trustgard insurance. The terms of the agreement specified that as a condition precedent to any lawsuit, the dispute must be first submitted to arbitration. The parties’ agreement…
In April 2010, the plaintiffs Rose Schurer and Andrea DeVivo were driving westbound on Lawrence Avenue in Norridge, Ill., when an oncoming van crossed the center line and struck their vehicle. The eastbound van was driven by the defendant, 56-year-old Pawel Pawlowska. The plaintiff, Schurer, suffered four fractures in her…