In the aftermath of the recent Philadelphia Amtrak derailment, which cost the lives of eight individuals and severely injured more than 200, it came to light that the U.S. Congress had passed an act in 1997 to limit or cap Amtrak’s total payouts to train crash victims to $200 million.…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago has found an Illinois resident did not establish the minimum state contacts for a case to be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. William Kipp purchased a ski ticket at Devil’s…
On March 11, 2011, Veronica Thomas was a passenger in a taxi cab heading eastbound on Jackson Boulevard in Chicago’s Loop when the defendant cab ran a red light on southbound State Street and struck the plaintiff’s cab, which she was riding in. As a result of the crash, Thomas,…
Tracy Morgan, the actor/comedian, has settled his lawsuit against Walmart. In June 2014, Morgan and three others were involved in a truck crash on the New Jersey Turnpike when their limousine was struck by a Walmart truck. Morgan’s close friend and mentor, James “Jimmy Mack” McNair was killed. Morgan suffered…
The United States Constitution and the Illinois Constitution have to credit many key provisions and the foundation of American laws and freedoms to the June 15, 1215 signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede, England, by then King John of England. The origin of the 13th century Magna Carta began…
The Illinois Appellate Court for the 1st District has reversed and remanded a case decided in the Circuit Court of Cook County. In August 2011, Virginia Jahrke arrived at the health club belonging to Capital Fitness Inc. for her usual one-hour training session. After she finished her session, she went…
Takata Corp. is headquartered in Japan and manufactures millions of airbags installed in American vehicles. The company has agreed to recall 33.8 million airbags. That number doubles the already massive recall. A consent agreement was entered into between Takata and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). There is a…
Daniel DiNardi was a State Department of Transportation supervisor who was pulling his orange Department of Transportation pickup truck onto the right shoulder of a highway to remove debris. Before getting out of his truck, he activated the emergency lights and yellow strobe lights on his truck. After he placed…
The Illinois Appellate Court for the 1st District has affirmed a trial court’s decision regarding a settlement. Gary Hines and Lisa O’Rourke were in Chicago visiting Hines’s father, Norman, near the end of 2012. As the visit was ending, Norman drove the two to the airport. When they arrived, Norman…
It has long been law in Illinois that, “a judgment against two or more defendants, whether in contract or tort, was indivisible, and could neither be vacated by a trial court or reversed by a reviewing court as to one defendant alone, even though it was not erroneous as to…