On Aug. 12, 2009, Jaime Lindsey’s vehicle was stopped on northbound Hawthorne Road (Route 59) awaiting a red light at Dundee Road in Barrington Hills, Ill. At that point, the defendant Stephen Pernal lost control of his car while turning from Dundee Road (Route 68) onto southbound Hawthorne; his car…
Chicago Injury Lawyer Blog
U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals Reverses District Court’s Order Barring Expert Witness in Product Defect Case
A district court judge in Chicago granted the motion of defendant Ryobi Technologies Inc. to exclude an expert witness as unreliable and irrelevant. Purportedly, it would have cost Ryobi $50 to $150 to install an automatic braking system on the table saw that sliced off Brandon Stollings’s index finger and portions of…
Breach of Contract Lawsuit Brings $311,640 Jury Verdict; Includes More Than $88,000 in Interest
Tire Services Co. and AA Truck & Trailer Repair entered into an agreement that called for plaintiff Tire Services to sell approximately $450,000 worth of tires to AA Truck. AA Truck agreed and took delivery, but paid just $231,142 of that amount before it stopped making payments in December 2009. When…
$704,000 Verdict for Railroad Mechanic Who Fell From Platform Fracturing Wrist
Paul Junod, 51, a locomotive mechanic, fell from an elevated platform while changing shock absorbers at the Illinois Central Railroad’s Woodcrest shop in Homewood, Ill. Junod suffered multiple fractures of his left wrist with median and radial nerve damage, which required open reduction internal fixation with a plate and screws inserted. Following…
Jury Sides With Driver of Car in Motorcycle Crash
On Sept. 24, 2010, Thomas DeSonia was driving his motorcycle with his girlfriend as his passenger. DeSonia was traveling about 40 mph northbound on Route 53 in Wilmington, Ill., when the southbound car driven by defendant Bernard Wall attempted a left turn in front of DeSonia. The motorcycle and the car collided. Wall…
Illinois and U.S. Government Look to Guidelines for High School Athletes and Concussions
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 3.9 million sports-related and recreation-related concussions occur in the United States each year. Most of the reported sports-related concussions occur in high school football. Continuing to play a sport with a concussion or symptoms of a head injury makes the…
Passenger in Rear-End Crash Suffers ACL and Rotator Cuff Tears; $85,736 Jury Verdict
On June 27, 2009, Michael Gibson was a back-seat passenger in a car that was rear-ended by defendant Louise Damen at LaGrange Road (Route 45) and Interstate 80 in Will County, Ill. Gibson, 18, maintained that the impact caused his left knee to hit the console inside the car, tearing…
Court Rules in Favor of Customer in Trade Secret Claim
Conxall Corp. was the supplier of custom cables and connectors to its customer, Mine Safety Appliances Co. (MSA), the third-party defendant in this case. MSA later provided drawings and 3-D (3-dimensional) models to the defendant ICON Systems to enable it to offer a quote and supply the same product. The…
$150 Million Jury Verdict for Family of Fatal Car Crash
A Los Angeles County jury entered a verdict in favor of the family who died in a fiery crash with a semi-trailer truck on Thanksgiving 2009. The Asam family was on its way from California to Oregon to visit relatives for the Thanksgiving weekend. Kylie Asam, who was 9 at…
Illinois Appellate Court Finds That Heir Who Has Lost Possession of Property Still May Lack Standing to Pursue Ejectment
The Bank of New York filed to foreclose on a mortgage owned by the decedent, Ruth Hatch. The foreclosure named her heirs as defendants. In December 2003, Jesse Hatch, the son of Ruth Hatch, filed a motion to dismiss. He claimed that he was an heir and that the Bank of New…