Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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On Oct. 10, 2008, Joy Wyler, 51, was riding her motorcycle on Vollmer Road in Matteson, Ill.  Wyler was about to cross through the intersection at Central Avenue on a green light when the defendant, Ira Batt, made a right turn on a red light from Central. His car collided with her motorcycle, causing her injuries.  Wyler, who was an intensive care nurse at the University of Chicago Hospital, suffered a fractured right ankle and multiple fractures in her right foot, which required open reduction internal fixation surgery.

Wyler also developed post-traumatic arthritis and will require a future triple fusion procedure. She missed 13 months of work and will in the future miss an additional 6 months of work because of her surgeries and recovery.

Wyler argued that Batt did not yield the right-of-way at the intersection.  The defendant maintained that Wyler improperly changed lanes and chose not to keep a proper lookout.

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The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has reversed a district court judge’s decision in a case involving an indemnification clause in a contract.

Robert Krien was an employee of Riley Construction.  Riley was the general contractor on a construction project located in Wisconsin.  Riley in turn, hired Harsco Corporation to supply the scaffolding for the construction work.  Krien was injured when he fell from the scaffolding after a plank broke beneath him.  The parties settled Krien’s injury claim for $900,000.

Before the settlement, Harsco had filed a third-party complaint against Riley seeking indemnification for any damages Harsco might pay by way of judgment or settlement.  Then the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, and the district court judge granted Riley’s motion.  Harsco took this appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago.

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In a case that involved a “duty to settle” claim, the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed a decision dismissing a claim made by the insured, Randy Powell against his auto insurance company, American Service Insurance Co. (ASI).  It was alleged in the lawsuit by Randy Powell that Katie Linares broadsided his van when he stopped in front of her vehicle and started turning left to make a U-turn.  Powell demanded the $20,000 limit of the auto policy that Linares had purchased from ASI.

ASI rejected the demand and Powell continued on to a jury trial, which returned a verdict of $47,951.  Linares assigned her rights against the insurer to Powell who then sued for breach of duty to settle against ASI.

According to paragraph 6 of the complaint, “Linares was operating her vehicle on northbound Medline Drive, a private street or corporate driveway, in Mundelein, Illinois, behind the van being operated by Powell, saw him make a left turn attempting to make a U-turn and stopping in front of the Linares vehicle either perpendicular or at a northwest angle to the northbound roadway, and, rather than apply her brakes or attempt to veer behind the van driven by Powell, veered directly into the van striking it broadside with a strong impact.”

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Brian Crompton worked as a railroad employee for BNSF Railway.  On April 24, 2011, Crompton worked on a locomotive that was to travel from Paducah, Ky., to downstate Centralia, Ill.  Crompton was severely injured during the trip from Paducah when he was knocked off the train by a door that flew open when he was throwing a switch.  Crompton brought a lawsuit against BNSF under the Locomotion Inspection Act and the Federal Employment Liability Act (FELA) claiming that BNSF chose not to keep the locomotive and its parts in good working order.

BNSF moved for summary judgment on both counts of the complaint, which was denied by the U.S. District Court judge who found that Crompton had presented sufficient evidence to suggest that the door latch on the front cab door was defective and thus the case could go to the jury for its determination of the facts.

After the jury trial, BNSF was found negligent, and Crompton was found to be contributory negligent.  The jury found that 70% of the fault for Crompton’s injury could be assigned to BNSF and 30% to Crompton.  Because the Locomotive Inspection Act is a strict liability statute, BNSF was required to pay the entire amount of Crompton’s damages, which totaled $1.6 million.  BNSF appealed to the U.S Court of Appeals in Chicago.

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Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson was injured in 2012 at the Seminole Indian Tribe Casino when he fell from the back of its stage at the Tribe’s South Florida casino. 

Robinson was appearing at a fundraiser for the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.  When Robinson, 76, was on the stage, he fell 12 feet at the back of the stage where it had no back railing. 

The attorney representing Robinson, Jack Hickey, indicated that a settlement demand of $9.9 million would end the threatened lawsuit.  The Seminole Indian Tribe Casino has immunity protection, which generally limits damages to no more than $200,000 for an individual who is injured at its facility. 

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James R. Fregeau was involved in two separate rear-end motor vehicle crashes within 20 months.  In both cases his car was rear-ended by another vehicle.  Fregeau filed two separate lawsuits that later were consolidated for discovery and trial. 

The first crash took place on April 22, 2009 when the car driven by defendant Anthony Foster rear-ended a vehicle in front of him that was then pushed into the Fregeau car.  The second crash took place on Dec. 4, 2010 when the car driven by defendant Dina Whittier rear-ended Fregeau’s car on southbound Interstate 57 near 167th Street in Markham, Ill.  In that case, the Fregeau and the Whittier car spun out and a second impact occurred when they struck each other.

As for the first crash, Fregeau was 27 years old and claimed he suffered spinal sprains and aggravations of a facet joint arthropathy, which required emergency room visits, doctor visits, CT scans, MRIs, bone scan, physical therapy, chiropractic treatment, facet blocks and future facet ablations. 

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The Illinois Appellate Court for the First District in Chicago has found that a person can be held liable for a corporation’s debt even if he or she is not an officer or shareholder of the corporation.

In a case that amounts to a decision of wide-ranging implications and one of first impression on Illinois, the appeals court found that a default judgment in the amount of $421,582 against Palos Heights-based Silver Fox Pastries Inc. led to a judgment against an individual corporate “alter ego,” the defendant Haitham Aduzir.

The lawsuit brought against Silver Fox Pastries was for violations of the Illinois Trade Secrets Act.  In that lawsuit, first filed in 2006, the plaintiff John Buckley claimed that Silver Fox was a direct competitor of his business, Momma Gramm’s Bakery Inc. and that it had hired away two of its employees.

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A speeding truck leaving the Newhall Tunnel in Southern California apparently lost control, crashed into the center divider and came to a stop some 1,700 feet outside of the tunnel exit.  As other motor vehicles were leaving the tunnel, they braked and slowed down to avoid the crashed truck.  A series of chain-reaction collisions followed.  A fire broke out from one of the crashes and spread through the tunnel and to other stalled vehicles.

One of the individuals involved in this tragic crash was Ricardo Cibrian, a trucker who was trapped inside his truck in the tunnel and unfortunately died in the fire that reached his tractor. He was survived by his wife and two children.

This crash and fire resulted in more than 50 claims, including 3 death cases.  There were five personal injury actions and dozens of property damage claims.  All of the cases were consolidated into one.  Cibrian’s family claimed $1.2 million in economic damages, including past and future lost earnings.

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago has agreed that a concert ticket tying parking to the music concert was not a violation of the federal antitrust laws. 

James Batson brought a ticket from O.A.R. Concert at Live Nation’s box office at the 3 on July 10, 2010.  After buying the ticket, Batson noticed on the face of the ticket that a $9 parking fee was included in the price. Every ticket sold included the fee regardless of whether the buyer needed to park a car.

Batson filed suit alleging violations of federal antitrust law as well as California’s unfair competition law.  Live Nation moved to dismiss.

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On May 20, 2008, Timothy Balota, 31, was driving southbound on Interstate 55 in Collinsville, Ill., when traffic came to a stop approaching a construction zone near Route 157.  Collinsville is a near east side suburb of St. Louis.  A truck was stopped behind the plaintiff’s car when the semi-tractor-trailer driven by defendant Lewis Casey rear-ended the truck at 20-30 mph.  That crash triggered a chain reaction collision, which included five vehicles. 

At the time of the crash, Balota was on his way to have staples removed from a surgery necessitated by a life-threatening accident just 13 months earlier. 

As a result of the impact of this crash, Balota sustained cervical disc injuries at C5-6, C3-4 and C6-7 with future surgery recommended by his treating physician.  Balota also suffered aggravation of pre-existing conditions in his lumbar and thoracic spine. He claimed past and future lost time as a carpenter of $485,299. 

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