Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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On Oct. 12, 2004, Clinton Haywood, 47, was working as a Metra signal maintainer. He was unloading a 123-pound joint box from a rat bed sliding platform on the back of a truck when the rat bed unexpectedly slid into the truck. This caused the box to start to drop. Haywood bent and twisted his body to prevent the box from falling onto him.

Haywood was first diagnosed by Metra physicians with just a back sprain for which he received conservative medical treatment.

However, three years later, in 2007, Haywood was testing a signal when he fell over a fence that had been knocked down and was partially covered with snow. This incident exasperated his original back strain injury.Haywood was diagnosed with a herniated L5-S1 disk injury.  This injury was aggravated by the second work injury resulting in a one-level lumbar fusion in 2012.  Haywood attempted to return to his job after the surgery, but was not able to work after May 2013.

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On June 3, 2011, Thomas Schrey alleged that he was standing with his bike at the corner of 55th Street and Western Avenue in Clarendon Hills, Ill.  Schrey said he was waiting to cross 55th Street when the defendant, Pamela Herman, was driving her car eastbound; Herman’s car left the roadway and struck Schrey and his bicycle. 

Schrey was a 65-year-old retiree and was not knocked down by the passing car. He suffered a left elbow fracture, which required open reduction internal fixation surgery.  His medical bills were $49,000.

The defendant argued that Schrey was seated on his bike on the sidewalk, chose not to look for traffic and then rode his bike into the side of Herman’s vehicle.

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 A Lake County, Ill., jury returned a verdict of $257,800 for Joseph Briski, a truck driver who tripped and fell in a pothole after parking his trailer-truck at National Gypsum’s plant in Waukegan, Ill.  This incident occurred on Feb. 2, 2008.  Briski was walking toward the rear of his truck to undo the air lines when he fell.  He landed on both knees. 

Briski contended that the parking lot in which truck drivers park their tractors and trailers was filled with numerous potholes and depressions hidden by snow and slush.

Briski, 49, suffered an acute rupture of the left quadriceps tendon and fractured his kneecap. The quadriceps repair surgery two months after the incident failed. It resulted in permanent chronic quadriceps rupture, which is a very disabling condition; permanent significant impairment of leg extensions; inability to continue working as a truck driver and potential future left knee arthritis. 

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Leonardo Davila, 65, was working for a security company that was hired by Premium Assets Inc. Premium was hired to provide security to an office building. While Davila was working near the building loading dock one evening, an unknown assailant attacked him.

Davila suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the assault and is now blind. He was earning $30,000 annually.  His medical expenses were approximately $450,000. Davila brought a lawsuit against Premium Assets, claiming that it chose not to secure the loading dock with a fence despite knowledge of vagrancy and drug activity in that area. The jury was persuaded that the management/ownership of the building, Premium, had knowledge that working near this building was a risk because of the prior criminal activities in the area.

The jury’s verdict of $25 million included $3.25 million in punitive damages.  Davila was represented by Robert C. Hilliard and Thomas J. Henry.

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In December 2007, the plaintiffs, Brothers Future Holding LLC and Custom Gourmet Concepts LLC purchased a vacant meat packing plant located at 2684 N. 900 East Road in Ashkum, Ill.  The plaintiffs planned to use the property to start up a new custom contracting cooking company. The plaintiffs hired Assurance Agency, which was an insurance brokerage firm to procure insurance for any loss or damage to the property, and the brokers were to obtain a policy through Indiana Insurance Co.

Between Nov. 27, 2009 and Dec. 7, 2009, the real property was severely damaged by vandals and thieves who broke into the premises, cut and removed copper pipes, stripped copper from all of the electrical wiring and refrigeration systems and stole other fixtures and equipment for a total property loss of $2,272,168. However, the defendants — the insurance brokers — chose not to obtain ongoing vacancy coverage for the property, causing plaintiffs’ insurance claim for the loss to be denied by the insurer, Indiana Insurance Co.

The plaintiffs’ lawsuit asserted that the defendants knew that the building was vacant and that the plaintiffs had specifically requested vacancy insurance coverage.

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On Jan. 21, 2010, Dean Economos, 18, was driving eastbound on Peterson Avenue near Rogers Avenue in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago when he rear-ended the plaintiff’s car, which was stopped. Economos’s car was traveling at 30-35 mph. 

One of the plaintiffs, 23-year-old Ana Aguilar, sustained soft tissue neck and back strains with no lost time from her job.  Her mother was also in the car. She was 40-year-old Herculana Nieto, who claimed that she suffered a herniated cervical disk in the neck and soft tissue injuries to her back. She claimed $28,202 in medical bills, but only $18,621 of those bills was allowed into evidence. Nieto claimed no lost time from work. Both of the women are factory workers. 

The defense admitted that Economos was negligent when he rear-ended the Aguila car. However, Economos denied that the proximate cause of the plaintiffs’ injuries were related to the rear-end crash.  In fact, Economos pointed out the fact that Aguilar waited 16 days before she sought medical care and that Nieto waited 25 days before she received any medical attention.

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A Cook County jury returned a verdict for $1.5 million for Teodoro Ramirez, who was injured while moving roofing materials above a warehouse. The defendant construction company, FCL Builders Inc., requested on appeal from that verdict that the appellate court grant a new trial. FCL argued that the Cook County circuit court judge gave erroneous jury instructions that made the verdict unfair.

The appeals court found that the jury instructions did include error, but the court affirmed the ruling and verdict on the ground that the defendant did not suffer from the error.  In other words, the error was harmless.

It was an 84-page opinion written by appellate court Justice Robert E. Gordon. In conclusion, the appeals panel ruled that the jury instructions would not have affected the outcome of the case.

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The mid-year winter convention of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) was held at New Orleans, La., Feb. 8-Feb. 12, 2014. Robert Kreisman of Kreisman Law Offices was in attendance. Kreisman is the secretary of the Professional Negligence Section of AAJ. 

The meetings were well-attended by lawyers from all around the country and beyond.  The educational programs were informative, covering literally more than 100 different specialty areas of the law. New Orleans is a wonderful city with so much to offer in its culture, cuisine and history.

AAJ educational programs are beneficial to all who attended because the topic offerings are so varied. Lawyers and professionals who presented as faculty at the meetings were extremely well-prepared and brought information not otherwise available to many practicing attorneys.

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On Aug. 13, 2011, Roland P. Wilson was crossing the street after leaving the tavern, Hot City Lounge, 7342 S. Racine Ave., Chicago, Ill., when he was hit by a vehicle that fled the scene. Wilson,  66, suffered a fractured right leg and required surgery.  Wilson believed the hit and run vehicle belonged to Sammie Cooper, who had been another patron at Hot City Lounge. Wilson was not clear as to whether Cooper was the driver, however.

Wilson told the police in December 2011 that he had obtained a license plate number.  The license plate was traced to Cooper who had subsequently become incapacitated due to an unrelated medical condition.  The police did not conduct any investigation.

Wilson filed a negligence lawsuit against Cooper and a Dram Shop Act claim against Hot City Lounge and its individual owner. 

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On Dec. 1, 2008, Sarah Conway, Kathleen O’Toole and Mary Heidkamp were passengers in Joan Steenveld’s car when it was broadsided by the defendant, Lynnard McCullough, who was driving a tractor-trailer. All but Steenveld perished in the crash. Both of the vehicles skidded off a snowy, icy road.  Steenveld’s southbound car skidded over the center line in front of McCullough’s northbound truck; he was trying to avoid a head-on collision.  Steenveld steered to the right, driving into an empty field, but her car also went off the road again winding up in the truck’s path. 

The attorney for the estates of the deceased plaintiffs asked the Cook County judge to instruct the jurors that one or more of the defendants was liable to the plaintiffs.  It was alleged that either Steenveld or McCullough or both must have been driving too fast for conditions and thus, were liable for the deaths of the decedents.  The speed limit at the place of the crashes was 55 mph, although Steenveld testified she was going 35 mph. 

Two witnesses testified that McCullough’s speed was 40-45 mph.  In addition, there was an expert who testified that McCullough’s evasive maneuver was appropriate.  Without an objection, the Cook County trial judge granted a motion in limine that requested an order barring “any argument, evidence, reference or suggestion that anything other than the alleged negligence of the defendants caused or contributed to cause plaintiffs’ injuries.”

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