Chicago Injury Attorney Blog

In Cook County Circuit Court, the estate of Gina Dominick is suing Thomas Young and his parents for her Chicago wrongful death. Dominick, 20, died in June 2008 after Young, 21, invited her to his parents’ house for some heroin.

The Cook County wrongful death complaint accuses Young of violently hitting and beating her. The Chicago civil lawsuit also notes that Dominick died of a drug overdose because Young supplied her with the powerful narcotic.

The Illinois wrongful death complaint asserts that Dominick died at the Youngs’ home. It also accuses Thomas of trying to cover up her death when he changed his shirt, put her body back in her car, left the vehicle in the parking lot of the Prospect Heights Public Library, and did not get her medical help even though he had beaten her and she had overdosed on heroin.

The plaintiffs claim that Young’s parents, Teresa and Chester, knew that Young had beaten Gina, helped clean up Gina’s blood from their home, and failed to call 911.

Young, who struck a plea agreement over the incident, admitted that he hit Dominick’s face. He was ordered to serve probation on a misdemeanor battery charge.

Illinois Wrongful Death
The negligent party that caused a person’s death can be held liable for wrongful death if the victim would have been entitled to maintain a personal injury action had he or she survived the accident. The wrongful death recovery allows the surviving spouse, next of kin, and others who were dependent on the victim for financial support at the time of death to obtain compensation for their mental suffering, grief, sorrow, and other applicable damages.

Under the state's statute of limitations, a wrongful death complaint can be filed within two years of the person’s death. If a person died because a crime was committed, the “Criminal Victims’ Escrow Account Act” allows plaintiffs to file their wrongful death complaint within two years of the establishment of the escrow account.

Estate of woman beat by heroin supplier sues supplier and his parents, Chicago Now, September 21, 2009

Civil suit filed in Gina Dominick's death, Daily Herald, September 22, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Illinois Wrongful Death Act

Crime Victims Compensation Act

A possible tire failure may have caused the van rollover accident that injured all six members of the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir. Initial reports indicate that the 1999 Chevrolet van was driving in the left lane on I-65 in Indiana when tire failure caused the van to go off the road and roll over a number of times. The van was totaled.

All of the band members are from Chicago. Mark Yoshizumi sustained major head trauma, internal injuries, and leg injuries. He was riding in the front passenger seat. Eliezer Santana Junior, who was driving the van, sustained a concussion and experienced minor bleeding. Alison Hinderliter, Elias Einhorn, Ethan Adelsman, and Mary Ralph also sustained head trauma. Ralph was not using a seat belt when the rollover accident happened and was ejected from the vehicle. She also has a shoulder injury and broke her collarbone and pelvis.

Examples of Tire Defects:
Tread separation: The treads on a tire gets separated from the rim. This can lead to loss of vehicle control and/or rollover accidents.
Tire failure: Overloaded tires and underinflated tires can lead to tire failure.
Tire blowout: A tire that blows out can cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
Tire or rim explosions: An exploding tire can blind, maim, or kill a bystander.

A person who is seriously injured in a Chicago rollover accident that occurred because of a tire defect or failure is likely entitled to sue the tire manufacture and/or the automaker for auto products liability.

A tire defect can cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle. It is at this point that the frightened motorist may fight to regain control of the auto by braking suddenly and/or turning while trying to get off the road. This is how many rollover accidents happen. Rollover crashes can result in serious injuries for the passengers who are tossed around inside the vehicle.

If you were injured in an Illinois auto accident involving a defective auto or a faulty auto part, is important that you retain the services of a Chicago injury lawyer that is experienced in successfully representing clients who were injured in auto accidents where products liability was a factor.

Band members injured in I-65 crash, Chesterton Tribune, September 25, 2009

Chicago's Scotland Yard Gospel Choir injured in van accident, Sun-Times, September 25, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Tire Blowouts on the Highway, Safety.com

Rollover Accidents Explained

Scotland Yard Gospel Choir

In Cook County Circuit Court, Glinda Bridgeman submitted her Chicago slip and fall lawsuit against Sears. Bridgeman says she was injured on July 11 when she slipped and fell on paper towels and vomit that were on the floor of the television department of a Chicago Sears store.

Her Chicago premises liability complaint accuses Sears of negligence, including failing to warn that there were paper towels and vomit on the ground and neglecting to clean away both after it knew or should have realized that either posed an Illinois slip and fall hazard. The plaintiff is seeking over $50,000 in damages.

Store owners and managers owe customers a duty of care to make sure that there are no hazardous conditions on the ground, such as spilt liquid, debris, or other items, that can result in slip and fall accidents.

While a slip and fall accident may sound like a minor incident, often the injuries that result are serious, extremely painful, and costly to treat medically. Slip and fall cases fall under the area of premises liability law and can be grounds for substantial financial recovery.

Just this month, a jury awarded a couple a $324,000 slip and fall verdict against FKG Oil Co., which is the company that owns an Edwardsville Motomart. John Linkes sued for Illinois slip and fall after he fell on a newly mopped floor.

Following the March 2007 personal injury accident, Linkes and his wife Linda filed an Illinois slip and fall lawsuit seeking $2 million. The jury awarded links $150,000 for past and future pain, $49,664.41 for medical expenses, $50 for loss of a normal life, $75,000 for future medical expenses, and $50,000 for punitive damages. Linda was awarded $5,000 for loss of society and $10,000 for loss of her spouse’s services.

Woman Sues Sears After She Slips On Vomit, Chicago Now, September 15, 2009

$324,000 Award in Slip-and-Fall Case, Courthouse News, September 23, 2009

Related Web Resource:
Illinois Premises Liability Act, Justia

Lisa Hofstra, who is a charge nurse at the emergency room in Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital, is suing the city of Chicago and one of its police officers for police brutality.

Hofstra says she was working in the emergency room at around 4am when the police officer asked her to perform blood work on a person who was apprehended for drunk driving. The charge nurse says she told the cop that the suspect had to be checked in to the hospital first.

The officer, who at first left the emergency room, came back and handcuffed her in front of coworkers before taking her to his police vehicle. Hofstra says she sat in the cruiser for about 45 minutes while the situation was resolved. Surveillance footage shows the police officer smiling while standing outside the police car that Hofstra was sitting in.

Hofstra says that because the cuffs on her wrist were too tight, she had to receive medical treatment after she was released.

Hofstra says that she wasn’t trying to prevent the Chicago cop from doing his job, she was just following procedures. She was in charge of triage on the morning of her arrest. This means it was her job to determine which patients were in most urgent need of medical attention.

Hofstra says she filed her Chicago police brutality lawsuit, over what her attorney is calling a “false arrest,” to stand up for nurse’s rights.

False arrests occur when someone is physically arrested without basis. This may include arresting someone even though there is no probable cause or evidence that a crime has been committed, arresting the wrong person, or arresting someone without a warrant. Making a false arrest is a violation of a person’s civil rights.

In July, 10 people filed Chicago false arrest lawsuits against a former cop for falsifying information in order to make DUI arrests. Joe D. Parker enjoyed a reputation as an enforcer of drunk driving lawsuits before he retired from the Chicago police department. Five other civil rights violation lawsuits were filed against him earlier in the year.

Prosecutors have dropped dozens of arrests made by Parker. Some 156 other DUI arrest cases involving officer John Haleas also were dropped.

Unfortunately, there are Chicago cops who do commit acts of police brutality and other civil rights violations. You may not have any control over whether criminal charges are filed, but you can file a Chicago police brutality lawsuit for damages.

ER nurse sues cop for handcuffing her during dispute over drawing suspect's blood, Sun-Times, September 21, 2009

Does video catch Chicago cop in DUI lie?, Police One, March 12, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Chicago Police Department

City of Chicago

Police Brutality

The family of Janice McCall is reeling following news that the 65-year-old woman died from thermal burn injuries. What is even more upsetting is that McCall sustained her burns during a surgical fire that broke out while she was undergoing surgery. The medical examiner’s office is calling her death an accident.

The Marion, Illinois hospital where the fire broke out, Heartland Regional Medical Center, says that the accidental flash fire was extinguished immediately after it broke out. The family’s Chicago wrongful death lawyer says that McCall was her family’s anchor and they are devastated by this unexpected loss.

Surgical fires can cause great pain and suffering, physical scarring, disfigurement, and other injuries and health complications for the victim and they can be grounds for a Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit. Unfortunately, surgical fires are not as uncommon as we would like to think. It is usually the person on the operating table who suffers when a fire accidentally breaks out during surgery.

About 550-600 surgical fires take place every year. These fires usually occur when oxygen has built up below surgical drapes and they can be sparked by electrical surgical tools. About 1 or 2 fatalities occur every year as a result of a surgical fire.

Surgical fires can be prevented. Surgeons and nurses already know what kinds of materials can spark a surgical fire so it is very important that the proper precautions are exercised so that the patient doesn’t accidentally catch fire. It is important to point out, however, that with electrosurgical devices now used more frequently in the operating room, and more-flammable, synthetic fabric replacing cloth hospital drapes, there is growing concern that the risk of surgical fires is rising.

Mark Bruley, of the ECRI Institute, is even recommending that anesthesiologists no longer use 100% oxygen and that they dilute the concentration of oxygen with room air when electronic surgical tools are in use.

Illinois woman dies following surgical fire, AP/MSNBC, September 17, 2009

Illinois woman Janice McCall dies after fire in OR during surgery at Vanderbilt University hospital, NY Daily News, September 18, 2009

Related Web Resources:
SurgicalFire.Org

Preventing surgical fires

A jury has awarded Sharon Virginelli $5 million for Chicago medical malpractice because of an unnecessary hysterectomy she underwent 10 years ago. Virginelli had planned on having a large family, but that dream was lost in 1999 when she went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital to give birth to her daughter.

Following the C-section delivery, Dr. Pamela Liu, Virginelli’s obstetrician, decided to perform a hysterectomy because of post-operative bleeding that she considered life-threatening. The new mother was dismayed to discover that her uterus had been removed and she would not be able to have another baby.

Virginelli sued the Chicago hospital for medical malpractice. According to her Chicago personal injury lawyer, the doctor’s decision to perform the hysterectomy was an act of medical misconduct. Experts have noted that Liu could have conducted other, less severe medical procedures that would have stopped the bleeding.

Virginelli says her loss of the ability to have more children continues to haunt her to this day.

Liu works for The Women’s Group of Northwestern. Virginelli lost a previous Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit she had filed against the group but that verdict was overturned.

Hysterectomy
A hysterectomy is a procedure that removes a woman’s womb. Hysterectomies are not reversible, and therefore serious consideration must be made when electing to have this procedure done. A doctor can be held liable for medical malpractice if he or she botches the hysterectomy or, during an emergency situation, performs the procedure without the patient’s consent when other, less permanent procedures could have been conducted.

Generally, doctors are supposed to obtain a patient’s informed consent for any type of treatment. Failure to obtain informed consent can also be grounds for a Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit.

Woman Gives Birth, Loses Uterus To Hysterectomy, CBS2, September 17, 2009

Woman Awarded $5 Million After "Unnecessary" Hysterectomy, NBC, September 17, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Hysterectomy, Women'sHealth

Call for fewer hysterectomy ops, BBC News, September 11, 2009

A Palatine, Illinois woman who sustained serious injuries when the boat she was a passenger in capsized on August 15 is suing two boat operators for her Illinois personal injuries.

Brenda Schmid was thrown into the water and pinned underwater and trapped in the mud after two boats collided with one another. Fortunately, she was rescued, resuscitated, and flown to a Park Ridge hospital.

Authorities later found out that Mark Holmquest, the operator of the boat Schmid was a passenger in, and David Caplan, the operator of the other vessel involved in the collision, were intoxicated at the time of the Lake County, Illinois boat accident. Both men were charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

Schmid’s Illinois boating accident lawsuit names the two men among the defendants.

2008 Recreational Boating Statistics (US Coast Guard):

• Alcohol was the #1 leading contributing factor in deadly boating accidents.
• There were 4,789 recreational boating accidents.
• 709 boating fatalities occurred.
• Drowning was a factor in 2/3rds of these deaths.
• 3,331 people sustained boating accident injuries.
• Five common causes of boating accidents included operator inattention, reckless/careless boat operation, boat operator inexperience, failure keep a proper lookout, and passenger behavior.
• Personal watercrafts, motorboats, and cabin motorboats were the most common kinds of boats involved in recreational boating accidents.

It is the responsibility of a watercraft owner and/or operator to protect passengers from injuries, as well as exercise the proper safety measures so that swimmers, water skiers, and people riding on other boats don’t get hurt. This means making sure that the person operating the boat has been trained properly, knows how to safely navigate a boat, and does not engage in negligent driving behavior (including drunk driving).

2008 Recreational Boating Accident Statistics, US Coast Guard (PDF)

Woman sues after drunk boat driver crashes, Chicago Sun-Times, September 10, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Lakes in Illinois

Boat Accidents Overview, Justia

Two separate Illinois personal injury lawsuits involving fall accidents caused by hazards on premises are scheduled to go to trial next week. In one case, Mattie Walker-Bennett had sued the City of Alton, its public works department, American Waterworks Service Company, Illinois Water Company, the owner of Central Rivers Construction, and several individuals for injuries she sustained during a 2006 slip and fall accident on a broken sidewalk.

Per her Illinois premises liability lawsuit, Walker-Bennett says she fell in Alton on Alby Street while walking in front of the home of Donna and Jerry Cannon, who are also defendants in the lawsuit. Her complaint contends that the sidewalk was not properly maintained and that a water meter was one reason the ground was in disrepair.

The plaintiff says she sustained permanent ankle and foot injuries and experienced pain, anxiety, stress, humiliation, embarrassment, and income loss because of the fall accident. She also contends that her ability to work was diminished.

Walker-Bennett has already settled her claims against the Cannons and the city of Alton Harold Garrison and American Waterworks are no longer part of the lawsuit. She is seeking at least $50,000 in damages.

In another premises liability trial scheduled to resume next week, Michael Strong is suing Walter Haire and the Walter Haire Living Trust for his fall injuries, pain, suffering, mental trauma, lost income, and medical expenses. Strong says he fell off the deck of a home he was visiting in Edwardsville. He contends that the defendants failed to warn of the hazard, did not properly maintain the deck, and failed to maintain the faulty railing.

Injuries from fall accidents can be extremely painful and can result in broken bones, dislocated or broken hips, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and death. A person that is seriously injured in a fall accident may require surgery, supervised care, and rehabilitation services. He or she may not be able to work, drive, go to school, or completely many routine tasks without assistance. All of this can be very costly, which is why it is important to find out if you have grounds for filing a Chicago injury lawsuit against a liable party.

Alton broken sidewalk case goes to trial Monday, Madison Record, September 10, 2009

Edwardsville deck fall case goes to trial Monday, The Record, September 10, 2009

Premises Liability, Nolo

Related Web Resources:
Premises Liability Act, Illinois, Justia

A City Council committee has advanced a $3.4 million Chicago motorcycle accident settlement for rider Juan Munoz. The 33-year-old motorcyclist was on his motorcycle on September 4, 2000 when he hit a sinkhole. The sinkhole, according to one neighbor, had expanded to 36-inches in diameter, and residents in the area had complained about the road defect.

Munoz, who was thrown from his bike, hit a parked car. As a result of the Chicago motorcycle accident, he suffered a stroke, sustained multiple fractures to his cervical spine, and developed cerebral edema.

To this day, Munoz has not been able to get back his vision in one of his eyes, is unable to move his right arm, experiences weakness in his right leg, has decreased pulmonary function, and suffers from leg spasms.

Months before Munoz’s Chicago motorcycle crash, workers from the Water Department had fixed a leaking water main in the 900 bock of South Western. Less than two weeks before Munoz’s Chicago motorcycle crash, an inspector from the Department of Transportation found that the repair’s concrete base had failed, which resulted in the sunken street. Repairs, however, were not made to the depressed area prior to Munoz’s injury accident.

Damages on Chicago roads that could cause injury or death must be repaired. Failure to do so can be grounds for a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit against a state agency or a local municipality. Road debris or obstructions must also be cleared out for the safety of motorcyclists, vehicle occupants, and pedestrians.

Defects or design hazards on the road that could result in a Chicago personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit:

• Poorly marked road or highway divide
• Too much gravel or oil on the road
• Potholes
• Failure to warn about a construction zone up ahead
• Failure to properly mark a construction zone
• Shoulder reductions
• Blind corners
• Glare from street lights
• Low curbing
• Drain pits that aren’t covered
• Cobble stones
• Defective traffic lights
• Signs that are hard to read or see

Injured motorcyclist could get $3.25 million after hitting sinkhole, Chicago Sun-Times, September 8, 2009

Related Web Resources:
City Council, City of Chicago

Chicago Motorcycle Guide

In Cook County, Illinois, a judge has awarded the family of Michael Waugh $15 million for his airplane accident death. Waugh, a 37-year-old Algonquin resident, was one of four people killed when the Cessna 421B they were riding in crashed in a storage yard in January 2006.The twin-engine plane was heading to Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling.

$6 million of the $15 million Chicago wrongful death settlement is to go to Waugh’s widow. The remainder of the award will go to the Waugh’s three sons.

The Chicago plane accident complaint accused Morgan Stanley of acting improperly by letting employees use personal planes when doing business. According to the family’s Chicago airplane crash lawyer, all other financial institutions prohibit this practice.

The lawsuit accuses Mark Turek, a Morgan Stanley senior vice president and the person who was piloting the plane when it crashed, of negligence. Turek, 59, also died in the Cook County aviation accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board reported that based on its investigation, the Illinois plane crash occurred because of pilot error. Turek was an amateur pilot, not a professional one. The NTSB says that Turek was unable to maintain airspeed as the plane was getting ready to land. As a result, the aircraft stalled before crashing.

The two other people who died in the plane crash were Sybaris Clubs International Inc. founder Ken Knudson and Morgan Stanley financial adviser and Chicago resident Scott Garland. Waugh was chief operating partner and general manager of Chicago dining locale Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak, and Stone Crab Restaurant.

Chicago Airplane Accident
There are many laws, regulations, and other factors that must be taken into consideration when proving liability in your Chicago plane crash case. Your Illinois aviation accident attorney will also have to determine who and/or how many parties can be held liable. Possible defendants might include the airline company, the private plane chartering firm, the party that rented or owns the plane, the plane manufacturer, a plane parts manufacturer, the pilot, the Federal Aviation Administration, ground crew workers, and others.

Plane crash lawsuit settled: $15 million settlement approved by judge in 2006 crash near Wheeling airport, Chicago Tribune, September 4, 2009

Family Of Small Plane Crash Victim Files Lawsuit, CBS2Chicago, February 8, 2006

Related Web Resources:
Federal Aviation Administration

National Transportation Safety Board

In Cook County Circuit Court, Allecyn Edwards is suing the Chicago Zoological Society and the Brookfield Zoo for her slip and fall injuries. Edwards contends that she was injured because the defendants had trained the dolphins to splash water at the spectators in the stands, which wet the surrounding floors and made them slippery.

Edwards says that there should have been warning signs to let her know that the floors were wet and that mats should have been used. With her Chicago premises liability lawsuit, Edwards is seeking over $50,000.

Edwards slipped and fell on August 20, 2008 while walking along the floor located close to the bleachers at the zoo’s dolphin exhibit. She claims that her injuries have resulted in pain and suffering, medical expenses, and lost wages.

Slip and Fall Accidents
More than 20,000 people a day are injured in the US in slip and fall accidents. Slip and fall accidents can even be fatal if a person sustains a traumatic brain injury or another serious injury or suffers a health complication as a result of the fall accident.

Slip and fall claims are a kind of Chicago premises liability case that holds the premise owner or manager liable for the condition that caused the injury accident. Could the premise owner or another responsible party have prevented the slip and fall accident? Did either of these parties contribute in some way—even via ignorance—to causing the slip accident, fall accident, or trip accident from happening? Even if the premise owner didn’t know about the hazard that contributed to the slip and fall accident, should this person or entity have known about the danger so it could have been remedied before someone got hurt?

Other kinds of Chicago premises liability claims may include grounds for:
• Inadequate security
• Improper maintenance
• Falling merchandise
• A defective product on the premise

Brookfield Zoo dolphin lawsuit: Woman sues over fall she blames on wet floor, Chicago Tribune, August 20, 2009

Slip and Fall, Nolo

Related Web Resources:
Brookfield Zoo, Chicago Zoological Society

Read Allecyn Edwards's slip and fall lawsuit (PDF)