Below is just a sampling of some of the results I have achieved for clients over my 15 years of personal injury practice.  As you review these please understand that even if your case (or potential case) sounds similar to one of those listed below that each case if different.  The results below are not necessarily indicative of the value of any other case.  Thanks.

Result: $2,970,000.00

A 29 year old woman suffered deprivation of oxygen to her brain, leaving her in a persistent vegatative state, when caregivers administered too much Propofol (Diprivan) and failed to protect her airway during surgical termination of her pregnancy.  The case was resolved for the full amount of all applicable insurance coverage.

Result: $1,750,000.00

Physicians failed to diagnose and treat a severe infection in the dominant arm of a 42 year-old, diabetic man. As a result, he was forced to undergo amputation of his arm. This was reportedly the largest arm-related settlement in Will County, Illinois history.

Result: $1,100,000.00

An 11 year-old girl was being towed in an inflatable inner tube behind a boat operated by a family friend on a lake near Antioch, Illinois.  As she traveled around the lake another boat motoring across the waterway collided with her body causing a serious shoulder injury.  The girl was left with scarring and a reduced ability to use the arm.  Plaintiff’s complaint alleged that the drivers of both boats failed to maintain an adequate lookout for others using the waterway and passed too closely to one another, thereby causing the collision.

Result: $616,666.67

A man in his 20s suffered a broken hip and fractured facial bones when the building he was working in collapsed.  The historic building located in Coles County Illinois was being prepared for demolition.  Plaintiff’s complaint alleged that the building was not properly shored prior to the start of the tear-down, causing it to collapse prematurely and unexpectedly.  This case involved numerous declaratory judgment actions filed by the various insurers involved in an attempt to avoid payout.

Result: $564,580.43 (structured payout)

A 22 month-old child was attacked by the defendants’ dog while the child and his mother were visiting the defendants’ home.  The attack caused significant scalp injuries.  Plaintiff’s complaint alleged that defendants failed to take proper steps to protect the boy from the dog even though they knew that the dog had attacked the minor plaintiff, and at least one other child, on previous occasions.

Result: $375,000.00

An elderly man was struck and killed by a minivan while riding his bicycle through a traffic intersection in Mattoon, Illinois.  The defense was prepared to present extensive scientific evidence from an accident reconstruction expert that the decedent himself was at fault for the incident.  However, investigation uncovered a witness to the scene who observed the defendant driver speeding through the intersection while not paying proper attention.

Result: $300,000.00

The plaintiff, a 40 year old man, was traveling eastbound in Belmont Avenue in Chicago when the defendant abruptly attempted to perform a u-turn, swerving directly into the path of the plaintiff’s vehicle. As a result, the plaintiff suffered a neck injury resulting in significant pain that took several months to resolve.

Result:  $100,000.00

A Chicago bicycle commuter was doored by a driver stopped along the curb on North Lincoln Avenue in the Lakeview nieghborhood.  The bicyclist was riding in the bicycle lane when the carelessly opened door sliced into the bottom of his left leg causing a serious injury requiring surgery.  The motorist was uninsured, so resolution of the case was reached with the cyclists’ own auto insurer pursuant to his uninsured motorist coverage.

Result:  $100,000.00

A 42 year old Chicago cyclist was struck by a SUV emerging from an alley on the 4800 block of West Belle Plaine Avenue.  The bicyclist suffered a torn right labrum (shoulder) requiring arthroscopic surgical repair.  He had been riding on the sidewalk, which adults are not permitted to do in Chicago, before entering the alley where he was hit.  We successfully argued, however, that the city’s prohibitive ordinance may not be used to bar an injured cyclist from receiving just compensation.  Pursuant to Garcia v. City of Chicago, 240 Ill.App.3d 199 (1st Dist. 1992), the ordinance was enacted to protect pedestrians and young cyclists from adult bicyclists using the sidewalk.  It was never intended to protect drivers from cyclists and, therefore, could not be used as a shield under the circumstances of our case.

Result: $100,000.00

A woman slipped and fell on ice that formed on a METRA platform, breaking her leg. Plaintiff claimed that the ice formed from a broken rain gutter that caused water to drip directly onto the platform which froze following a drop in outside temperature.

Result:  $75,000.00

A 31 year old Chicago man riding his bicycle home from dinner with his girlfriend was struck by a motorist who blew a red light in the Logan Square neighborhood.  The bicyclist suffered facial injuries but recovered fully.  The cyclist was riding without a headlamp as is required under Illinois law.  However, we used photographic evidence, along with the testimony of a witness, to demonstrate that the intersection was very well lit at the time of the crash and the cyclist’s lack of lighting was not a contributing cause of the collision.

Result:  $75,000.00

A 38 year old man was riding his bicycle home from work in front of Chicago’s East Bank Club along West Kinzie Street when the driver of a Mercedes Benz opened her car door into his path.  The cyclist struck the door with his right shin resulting in a significant laceration requiring 11 stitches.  The man experienced temporary nerve damage affecting his lower right leg that took several months to heal.  This incident occurred just prior to the installation of Chicago’s first segregated bicycle lane along West Kinzie Street.

Result: $70,000.00

A 24 year old man was riding his bicycle to work at his Loop office when a taxi cab suddenly swerved into him.  The bicyclist was thrown off his bike, crashing hard to the ground.  He suffered a fractured clavicle requiring surgical repair.