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The 3rd District Illinois Appellate Court has affirmed a Bureau County Jury Verdict in a premises liability case against the City of Princeton. The plaintiff was injured when he stepped into a depression on a sidewalk and fell on Main Street in Princeton, Illinois. The plaintiff introduced evidence of over $119,000 in medical bills to the jury. The jury returned a verdict of $170,800 for the plaintiff.

During trial, defense counsel attempted to introduce evidence that the bills were discounted down to $34,888.00 by Medicare. (If a hospital or doctor receive a Medicare payment that is less than the amount billed, the rest of the bill is wiped out by accepting payment from Medicare).

The Court barred the defense from introducing evidence that the bill was reduced to $34,888.00 under the collateral source rule. This rule stops a defendant from informing the jury that the plaintiff has insurance, as a jury may then improperly conclude that the plaintiff sustained no damages.

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A Lake County, Illinois single vehicle auto accident has left two men dead after they were ejected from the automobile. The accident happened on Illinois 145 near Edwards Road in North Suburban Antioch, Illinois. The driver of an SUV lost control of his vehicle, crossed the center line, and rolled over in a ditch on the east side of the road.

One passenger was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other was pronounced dead at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois. The driver, who was wearing a seat belt, only sustained minor injuries and was treated and released from Victory Memorial Hospital in Lake County.

Lake County Sheriff’s Dept. and the Antioch Police and Fire Dept. were at the scene of the accident, and the Lake County Sheriff is investigating the cause of the crash. It has not been disclosed if the passengers were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. The driver has received a ticket for driving too fast for conditions.

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An Illinois Car Crash on I 57 at 119th Street in Chicago has resulted in injuries to 3 people, according to the Daily Southtown Newspaper. All were taken to Chicago area hospitals. One injury was critical according to Chicago Fire Department officials.

An Illinois State Trooper stated that one of the vehicles back door was crushed, making it difficult to remove one occupant. The crash happened at 1 a.m. and blocked 2 lanes of northbound traffic. The cause of the accident is still unknown.Click here to read entire story.

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In Chicago, Illinois personal injury attorneys from Abels & Assoc. reached a premises liability settlement for $20,000 with Jewel-Osco. The case involved a Chicago resident who cut his hand on glass that was protruding from the handle of a grocery cart. The glass was dirty and appeared to have been there for a long time. The store is liable for the injuries because they had constructive notice of the danger, meaning with reasonable inspection they should have discovered and removed the glass from the cart before the plaintiff was inured.

The plaintiff bandaged his hand, but several days later the wound became infected, and he had to seek medical treatment at a Chicago area hospital.

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2 Chicago, Illinois police officers and 1 civilian were injured in a car crash on the morning of November 15 when a private vehicle rear-ended a police car. The accident happened near Kildare Avenue and Wilcox Street in Chicago. As of this morning, all 3 of the injured were in good condition in local hospitals. The officers were taken to Mount Sinai and the person from the other car was taken to Stroger Hospital.

The Chicago Police Department has indicated that if citations are issued, it will be to the other vehicle. Under Illinois law, motorists are required to keep a proper look out for other vehicle in the area, and not to travel to fast for conditions. At first look, from a lawyer’s perspective, the officers will have a good civil case against the driver of the other car. From my own experience as a lawyer, usually the car that rear ends another car is found to be at fault.Click here to read entire story.

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Cook County Judge Diane Larsen has ruled Illinois’ law limiting jury awards for medical malpractice cases unconstitutional. The law imposed a cap on non-economic damages (pain and suffering and disfigurement) of $500,000 against doctors and $1,000,000 million against hospitals.

The ruling was made in Estate of Lebron Abigaile, et. al., v. Roberto Levi Dancona, M.D., et. al., Cook County Case No. 2006 L 012109. The case will now most likely go up on appeal directly to the Illinois Supreme Court.

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In Chicago, Illinois four transplant recipients have contracted HIV from a high risk organ donor whose infection went undetected, according to the Chicago Tribune. The transplants occurred at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Rush University Medical Center and the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The Tribune reports that an Elmhurst, Illinois based organ donor agency involved in the matter has admitted that a screening questionnaire showed that the HIV infected donor had engaged in high-risk behavior, but the agency still tested and approved the organs for donation.

Whether it was negligent for the agency to approve the organ donation after the disclosure of high risk behavior is an issue that will likely be decided in Court.

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A recent Cook County verdict in a wrongful death auto accident case may send a strong message to insurance companies. On September 28, 2007 a jury at the Daley Center in Chicago awarded the Estate of an accident victim $250,000 in a personal injury lawsuit. The deceased was a passenger in her own car when the defendant driver of the vehicle lost control and rolled over. The plaintiff was ejected from the car and died from her injuries.

Prior to trial at the Daley Center in Chicago, counsel for plaintiff demanded $20,000 to settle, and there was no offer from the defendant. You may be asking yourself why the plaintiff’s demand was only $20,000 on a death case. In Illinois, the minimum coverage for an auto insurance policy is $20,000 per person, and $40,000 per occurrence. The insurance company normally would only be responsible for the first $20,000 of the verdict. However, here the attorney for the plaintiff, Debra Crystal of Harvey L. Walner & Assoc. has indicated she will attempt to collect the entire amount against the insurance company on a bad faith claim. She is alleging the insurance company acted in bad faith by not paying out the $20,000 policy and failing to protect the defendant from a verdict far in excess of the insurance policy. She will attempt to punish the insurance company for not paying on the claim prior to trial. Continue reading

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Chicago Personal Injury Lawyers from Abels & Assoc. just settled a workers’ compensation case for the Chicago Area lineman pictured below. When he is out and about in Chicago he is often approached by football fans who think he is either Chicago Bear Cedric Bensen, or former Chicago Bear Tank Johnson.

While he certainly looks like a pro football player (6’6″ and 250+ lbs), he is actually Kankakee, Illinois resident Andrew Bradley, and he is not a lineman for the Bears, but rather a lineman for AT&T. He is one of the brave guys up on the telephone poles making needed repairs.

He injured his shoulder while lifting a heavy object at work. He suffered a small tear to his supraspinatus tendon that will not require surgery. His work comp. case just settled for $25,000.

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A Kane County, Illinois multi-vehicle crash has severely hurt two teens after their vehicle was struck by a semi-truck on November 9, 2007. The Chicago Area teens were traveling in a Toyota Corolla northbound on Meredith Road at it’s intersection with Route 38 in unincorporated Virgil Township, Illinois when they were struck and injured by an eastbound Mitsubishi Gallant.

The intersection is controlled by stop signs for north and south traffic on Meredith, and vehicles on east and west Route 38 have no stop sign. After the initial impact, a semi-truck was unable to stop in time to avoid a collision with the Toyota.

The Kane County Sheriff’s Department, Illinois State Police and the Kane County Accident Reconstruction Team are investigating the crash. No citations have yet been issued, and it does not appear that drugs or alcohol are an issue. The Toyota Corolla was driven by an 18-year-old female driver and the passenger was a 19-year-old male.

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