Illinois Lawyer Referrals and Legal Guidance

Archive for February, 2010

Advice from a Chicago slip and fall attorney- one messed up law

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

In the past two weeks we’ve received around 10 calls from people who have sustained rather serious injuries due to the terrible weather we have been having as of late. The typical story is that they were walking outside their building and encountered a big sheet of ice. Next thing you know they are looking like the skater in the picture above (minus the fancy outfit, but suffering from a broken ankle).

When the callers learn about Illinois slip and fall laws they are generally surprised. When it comes to falls that are a result of snow or ice, you have to show that the snow or ice developed un-naturally.

In other words, if you wake up one day and the ground is covered with snow, you can’t sue because your landlord didn’t shovel or had it plowed. That is natural accumulation of snow and ice. On the other hand, if your landlord salts, shovels, plows, etc. and then you fall, it’s probably un-natural and you might have a case.

So if they do the right thing then they can be sued, if they do nothing they are usually ok. To me that is messed up.

There are tons of exceptions to this rule. If ice develops because it drips off an awning or a gutter, that is not natural. If you slip because snow was dragged in to a store or building by other people there is almost never liability. If you have only one way in or out of a building then it might make it a case, but not if the landlord didn’t have a reasonable amount of time to fix the defect.

You will find that a lot of personal injury attorneys in Illinois shy away from these cases because they are so difficult. That is true for most premises liability situations. But if you do get hurt from a fall on ice or snow this winter you should do a few things:

1. Get medical treatment.

2. Take photos and/or video of the area where you fell ASAP. It’s hard to prove the conditions of a property in July when it’s 80 degrees out.

3. Notify the building owner.

4. Write down what happened and get witness statements.

Since 2001, findgreatlawyers.com has been the leading resource for Illinois attorney referrals and legal guidance. If you would like our help please contact one of our lawyers via our on-line form or call (800) 517-1614. We are based in Chicago, but help people find attorneys for legal matters throughout Illinois. All inquiries are free and confidential.

Tags: natural accumulation, slip and fall, snow and ice
Posted in Injury Cases | Comments Off

Hey look, we got published

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

http://www.thelawstreetjournal.com/1l-2l/law-school-b.s

Posted in Did You Know? | Comments Off

Attorneys in Illinois- Five tips on estate planning, wages, legal malpractice and more

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Every Wednesday we present five legal tips based on interesting questions from callers.

My boss said he is going to dock us one hour worth of pay for every fifteen minutes he considers us late or for time he thinks we are wasting. Is this legal?

No.

When I first hired an attorney he said the estimated costs for my case would be around $10,000. After two years I just got a bill for $150,000!!! Can I sue for legal malpractice?

It’s not legal malpractice to run up a bigger bill than estimated. That said, there may be grounds for contesting the bill, but we’d need to know more. No matter who you are though, if you hire an attorney who bills by the hour you should demand a monthly itemized statement so you can stay on top of what they are doing.

My husband and I live in Chicago, but also own a home in Florida. We need to make a will; do we need a will in Illinois and Florida?

One will or trust should cover everything in both states.

I paid $2,000 to a California company to do a loan modification on my property in Chicago. The bank then agreed to one for me without them doing anything. Can I get my money back?

Probably yes because it is against the law for a non-attorney to charge anything up front for a loan modification in Illinois.

My spouse makes $150,000 a year and I stay at home with the kids. I want a divorce, but he won’t let me access any of our money. Is there a way to make him pay my lawyer bills?

Yes, we can file a petition with the Judge to make that happen. It is usually granted when there is a big disparity in income as exists in this scenario.

Tags: estate planning, legal malpractice
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What it takes to get an Illinois lawyer who only gets paid if they win

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Hiring an attorney can be expensive. Generally speaking, the longer a case takes the more money it costs. The only way to avoid this is to have a law firm that works on a flat fee basis (typically real estate closings, loan modification, most criminal matters) or a contingency basis which means they only get paid if they win the case. So how do you get an attorney that works that way?

First off, it’s against the law to handle a divorce or criminal case on a “paid if you win” basis. On occasion you can do this for child support if the debtor owes a lot of money and actually has the ability to pay. You also can’t do this for cases where you are hoping to recover some property (e.g. A lawyer can’t take a percentage of the dog you are trying to get back from an ex).

Contingency fees are most common in injury cases like car accidents, job injuries, medical malpractice, etc. In fact if you sustain an injury that is someone else’s fault if a lawyer is asking for money to handle the case you should run away.

These fee arrangements also take place on social security disability appeals, most legal malpractice lawsuits and some commercial litigation and collection cases if they are worth enough money. It’s also possible on some employment law cases if you have the evidence in your favor. In other words, you can’t just say “I think I was fired because of my race” you have to have actual evidence of it.

In areas of law where not every lawyer works on a contingency, the way to get one to take your case is to show that it’s worth their while. You do that by making clear how much it could be worth if they win (it’s not worth working on a contingency if you only stand to make a few hundred dollars) and the likelihood of success (even if your ex-employer owes you $250,000 in commissions, if they are filing for bankruptcy the chances of getting that money are slim).

When an attorney works on a contingency it’s risk/reward for them. The risk is that they will do a ton of work and get nothing. The reward is if they win they will get a good pay day. In most situations the lawyers take 1/3 of what they recover. It’s less in some areas (workers’ compensation by law can’t be more than 20%) and occasionally more if the case is really challenging.

We certainly know many lawyers that consider cases this way, even in unique areas where most lawyers don’t. Think to yourself if you would take the case that way if you were an attorney and that will probably be a good guide as to whether or not you will be able to find anyone for your unique case.

Tags: "medical malpractice", car accident attorney Chicago, contingency, wrongful death law firm in Illinois
Posted in Litigation | Comments Off

Top 10 reasons people fire an Illinois law firm

Monday, February 15th, 2010

In nine years of helping people find the right lawyer for their situation or just answering Illinois legal questions, I estimate that I’ve talked to approximately 140,000 people. Many of those people have come to us looking for a new attorney or questioning whether they should stick with their current attorney. While not as many people end their relationship with their attorney as get divorced (it’s about 50% for divorce), there are a lot of people stuck in an unhappy relationship with their lawyer. Many others finish off a case and know that they’ll never work with that attorney again. In my opinion, here are the top 10 reasons people fire an attorney in Illinois.

1. They don’t get call backs. Two to three times a day we hear from someone who has an attorney that doesn’t call back. Your attorney isn’t supposed to be available 24/7, but if you leave a message and don’t hear back within 24-48 hours it’s a problem. I’m shocked at the number of lawyers that ignore multiple messages, some over a period of months. For some reason the clients just take it. You don’t have to. In almost any case you can easily switch lawyers.

2. The lawyer is rude. Most attorneys you meet are no different than you or any of your friends in real life. But some get in to “lawyer mode” and just act like jerks. Others don’t have the patience to explain things to clients. Still others just hate what they are doing and take it out on the client. There is no excuse for it. We got a call once from a lady whose husband had died from possible medical malpractice. As if she didn’t have enough troubles, the Chicago malpractice lawyer she hired yelled at her whenever she inquired about the case. Unbelievable.

3. The client realizes the attorney doesn’t know what they are doing. Once you get into a case and see that the opposing attorney seems much smarter than your lawyer it makes sense it would scare you.

4. They don’t feel that the lawyer is fighting for them. This is sometimes true and sometimes just perception. But if you are hurt on the job and without pay for six months or in a custody battle where you haven’t seen your kids in weeks, if your law firm doesn’t express a sense of urgency it’s a problem.

5. They realize that the law firm they hired doesn’t do a lot of work in the county where the case is taking place. A top criminal lawyer in Chicago isn’t a great hire for you if your case is in Lake County and the lawyer rarely goes there. In family law, criminal defense, workers’ compensation and other types of cases, the Judges tend to favor the lawyers they see all the time.

6. It’s just costing too much. If you hire a divorce lawyer and they estimate the case will take $3,500 from start to finish and suddenly your bill is at $10,000, that’s a problem. For some they can’t afford to go on. For others it creates a trust issue.

7. They think they could do just as good on their own. We see this a lot in family law when someone has been in a case for years. It’s an understandable frustration that unfortunately is often wrong. Many Judges just won’t listen to people that are representing themselves.

8. The attorney didn’t know the case. Imagine how you’d feel if you were counting on someone to represent you and despite all of the information you have given them they show up to court and are scrambling to figure out what the facts are.

9. The lawyer hasn’t followed through on what they said they were going to do. Some law firms in Illinois are great about sitting down with a client and getting a plan together. Yet after they tell the client about the motions they will file or the evidence that they will present they do nothing. Wills in Illinois are supposed to be filed within 30 days of someones passing. How would you feel if you went to a probate lawyer and learned six months later they had done nothing?

10. The case gets shuffled from one attorney to another. When hiring a law firm, we always suggest that you verify who will actually be handling your case. Some firms have high turnover, some move files around. In one case, a woman told us that in 12 months there were six different lawyers that were assigned to her file. Each time a switch was made she was sent a form letter that said who the new attorney would be and how “excited” they were to work with her. That’s not an isolated story. One workers compensation law firm in Chicago is known for hiring young lawyers who never stay very long before they find a better job. One guy told us that in two years he had five different attorneys with that firm. About ten other callers have had similar experiences.

Like a marriage, you want your relationship with your law firm to work out. But if it’s not successful it is almost always easy and inexpensive to make a change. You just want to do so before it’s too late.

Tags: customer service, Illinois law firms, probate
Posted in Did You Know? | Comments Off

Largest injury awards outside of Cook County in 2009

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Yesterday we did a blog post on the largest injury cases from Cook County in 2009. Today is a listing of the biggest ones from outside of Cook County. Of course there aren’t as many and they aren’t as large because there are more people in Cook County than anywhere else and the rest of the state is more conservative.

OUTSIDE OF COOK COUNTY SETTLEMENTS

Award for Plaintiff: $12.50 Million

Case Cite: Keith Quadros, et al. vs Undisclosed Medical Provider,

Brief Description: Feeding tube was inserted into 3 week old premature infants lung space instead of his stomach. Baby went into respiratory arrest after being fed and suffered oxygen deprivation which in turn caused cerebral palsy.

Award for Plaintiff: $12.00 Million

Case Cite: Michael Davis, etc. vs Rashidi Gani Loya, MD., et al

Brief Description: 44 year old woman suffered anoxic encephalopathy and brain damage as a result of alarms failing to sound on the ventilator equipment during an elective biopsy for left ankle pain.

Award for Plaintiff: $12.00 Million

Case Cite: Jeremy Law vs OSF Healthcare System

Brief Description: Baby boy born with permanent disabilities and is required to be on a ventilator and 24 hour care. This is a result of the doctor failing to determine child was breech before inducing labor and the nurse’s failure to notify doctor of the baby becoming bradycardic.

Award for Plaintiff: $7.65 Million

Case Cite: Cindy Segerberg, etc. vs Provena St Joseph Medical Center

Brief Description: Nurse failed recognize and respond to fetal heart patterns causing baby boy to suffer from numerous permanent damages. Such as Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, seizures, mental retardation, and cerebral palsy.

Award for Plaintiff: $7.00 Million

Case Cite: Claire Putman vs Target

Brief Description: 81 year old woman has suffered from a diffused brain injury which has caused some lasting cognitive deficiencies. This was a result of Targets doors malfunctioning.

Award for Plaintiff: $6.00 Million

Case Cite: Steven Coulson, et vs A Utility Service Provider, et al.,

Brief Description: 43 year old mother of two suffered injuries such as severe brain injury causing cerebral edema, memory loss, vision problems and cognitive defects. This happened while riding her bike on the sidewalk and hitting a warning sign which caused her to flip.

Award for Plaintiff: $5.50 Million

Case Cite: Tyanna Cannata, et al. vs Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, et al.

Brief Description: Contamination of ground water in Wayne Township affected the primary water source to about 90 families causing these families to suffer the loss of use and enjoyment of their homes.

Award for Plaintiff: $5.40 Million

Case Cite: Lindsey Welch vs Hinsadale Hospital, et al.,

Brief Description: New born girl and mother released from hospital despite detection of a heart murmur. Mother was instructed to follow up with pediatrician in 2 weeks. Within 1 week newborn suffered cardiovascular collapse due to congenital heart defect and coarctation of the aorta which resulted in sustained brain damage and moderate mental retardation.

Award for Plaintiff: $4.75 Million

Case Cite: George Baldwin IV vs William Klairmont, et al.,

Brief Description: 19 year old man was left paralyzed from the chest down as a result of the driver driving while intoxicated in November of 2006. The two had been drinking at a residence in Lake Forest while a mother was present at the home.

Award for Plaintiff: $4.50 Million

Case Cite: Brief Description: 52 year old suffer severe and permanent brain damage as a result of the hospitals employees failing to properly monitor her post-operatively. The hospital then failed to resuscitate the woman in a timely manner after apnea.

Award for Plaintiff: $4.10 Million

Case Cite: Christopher Tornow, et al. vs St. Margaret Hospital.

Brief Description: Newborn baby boy suffers from cerebral palsy as a result of the hospital failing to recognize the signs and symptoms of Group B Strep. After the infant was release the infection had progressed and was untreatable by morning.

Award for Plaintiff: $3.70 Million

Case Cite: Robert Brooks, et al. vs Larry L Roundy, et al,

Brief Description: 43 year old man suffered multiple injuries as a result of a truck driver speeding through a construction zone and colliding with another vehicle.

Award for Plaintiff: $3.50 Million

Case Cite: Estate of Heidi White vs. BroMenn Medical Center, et al.,

Brief Description: 27 year old woman went into respiratory arrest and passed away as a result of nurses failing to properly monitor her after being diagnosed with preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome, as well as the doctor failing to perform a physical exam and order anti-hypertensive medications in a timely manner.

Award for Plaintiff: $3.50 Million

Case Cite: Samuel Baker vs. Silver Cross Hospital, et al.,

Brief Description: As a result of the nurse failing to report 2.5 hours of fetal tachycardia to the attending OB during the delivery of a baby boy. The infant suffered from hypoxic ischemic injury, brain damage and cerebral palsy which contributed to his death by age 9

Award for Plaintiff: $3.50 Million

Case Cite: Estate of Ryan Rendleman vs. Effingham Equity, et al.,

Brief Description: 22 year old college student died as a result of a driver of a semi-tractor trailer loaded with 40 tons of agricultural lime failed to stop in a construction zone due to irresponsible driving.

Award for Plaintiff: $3.35 Million

Case Cite: Elizabeth Bryla, etc. vs. Edward Zurawski, et al.,

Brief Description: 45 year old man killed instantly when a construction superintendent ran a red light.

Award for Plaintiff: $3.20 Million

Case Cite: Braden metheny, et al. vs. Swedish American Hospital, et al.,

Brief Description: 41 year old man is unable to work and requires 24 hour care due to becoming a quadriplegic as a result of the nurse anesthetist failed to notify doctor of the mans drop in heart rate. In conjunction to this the doctor continued screwing an allograft into place. The screw fractured and by not removing the fragment immediately the man was left with pressure on the spine.

Award for Plaintiff: $3.00 Million

Case Cite: Hunter Santoro, etc. vs. Amber Barhart, MD., et al.,

Brief Description: Newborn suffers from nerve damage to his should and paralysis of his right arm as a result of the doctor using excessive force during the delivery instead of utilizing proper maneuvers to free the infants impacted shoulders.

Award for Plaintiff: $3.00 Million

Case Cite: Estate of Tiffany Ross vs Carle Foundation Hospital, Carl Clinic Association.,

Brief Description: 31 year old woman suffered from a brain herniation and passed away when there wasn’t a shunt placed during the posterior fossa craniotomy with total resection of the choroid plexus papiloma.

Award for Plaintiff: $3.00 Million

Case Cite: Jessalyn Barr, etc. vs. United States of America, et al.,

Brief Description: 4 year old girl is left blind in one eye and has required multiple plastic surgeries as a result of a concrete wall collapsing and crushing her skull at Great Lakes Naval Base.

Award for Plaintiff: $2.80 Million

Case Cite: Cindy Smith, etc. vs Jewel Food Stores, Inc., et al.,

Brief Description: 22 year old college student was killed as a result of being rear-ended by a truck driver. Her vehicle was pushed into a concrete truck which caused her car to burst into flames and collapse.

Tags: "medical malpractice", Illinois, personal injury, settlement, trial
Posted in General | Comments Off

The biggest injury lawsuits in Cook County in 2009

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Most Illinois injury lawsuits result in nothing or next to nothing. Some cases are negligence that result in catastrophic results. Here are the biggest ones in Cook County that we found from 2009. Trust us when we tell you that you wouldn’t want to trade place with any of these families. Coming tomorrow are the biggest ones from outside Cook County. The ones below are all of the cases we saw above $7 million.

Award for Plaintiff: $25.00 Million

Case Cite: Payton White, etc. v. Eileen Murphy, M.D.,

Brief Description: Child now 8 is a quadriplegic as a result of doctor not properly interpreting results of a non-stress test and ultrasound which was performed during the day of his birth therefore child suffered oxygen loss at the time of his birth.

Award for Plaintiff: $20.67 Million

Case Cite: Rusty Wallace, et al. vs Grove Worldwide Inc., et al, consolidated with Michael Masching, et al. vs Alexander Equipment Rental, et al.

Brief Description: Platform collapsed causing the men to be thrown 30 feet. 44 year old sustained fractured ribs and hip causing low-back myofascitis and ruptured ankle. The 41 year old suffered multiple thoracic and lumbar vertebrae fractures as well as bilateral heel fractures. The result of this is severe and permanent back pain and loss of mobility.

Award for Plaintiff: $19.95 Million

Case Cite: Jerelyn Yoder, et al. vs James N Ferguson, et al.,

Brief Description: Multi-vehicle accident on I-90 caused by white-out condition has left 36 year old woman permanently deformed, 2 year old with brain injury causing spastic quadripledia, and 4 year old died.

Award for Plaintiff: $18.00 Million

Case Cite: Irving Nogoy, et al vs Hospira, Inc., et al.,

Brief Description: Explosion at Abbott Lab caused a security guard to have burns on 38 percent of his body.

Award for Plaintiff: $17.30 Million

Case Cite: Herminia Guerrero, etc. Vs Alltown Bus Service, et al.,

Brief Description: A 51 year old woman struck by a bus leaving her with traumatic brain damage, speech deficit, physical disabilities which require 24 hour care.

Award for Plaintiff: $15.71 Million

Case Cite: Elda Heng, etc. vs Rush University, et al.,

Brief Description: A 51 year old woman was left in a vegetative state after a doctor performed a neuroendovascular coiling and stenting procedure which he used a device which was not FDA approved.

Award for Plaintiff: $12.50 Million

Case Cite: Lourdes Perez, etc. vs St. Francis Hospital of Evanston

Brief Description: Woman left with choreoathetoid cerebral palsy due to the nurse failing to properly monitor patient and leaving the patients side causing her heart rate to drop. Woman could not be resuscitated in utero so emergency cesarean was perform.

Award for Plaintiff: $12.07 Million

Case Cite: Marguerite Forsythe, et al. vs Clark USA, Inc.,

Brief Description: Explosion at Clark Refining & Marketing oil refinery left 2 dead. The explosion was caused by untrained workers. Both left families behind.

Award for Plaintiff: $11.00 Million

Case Cite: Mark Bentivenga, etc. vs. Pamela Good win, M.D., et al.,

Brief Description: Patient had a brain hemorrhage and died after being induced due to doctors failure to monitor blood pressure knowing the patient had severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome.

Award for Plaintiff: $10.20 Million

Case Cite: Shawn Luera, et al. vs. Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, et al.,

Brief Description: 34 year old man left with physical, language and cognitive deficits from doctors failure to diagnose infective endocarditis. This caused the patient to have a embolic stroke.

Award for Plaintiff: $9.80 Million

Case Cite: Robert Dickerson, etc vs. Cook County

Brief Description:27 year old woman admitted for preterm labor. Emergency cesarean was performed and he anesthesia team was not informed that the woman was hypovolemic. The women died when the epidural was administered.

Award for Plaintiff: $9.75 Million

Case Cite: Rosa Lopez, et al. vs Leeber Cohen, M.D., et al

Brief Description: Pitocin was improperly managed by hospital staff after being administered. Which in turn caused abnormal fetal heart tones. Baby suffered hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy as well as numerous other problems.

Award for Plaintiff: $9.00 Million

Case Cite: Mia Barragan, etc. vs Antonia Watrobka, et al.,

Brief Description: Midwife failing to obtain proper emergency care when there were obvious signs of fetal distress caused the infant to sustain catastrophic brain damage. The child 5 now is feed out of a tube and requires 24/7 care.

Award for Plaintiff: $9.00 Million

Case Cite: Christopher Ballog, etc. vs University of Illinois Medical Center

Brief Description: 39 year old woman suffered hypoxic brain damage and died as a result of being over sedated during a routine procedure to remove or replace a stent in her biliary tree.

Award for Plaintiff: $8.34 Million

Case Cite: Raymond Smith, Jr. vs Titan Steel Wheels Limited

Brief Description: 47 year old man suffered traumatic brain injury with quadriparesis due to a inflated multi-piece wheel with rim exploding.

Award for Plaintiff: $8.25 Million

Case Cite: Payton White, etc. vs Eileen Murphy, MD, et al

Brief Description: Baby boy suffered hypoxic encephalopathy and severe cerebral palsy due to the doctor failing to appropriately respond to test which in turn caused a delay in delivery.

Award for Plaintiff: $7.90 Million

Case Cite: Elizabeth Frankenfield vs Loyola University Physician Foundation, et al.,

Brief Description: Physician failed to respond to in utero distress and continued delivery vaginally rather than by cesarean which caused the baby girl to suffer from hypoxic ischemia and moderate cerebral palsy.

Award for Plaintiff: $7.75 Million

Case Cite: Luca Vaia, etc. vs Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, et al.,

Brief Description:2 days after infant was discharged he was brought back into the ER he was found to have jaundice and lethartgic. Exchange transfusion took place but was too late to prevent injuries. As a result the child suffers from spastic quadriplegia and other problems.

Award for Plaintiff: $7.55 Million

Case Cite: Vincent Donnellan vs First Student, Inc.,

Brief Description: 31 year old suffers from mild traumatic brain injury with legt leg dystonia and various other permanent problems as a result of being rear-ended by a school bus while waiting to turn left.

Award for Plaintiff: $7.50 Million

Case Cite: Jean Walters vs Advocate Trinity Hospital,

Brief Description: 53 year old woman was hospitalized and hospital failed to diagnose DVT/pulmonary embolism which resulted in her death.

Award for Plaintiff: $7.00 Million

Case Cite: Sharyn Kelly, etc. vs Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation,

Brief Description: Failure to review the results of an abnormal stress test due to an administrative error resulted in the death of a 57 year old attorney.

Tags: largest personal injury settlements
Posted in Injury Cases | Comments Off

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Illinois Lawyer Referrals and Legal Guidance

Archive for February, 2010

Advice from a Chicago slip and fall attorney- one messed up law

Hey look, we got published

Attorneys in Illinois- Five tips on estate planning, wages, legal malpractice and more

What it takes to get an Illinois lawyer who only gets paid if they win

Top 10 reasons people fire an Illinois law firm

Largest injury awards outside of Cook County in 2009

The biggest injury lawsuits in Cook County in 2009