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Litigation

Illinois Lawyer Blog

Focuses on Chicago, IL trial law including insurance, business, commercial, and employment litigation.
By Mark P. Loftus, Esq.

Post Frequency: 0.8/day

Last Entry: March 18, 2011 at 18:05:25

CHICAGO TRIBUNE TAKES CONSUMER PRODUCTS SAFETY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN TO TASK

Posted on September 16, 2008
In a September 14, 2008 editorial, the Chicago Tribune chastised the Consumer Product Safety Commission[CPSC] and its Chairman, Nancy Nord, for an inexplicable failure to act after receiving information about potentially lethal design defects in certain baby bassinets...

WARNINGS WITHHELD ABOUT DANGEROUS BASSINETS

Posted on September 11, 2008
According to a report in today's Chicago Tribune both federal regulators and Graco Children's Products withheld warnings about potentially dangerous bassinets being marketed under the Graco name. The article, written by Patricia Callahan, explains that on August 27, 2008, the U...

EMPLOYERS SPYING ON EMPLOYEES

Posted on September 06, 2008
According to a recent story in the ABA Journal, employers are now spying on employees to make sure the workers are not abusing employment leave policies. The story explains that employers are becoming increasingly frustrated by what they consider to be abuses of leave granted to employees under the Family Medical Leave Act...

POSTSCRIPT ON BELLEVILLE, ILLINOIS SEX ABUSE TRIAL

Posted on August 28, 2008
A St. Clair County, Illinois jury today handed down a multimillion dollar verdict against the Belleville Diocese for flagrant sexual abuse of a minor by Rev. Raymond Kownacki. The plaintiff, James Wisniewski, now 47, claimed that he was repeatedly abused in the 1970's by Kownacki...

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MORE SHOCKING DISCLOSURES IN CLERGY SEX ABUSE TRIAL

Posted on August 27, 2008
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, there was some absolutely jaw-dropping testimony yesterday in a clergy sex abuse case trial currently underway in St. Clair County, Illinois. James Wisniewski, 47, is suing the Belleville, Illinois Diocese for for damages arising out of the years of sexual abuse committed upon him by Rev...

WHEN DOGS ATTACK - A LOOK AT THE ILLINOIS ANIMAL CONTROL ACT

Posted on August 26, 2008
Check out the August issue of the Illinois Bar Journal for a good article by April Pruitt-Summers on the Illinois Animal Control Act, 510 ILCS 5/1 et. seq. The first thing that caught my eye was the link to a study conducted by pediatrician Jeffrey Sacks M...

ILLINOIS STANDARD FOR DIRECTED VERDICT IN BENCH TRIAL

Posted on August 22, 2008
Recently completed a case where my client was involved in a rear end collision with a large truck on a local highway. The case was tried to a judge and at the conclusion of my case the defense, as they always do, argued for a directed verdict. What I did not know at the time[but do now]is that the standard for a directed verdict motion in a bench trial is somewhat different than the standard utilized in a jury trial...

CHICAGO MAN CLAIMS BAD FISH GAVE HIM 9 FOOT TAPEWORM

Posted on August 20, 2008
Another entry from the Truth is Stranger than Fiction Department... A Chicago-area man is claiming that some undercooked fish he ate as a patron at Shaw's Crabhouse had rather horrifying repercussions. Franz recently filed a lawsuit against Shaw's and is claiming that as a result of eating the fish he became violently ill for several days...

NANCY GRACE LAWSUIT

Posted on August 15, 2008
A Florida Federal District Court judge recently refused to dismiss the lawsuit that accuses CNN's Nancy Grace of driving a young woman to commit suicide. The lawsuit, filed by the parents of Melinda Duckett, arises out of an appearance Ms. Duckett made on The Nancy Grace Show shortly after Duckett's son, Trenton, went missing in August of 2006...

STAY AT HOME MOM'S "SALARY"

Posted on August 14, 2008
Back from vacation, lots to catch up on... Salary.Com just released its annual study regarding the market value of a stay at home mom. Every year this group gets together and evaluates precisely what mom is worth, by looking at pay levels for the various jobs a mother may do during a given week, like housekeeping, child-care, van driver and teacher...

CROCS AND ESCALATORS A BAD MIX

Posted on July 17, 2008
According to any number of recent reports, Crocs, the popular rubber shoe every kid seems to be wearing these days, may present a danger when worn on escalators. The report mentioned a recent situation involving a young girl injured at an airport. The girl[who was three at the time] and her mother were making their way through an airport on their way to a Disney vacation...

CROSS EXAMINATION TIPS

Posted on July 09, 2008
I am presently reading a book entitled Your Witness, which is essentially a compilation of cross-examination pointers collected from prominent Chicago lawyers. [In the interest of full disclosure, the book was sent to me, in the hopes I would mention it on my blog]...

TO YOUNG LAWYERS

Posted on July 01, 2008
The American Bar Association Section of Litigation publishes a Journal every quarter impressively entitled The Journal of the Section of Litigation. The Journal can occasionally be a bit...well, dry. Then there is Sidebar, the column written by Kenneth P...

ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT ALLOWS INJURED PARTIES TO RECOVER FULL REASONABLE VALUE OF MEDICAL EXPENSES

Posted on June 23, 2008
The Illinois Supreme Court recently clarified exactly what injured parties may claim as medical expenses in injury cases. The opinion, Wills v. Foster, was issued on June 19, 2008. The underlying facts are pretty straightforward. The plaintiff, Sheila Wills was injured in an automobile collision...

SUPREME COURT BANS RETALIATION UNDER SECTION 1981

Posted on June 05, 2008
The United States Supreme Court recently struck a blow for those employees who claim they were retaliated against after complaining of racial discrimination at their workplace. The case, CBOCS[Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores]West v. Humphries, arose out of treatment the plaintiff, Hedrick Humphries endured at an Illinios Cracker Barrel Restuarant...

BE WARY OF THE VOLUNTARY

Posted on May 16, 2008
The Illinois Supreme Court recently came down with a decision that should make make Illinois trial attorneys think twice about taking voluntary dismissals of their cases. The Hudson v. City of Chicago case involved allegations that the City failed to properly respond to a life-threatening situation...

STATE OF ILLINOIS EMPLOYEE LOSES HARASSMENT SUIT

Posted on March 27, 2008
A federal jury recently returned a verdict against Carlos Estes in his sexual harassment suit against Teyonda Wertz, his boss at the Illinois Department of Human Services. Estes was a driver/special assistant for Wertz, who is Chief of Staff for the Illinois Department of Human Services...

TAX ISSUES SATISFY PUBLIC POLICY REQUIREMENT FOR ILLINOIS RETALIATORY CLAIM

Posted on February 28, 2008
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently weighed in on the "public policy" element Illinois retaliatory discharge plaintiffs must show. In Benders v. Bellows and Bellows, the plaintiff filed a three count complaint in federal court after her termination from the defendant law firm...

DAMAGES LIMITATIONS STRUCK DOWN BY ILLINOIS JUDGE

Posted on December 10, 2007
As previously noted in my September 20, 2007 entry, trial lawyers across Illinois were holding their breath, waiting for an important decision out of the courtroom of Judge Diane Larsen, a Cook County trial judge. Judge Larsen was presiding over a case where recent legislation that capped damages in medical malpractice cases was being challenged...

RECOVERY FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL INJURY UNDER ILLINOIS WORKMENS' COMPENSATION ACT

Posted on December 04, 2007
Illinios workers seeking to recover for non-traumatically induced mental disease have significant evidentiary obstacles to overcome. In order to prevail, the worker must show: 1) the mental disorder arose in a situation of greater dimensions that day to day emotional strain and tension present in every workplace; 2) the mental condition must exist in reality, from an objective standpoint and 3) the employment conditions, when compared with other potential non-employment explanations, were the major contributing cause of the mental disorder...

MERCK SETTLES VIOXX CASES

Posted on November 28, 2007
Pharmaceutical giant Merck has agreed in principle to settle all remaining Vioxx lawsuits. The company has agreed to pay $4.85 billion to plaintiffs in 27,000 pending cases. The settlement was cobbled together after juries from New Jersey to California had heard about 20 cases...

ALLSTATE AND STATE FARM SUED FOR CONSPIRACY

Posted on November 27, 2007
The Louisiana Attorney General, Charles Foti, recently filed suit against Allstate and State Farm, accusing the two companies of conspiring to limit payments to policyholders after Louisiana was pounded by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The lawsuit alleges that the two companies worked together to manipulate damages estimates and to low ball claimants who suffered damages...

ILLINOIS WHISTLEBLOWER ACT DOESN'T IMPACT RETALIATORY DISCHARGE

Posted on November 07, 2007
The First Appellate Court recently came down with an interesting decision involving the Illinois Whistleblower Act, 740 ILCS 174/1. In Callahan v. Edgewater Care, the plaintiff, Melissa Callahan, claimed that she was fired from her position as an admissions clerk in a nursing home for reporting activity that she felt was in violation of state law...

MORE DETAILS ON CHICAGO PRIEST ACCUSED OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT

Posted on November 01, 2007
More details are emerging about precisely how early Church authorities were aware of alleged sexual misconduct on the part of Rev. Donald J. McGuire. McGuire was a teacher at Loyola Academy in the late 1960's. In 1969, Rev. Charles Schlax contacted the the president of Loyola, Rev...

ANOTHER SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUIT AGAINST CHICAGO PRIEST

Posted on October 26, 2007
Just this week, another sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against Rev. Donald McGuire, a Chicago area priest. The lawsuit, filed by two brothers, claims that McGuire sexually abused the two boys at different times. The older brother is claiming abuse from 1988 through 1994, while the younger brother is claiming abuse from 2001 through 2002...

ANOTHER VERDICT AGAINST CHICAGO POLICE

Posted on October 25, 2007
The Chicago Police Department is not having a particularly good month when it comes to lawsuits. Just a week after a 4 million dollar settlement to a man who claimed he was brutalized with a screwdriver, the Department was back in a federal courtroom in another civil case...

WHISTLEBLOWER VERDICT AGAINST EYE DOCTOR

Posted on October 24, 2007
A St. Louis county jury recently awarded a St. Louis woman $95,000 in punitive damages in a whistleblower trial Michelle Fleshner, 35, had sued Pepose Vision Institute, claiming that she was terminated by Dr. Jay Pepose because she had coooperated with a U...

ILLINOIS TEEN SETTLES WITH POLICE AFTER GETTING TASERED

Posted on October 16, 2007
A south suburban teenager, Travis Alexander, has agreed to settle his lawsuit against a south suburban Chicago Police Department. Alexander sued the Riverdale Police Department after he was tasered and attacked by a police dog. Alexander was 17 at the time of the incident...

BIG SEXUAL HARASSMENT VERDICT AGAINST MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

Posted on October 10, 2007
As reported last week, a New York jury recently hammered Madison Square Garden[MSG] and its chairman, James Dolan in a sexual harassment suit. Anucha Browne Sanders had sued MSG, Dolan and New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, claiming she had been subjected to a hostile work environment due to crude comments and sexual advances from Thomas...

ILLINOIS LEGISLATION CAPPING DAMAGES BEING REVIEWED

Posted on September 20, 2007
On September 17, 2007, oral arguments in the lead case challenging the constitutionality of Public Act 94-677[medical malpractice caps] took place in the Courtroom of Cook County Judge Diane Larsen. The case at issue involves Abigaile LeBron, an infant...

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