New Albany attorney Dave Scott wanted to prove a point when he strapped himself behind the wheel of a 1999 Ford Explorer that was pushed down an embankment, violently rolling over multiple times. Just to be safe, he later buckled into another Explorer that again was tipped over and sent careening roof over wheels, rolling three times. “The theory of…
Lawyers who use police accident reports to find clients and drum up business can’t use state open records laws to force police departments to provide addresses and insurance policy numbers for people involved in traffic crashes, a Cook County judge has ruled. On April 29, Cook County Circuit Judge Franklin U. Valderrama ruled in favor of the Schaumburg Police Department…
A federal appeals court in Chicago could be tasked with taking another look at its previous decision undoing a jury verdict ordering one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies to pay $3 million to the widow of a Chicago lawyer who committed suicide after taking the generic equivalent of a widely prescribed antidepressant drug. Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme…
Even though the Indiana Department of Transportation declined to install a traffic signal at a Tippecanoe County intersection where a deadly crash later occurred, the Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld summary judgment for the department, finding it was immune from liability under the Indiana Tort Claims Act. Rajna and Milan Jurich filed a negligence and wrongful death case against…
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a jury’s judgment for a woman whose vehicle rear-ended another, despite the appellate panel’s acknowledgement that the trial court failed to properly instruct the jury. While waiting to turn left as oncoming traffic cleared, Latoya Torrence was rear-ended by Courtney Gamble, leaving both women’s vehicles substantially damaged and Torrence injured. Torrence sued, alleging negligence…
Every 36 hours on average, American local news outlets deliver a new report on violence at a McDonald’s. A group of employees in Chicago say workers bear the brunt of such incidents, enough to constitute a pattern of regular on-the-job violence they want the company to address across the U.S. In a complaint filed with the Occupational Safety and Health…
An explosion and fire at an Illinois silicone factory claimed a second victim Saturday when an employee taken to a hospital after the blast died, a local coroner confirmed, and the official death toll is expected to rise to four as authorities suspended the search for two other bodies believed to be in the rubble. Crews suspended their search due…
Eight burn victims have filed suit against the Chicago-based maker of Pam cooking spray, saying they were severely injured when cans of the spray exploded in their kitchens. The plaintiffs’ attorney, J. Craig Smith, says larger cans of Pam and similar cooking sprays made by Conagra Brands have a faulty, U-shaped vent system in the bottom that makes them prone…
The family of a 25-year-old St. Charles man killed when his motorcycle collided with a semi-truck last summer south of Elgin has filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against the truck driver and his employer. Jordan Hale, 25, was riding his 2002 Suzuki SV650S motorcycle north on Route 25 when a southbound 1995 Ford L-Series truck, driven by David…
A driver is suing a truck company alleging that a tire failed him while driving and caused a crash. Commerce Tryst Company, as conservator and on behalf of the estate of Tony M. Carson, filed a complaint on April 1 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Tom Graddy Enterprises of St. Louis LLC doing business as Vanguard Truck…
