Steven A. Berman

Representative Cases

• Russell v. the Village of Lake Villa – Successfully argued that the trial court was wrong to dismiss a case where the client slipped on an unnatural accumulation of ice at the Lake Villa train stop. The Appellate Court reversed and remanded the case.
• Foley v. Builtech Construction Inc., 2019 IL App (1^st) 180941 – Successfully argued that the trial court was wrong to dismiss a case where there was proof established that the General Contractor controlled safety on the job site. The Appellate Court reversed and remanded the case.

Steve has an impressive track record of achievements. He has obtained many significant settlements and verdicts for his clients, including:

Construction Negligence:

• $10.03 million settlement for a union ironworker who sustained serious knee and wrist injuries requiring multiple surgeries when, while erecting industrial racking at a large warehouse in Aurora, a row of racks was caused to tip and fall over onto his man lift. The defendants responsible for the construction site offered $4.5 million to settle prior to trial which was rejected. However, after 5 days of trial in Federal Court, the settlement was achieved.
• $6.624 million jury verdict for a Local 498 Ironworker who injured his back when he tripped and fell on a job site in Belvidere, IL. The Ironworker sustained a L4-5 herniated disc requiring laminectomy surgery and impacting his ability to continue working in a heavy profession. The defense offered $250,000 to settle prior to trial, which was rejected.
• $5.3 million settlement for a 40-year-old Local 1 Ironworker who sustained a herniated disk while installing a rebar on a construction site in Chicago. The injury required three surgeries including a fusion of the L5-S1 disk space in the lumbar spine as well as follow-up pain management care.
• $3.5 million settlement for a 58-year-old Local 1 Ironworker who was injured while going to work on a high-rise renovation project in Chicago when the freight elevator he was in fell two stories from the ground level to the sub-basement level due to being overloaded. The ironworker sustained neck and back injuries which required spinal fusion surgery as well as needing a spinal cord stimulator implanted for pain management.
• $2.5 million jury verdict for a union electrician IBEW Local 134 who injured his knee requiring arthroscopic surgery after he twisted his knee coming down from a ladder while working at a UPS packaging facility, when the UPS package cart bumped into his ladder. The Defendant offered $125,000 prior to trial to settle the case which was rejected.
• $2.25 million total package settlement for union laborer Local 1035 who was injured during a tunneling project when rocks and slag fell onto him, cracking his hard hat and injuring his neck.
• $2.1 million in total package settlement for a 50-year-old union ironworker Local 393 who fell approximately 14 feet after slipping and losing his balance while walking on open steel beams, landing on the concrete floor below. He sustained fractures to both wrists as well as a ruptured spleen requiring emergency surgery. The worker was not provided with or using fall protection at the time of the injury.
• $1.9 million total package settlement for a union ironworker Local 444 who slipped on unsafe ground conditions on a construction site in Putnam County suffering a herniated disc and requiring discectomy surgery and pain management.
• $1.7 million total package settlement for a union ironworker Local 465 who injured his back in a slip and fall while working to secure metal decking on a steel roof at a job site in Vermillion County.
• $1.52 million settlement for a Local 393 ironworker who was caused to trip and fall due to a hole that should have been backfilled on a construction site in Batavia. Our client sustained a torn rotator cuff requiring surgical repair.
• $1.5 million total package settlement for a union ironworker who injured his shoulder while manually installing angle iron from a man lift.
• $1.5 million total package settlement for a union painter who injured his knee while climbing an old wooden affixed ladder on a job site in Chicago.
• $1.5 million settlement for a Local 152 Laborer who injured his ring finger when washing out a concrete bucket. The fracture got infected and failed to properly heal and the last joint on the ring finger needed to be permanently fused.

Slip and Fall / Motor Vehicle:

• $4.55 million settlement for motorcycle crash causing severe TBI and requiring emergency life-saving brain surgery. Our client a 55-year-old man self-employed in trucking was caused to crash his motorcycle due to unsafe road paving (resurfacing) work performed on a busy road in Chicago.
• $2.55 million settlement for a man working as a “flagman” when a large truck rolled over his lower leg causing the leg to be amputated.
• $1.75 million settlement for a student who had suffered a severe concussion when an inflatable amusement ride malfunctioned at a post-high school prom event. Our client was struck in the head with a chain when the apparatus came apart, and he continues to suffer from migraine headaches as a result of his head injury.
• $950,000 settlement for a semi-truck driver who was rear-ended by another truck while in traffic on I-80. He sustained a herniated disc which required surgery and continuing chiropractic care.
• $668,750 settlement for pedestrians who were struck while crossing Aurora Avenue in Naperville by a Naperville Police Officer. The Village of Naperville argued that it was immune from suit under the law. It filed multiple motions to dismiss which were defeated.
• $440,000 settlement for a union ironworker apprentice Local 63 who injured her back requiring an IDET procedure when she slipped and fell on water on the floor at a Jewel food store in DuPage County.
• $437,000 total package settlement for a union painter who suffered a torn rotator cuff of his shoulder in a fall from an improperly placed ladder on a job site.