Premises Liability: Verdicts And Settlements

Below are brief summaries of premises liability cases that we have resolved for past clients.

• $67,000,000 verdict for a worker who suffered burn injuries when a grain bin exploded at a ConAgra, Inc. facility in Chester, Illinois.
• $12,000,000 settlement for a visitor at McCormick Place who fell down stairs that were improperly designed and constructed.
• $11,700,000 landmark settlement for a client who lost the use of both legs and one arm in a fall while walking down a flight of stairs at McCormick Place. Our firm’s unique strategy on damages involved providing a fully handicap-accessible home for the client.
• $4,065,000 settlement for an ironworker who suffered a foot injury that developed into reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) when a bar joist fell on him as a result of improper ground conditions.
• $3,800,000 verdict for a pipefitter who was burned in an underground storage-tank explosion.
• Substantial undisclosed settlement in the traumatic sexual assault of a 79-year-old nursing home resident where the parties and the amount of settlement are subject to a confidentiality order.
• $1,500,000 verdict for a woman injured by a falling paperplate display at Kmart.
• $1,250,000 settlement for an ironworker who slipped on conduit that was not properly secured to the deck.
• $1,200,000 verdict for a dock worker who was struck by a chock which had been thrown up in the air by a forklift operator; he was thrown into a pile of steel and suffered a herniated cervical disc.
• $1,122,000 verdict for a truck driver who was injured when picking up waste materials from a manufacturer who failed to provide a safe environment for the waste disposal pick-up area. This verdict was upheld through appeals to the Illinois Supreme Court.
• $1,100,000 settlement for an ironworker who received a fractured ankle when a beam stored on uneven ground rolled onto the worker.
• $1,052,337.96 settlement in a construction negligence case for a carpenter who slipped on his scaffold and suffered an aggravation to his lower back after the job site became wet when a water main had broken.
• $1,050,000 settlement for an ironworker who suffered low-back injuries when he slipped on ice while welding.
• $792,000 verdict for a painter who injured his knee when he tripped on poor ground conditions at the jobsite; the offer prior to the jury trial was only $70,000.
• $750,000 settlement for a woman who injured her foot while sitting in a beauty salon chair. Plaintiff discharged her previous attorney who recommended that she accept the insurance company’s $25,000 offer.
• $650,000 settlement for a dancer with the Joffrey Ballet who injured his neck when a portion of the ceiling in the rehearsal studio fell on him.
• $407,545 Jury verdict for an accountant who was injured when she tripped over a crack on a city sidewalk. The offer was $4,000.00 prior to trial.
• Verdict of more than $260,000 for a young teenager whose calf was severely lacerated on the edge of metal bleachers placed by an outdoor basketball court at the Chicago Park District. The Appellate Court upheld the verdict and agreed that the Plaintiff proved the Park District’s conduct was willful and wanton.
• $240,000 Settlement for a pedestrian who fell into a 6 ft. hole on a construction site because the site was not fenced off and the hole was not barricaded.
• $195,000 Settlement for a truck driver injured when a dock worker who was operating a forklift to unload our client’s truck dropped a storage bin from the forks of the forklift and the bin struck our client.
• $100,000 Arbitration Award for a water delivery man injured while making a delivery when he fell down a staircase that was in despair.
• Verdict for the Plaintiff in federal court involving a fall down a stairway. Our client claimed someone left a cardboard tray on the stairs that caused him to fall. After the court ruled in our client’s favor on liability issues, the government agreed to settle the case.