Chicago Wrongful Death Lawyer Blog

The estate James Minter filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Chicago Transit Authority ("CTA") after Minter was fatally pinned under a bus. According to the lawsuit James Minter exited a No. 9 Ashland bus that pulled away from the West Harrison Street bus stop before he was safely on the curb, causing him to fall under the bus and fatally run over by the rear tires.

According to the lawsuit the driver failed to check the mirrors before moving the bus forward and failed to make sure the road was free from pedestrian traffic. Additionally, the lawsuit claims the bus driver failed to stop the bus after Minter fell. This type of accident is avoidable and very tragic. The damages that are available to the estate include lost wages, and loss of society from the deceased. Wrongful death lawsuits are very emotional lawsuits and sometimes hard for the family to proceed with.

CTA spokeswoman Katelyn Thrall said after the accident that preliminary reports indicated the bus was proceeding towards a green light when the man fell and was struck. The bus driver was removed from service following the accident, a standard procedure, Thrall said.

Angela Dobyns was prescribed medication for a bulging disc. She worked as a housekeeper for a hotel and the pain in her back was interfering with her work. Dobyns was a wife and mother of two. Dobyns doctor was Dr. Chung and he testified at trial that in the 2 1/2 years that he had her as a patient, he saw her 47 times and she went to the emergency room 27 times. Dobyns ended up dying of cardiac arrest because of all of the drugs.

This case illustrates the problems people can have when they are prescribed too many drugs for too long. The Estate of Dobyns filed a wrongful death lawsuit and a jury returned a verdict of $100,000 but offset the verdict based on 50% contributary negligence. The case can be read by clicking here: Dobyns Case

Many times there will be large awards in wrongful death lawsuits but people reading about the awards may not realize that the person getting the large award may not actually get any money. The following sad case is an example of this. A former firefighter got into an argument with his neighbors and killed three people and wounded two others. A jury awarded the family of one of the victims, Jacob Feichtner nearly $3 million this month as part of a wrongful death lawsuit.

The former firefighter who killed the people has no income. He was convicted of three counts of aggravated murder and is serving life in prison with no chance for parole. Given the fact that he has no income and is in prison the rest of his life, there is probably no chance the large settlement will ever get paid. I write about this case to illustrate that even when there may be liability against someone that warrants a large settlement amount, if the person does not have the ability to pay the settlement--the large amount is illusory.

Clackamas County will pay $1 million to the estate of a Gresham man who died during a confrontation with police to settle the wrongful death lawsuit the estate filed. According to the lawsuit Fouad Kaady smashed his car and was naked, burned, bleeding and unarmed when police confronted him. Officers used a stun gun on him at which point he got on top of the police car and police shot and killed him. Police claim the man was out of control and had caused three other hit and run accidents prior to their confrontation.

The family of the dead man claims the man had a fire start in his car causing him to hit three other cars and the reason he acted the way he did was that he had severe burn injuries, was in shock and the officers were asking him to do things that would hurt him even more. For example the police officers had ordered him to lie on hot pavement even though he was suffering from severe burns. This is a tragic case and illustrates how sometimes both sides of a confrontation don't see the same events through the same sets of eyes.

National Seating and Mobility sent two repair men to service a motorized wheelchair used by quadriplegic Jeffrey Thompson. Thompson died from injuries he suffered when repairmen tried to service his motorized wheelchair while he was sitting in it. According to the lawsuit the wheelchair malfunctioned and shorted-out causing Jeffrey to be thrown from the chair and the chair crushed his legs. Jeffrey then went into a seizure. Remarkably the repair men did not call 911 and Jeffrey died.

The parents of Jeffrey filed a wrongful death lawsuit and are seeking $10 million in damages from National Seating and Mobility and will establish a foundation in the name of their son. It is too bad that such tragedies continue to take place because companies fail to establish proceedures for their workers.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources ("IDNR") agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit involving the estate of a seventeen year old boy who drove his car off Fairfiled ramp at night and drown. The wrongful death lawsuit was settled for around $300,000. The mother of the deceased boy said she filed the wrongful death lawsuit because she wanted the ramp fixed so nobody else would die and no other family would have to endure what she did.

This case was very tragic and a young life was wasted. There had been other deaths at this same ramp and under the same circumstances and yet the ramp was not fixed. A good lawyer will investigate previous accidents at the same location and try to use this to the advantage of the family.

"Trey was the third person to drown at that ramp. I haven't heard of anyone else going into the water since they fixed the ramp. They needed to be brought to their knees," Throop said of the IDNR.

The estate of Sarah Heator filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Rickey Miller, who was driving the wrong way on a major highway. According to published reports, Miller was driving the wrong way on I-475, a mjor highway, when he caused the car accident which killed Heator. Heator was on her way to work my she was killed. Miller has been charged with vehicular homicide and awaits his criminal trial.

This automobile accident was 100 percent preventable. It is such a tragedy that young innocent drivers are killed each year because of the neglect of others. One thing this tragic accident shows however is the need for underinsured motorist insurance coverage. That type of insurance coverage will help if you are in an accident with someone who does not have much insurance or no insurance. This wrongful death lawsuit also illustrates how dangerous the roads and highway are.

According to the wrongful death lawsuit death lawsuit filed by the husband of 29-year-old Phillips, she was traveling north on a two lane road when a southbound tracktor trailer, driven by Troy A. Rasmussen veered over the centerline colliding with Phillips and killing her. The reason for the truck veering into the centerline are unclear but officials from the Superior Police Department claim that Rasmussen may have blacked while behind the wheel. Rasmussen worked for Lake Nebagamon Trucking which is also named as a defendant in the wrongful death lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit the trucking firm had partial liability in the fatal incident since they were allegedly aware of Rasmussen’s medical conditions and should not have allowed him to drive the tractor trailer. Trucking accidents like this are almost always fatal given the size of the trucks involved. This was a tragic accident that could have most likely been avoided. Damages in cases like this can end up in the millions of dollars.

If you or a loved one is killed in a car accident and the other person only has minimum insurance in Illinois you will have a problem. You of course could file a wrongful death lawsuit but you need to be able to have some asset to go after if you receive a large verdict. The minimums in Illinois are $20,000 per person with a $40,000 per accident maximum. That means if there are four people in your automobile and they are all killed their estates can only get $40,000 split four ways to cover the loss of all four people. $10,000 per person would probably not even cover their funeral expenses.

So in order to avoid this what you should do is make sure your underinsured coverage is very high. Underinsured coverage pays you and your family when involved in an car accident with a driver who does not have adequate insurance coverage. In the example I gave above, if you have an underinsurance policy of $400,000 in place, than each person killed would be able to collect $110,000 per person as opposed to just the $10,000 per person--assuming a verdict larger then $440,000.

The estate of Louise Battistelli filed a wrongful death lawsuit based on the death of Louise Battistelli which was caused by the negligence of Jacqueline McGee. According to the lawsuit McGee caused the death of Battistelli when her Buick struck the van Battistelli was driving in.

As a result of the car accident McGee was charged with misdemeanor counts of failure to yield and vehicular homicide and found guilty of both. This is a classic case of someone who did not intentionally cause the death of another but who caused the death nevertheless. It is important to file wrongful death lawsuits if for no other reason to at least pay for the medical expenses and funeral expenses that will be incurred.

The Estate of Faith Shumar filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Uniontown Hospital alleging its emergency room misdiagnosed a heart condition that resulted in Shumar's death. According to the lawsuit Shumar died of a myocardial infarction five days after she visited the hospital's emergency room with chest pains. It seems the hospital discharged Shumar from its emergency department, despite having conducted a diagnostic test that found irregularities with Shumar's heart. Documents filed in the lawsuit say the hospital knew Shumar had risk factors for heart disease and therefore should have admitted Shumar for more tests.

Instead of admitting her for more tests and observations, the hospital discharged her from the emergency room with a diagnosis of non-cardiac chest pain. It is hard to tell at this point if the hospital did this to save money or if they just have poor policies in place. Chest pains are usually indications of something more serious and given her family history one would think the hospital would have taken the pains more seriously. If you are in Illinois and have a similar incident you should contact my office to discuss your case for free.

Anthony DeWeese was involved in a tragic boat accident and as a result his estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. Coast Guard. DeWeese who at the time of his death was eight died in a boat collision when a 36-foot Coast Guard vessel speeding to help a grounded boater in San Diego Bay struck his family's boat.

The family was attending the city's annual Bay Parade of Lights and just trying to enjoy the festivities. According to details in the lawsuit Coast Guard officials knew the crew was not properly trained or supervised. It is also alleged that the Coast Guard boat was traveling 35 to 40 mph when it should have been doing 5 mph in the bay filled with hundreds of other boats.

Aquan Lewis a ten year old student was found hanging in the school bathroom and as a result his parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school district. According to details in the lawsuit emergency medical services paramedics quickly resuscitated Lewis after a fellow student at Oakton Elementary School, found him in the bathroom. The official report from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said the death was a suicide.

The lawsuit alleges no one at the school made any attempt to try and find Lewis when he went missing as the other students were lined up for gym class. In cases like this, people believe when they send their child to school, there will be people looking out for the well being and safety of their child. In this case there was something very wrong with the procedures in place at the school for a student to go unnoticed for such a period of time.

A personal injury lawsuit has been filed against Nicor by homeowners Isaias Montes and his wife Rutila, their children, and Fabiola Martinez for injuries they suffered from a gas explosion and fire at the Montes' home in Elgin, Illinois. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs were at their home when they detected a strong odor of natural gas. Because they realized how dangerous the situation could become they called Nicor. In short Nicor employees arrived, told them to open a window and said there was no need to evacuate the home while they did some work in the driveway area where the smell originated.

At this point the the Nicor employees began using power tools on the driveway causing an explosion so severe that it knocked out the walls of the house and collapsed the roof causing a fire that destroyed the home. Unfortunately for all of those inside, they were all injured with severe burns. These types of burn injuries are lifechanging. This is a prime example of a company perhaps not training its employees good enough or not having the proper procedures in place.

Joshua Molina Sr. who is one of the parents of a thirteen month old boy killed in a car accident filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Putiporn Kaewmooka, the driver of the other car. The crash happened near the intersection of Parker and Cicero in Chicago. According to police reports Kaewmooka was driving away from the scene of an earlier accident in which he was at fault and sped into a car driven by Joshua Molina. The resulting car accident killed his son, Joshua junior. The young boy was ejected from the car and killed. Documents in the lawsuit reveal that Kaewmooka was traveling 80 to 90 mph at the time of the crash. He hit the other car so hard it knocked the toddler out the car seat he was fastened to and in to a rear window.

It only got worse for Molina Sr. as two other passengers, Orlando Rodriguez and Aldo Maldanado were also killed and they happen to be his two best friends. Peronsal injury lawsuits like this are usually very painful but necessary to hold those at fault responsible.

"It just kills me inside that I had to lose my only son and my two best friends for no reason." said Joshua Molina Sr.

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the estate of Mavis Stonick who was killed when she tried to cross the street. According to the lawsuit the elderly Evanston woman attempted to cross Sheridan Road near Foster Street in Evanston and was struck by a Mercedez-benz driven by Judy Lowrance.

According to witness accounts, Stonick was walking west across Sheridan Road against a light when she was struck by a car which was traveling within the posted speed limit. The main problem invovling this car accident may have been darkness and rainy weather. The lawsuit alleges Lowrance was careless and negligent because she failed to keep a proper lookout and drove to fast for traffic and weather conditions.

The Estate of a 17-year old youth killed in an automobile accident filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ramada Inn. According to the lawsuit, Nemcheck consumed alcohol at his place of employment, Ramada Inn and subsequently crashed his truck through a fence and into a pond, causing his death. According to published reports, Nemcheck had a blood-alcohol level of 0.14 percent at the time of the car accident. The main claim in the lawsuit is that Ramada Inn allowed him to access and consume alcohol while he worked a 16-hour shift.

Additional facts that are damning to Ramada Inn are there were previous legal proceedings against Ramada for allowing access to alcohol by minors. In ruling so far the Judge made the following findings of facts. First, Nemcheck had unsupervised access to alcohol; second, the bar area was unlocked and alcohol was readily accessible; and lastly, the hotel's bartender left two minors unsupervised for nearly two hours. This case seems ripe for settlement and hopefully the company will put in place better measures to ensure this type of incident does not happen in the future.

The estate of Ralph Seewald settled their wrongful death lawsuit against two nursing homes for an undisclosed sum of money. According to the wrongful death lawsuit, the 87-year old Seeward was subjected to inadequate health care. The lawsuit alleged that Riverside Health Care Center and the Village Health Care Center acted negligently toward Seewald culminating when Seewald fell and fractured his neck as he was being transferred from his wheelchair. As a result of the accident Seewald was unable to get out of bed and ended up dying

A trial in the wrongful death lawsuit was in its final day when the parties reached a settlement. This is typical in lawsuits. Neither party wants to risk what the jury may decide so they both decide to meet in the middle and not take any chances. Waiting until near the end of a trial is very hard on the family because they have to hear all of the testimony about their father and re-live the painful events of the past. Nursing home problems often result in the death or injury of a loved one.

A jury awarded nearly $3 million to the estate of a man who died after his esophagus tore while he was swallowing a piece of steak, finding an Alexandria radiologist liable for misdiagnosing the man's condition as a hiatal hernia. However, as is common practice in various states the jury verdict was reduced to about $1.25 million. People don't realize the impact that caps can have on everyday people. In this case the jury heard all of the evidence and awarded what it believed was a fair amount. In this wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit the facts were that Alvarez ate some steak and felt pain in his throat. He went to the hospital and was told her had a hiatal hernia and was given oral medication for this.

However later that night Alvarez was taken by ambulance to Inova Fairfax Hospital after complaining of severe pain in his chest. After running tests and taking images, doctors discovered a perforated esophagus. As a result of this, Alvarez ended up dying ten days later from complications related to attempted surgery. When determining a fair amount of money Alvarez should receive his wages should be taken into account. In this case he was making $100,000 a year as a technology specialist for the Defense Information Systems Agency and was retired from the United States Air Force where he was receiving a pension. It's sad that jury awards get reduced in wrongful death cases like this.