I am interested in technology and science. I believe an understanding of science is crucial to being a successful personal injury lawyer. Whether to better understand the science of medicine or the physics and engineering principles of a complex machine, science is crucial to our practice of law.
I came across an interesting topic titled Quiet Hybrid Cars Pose Risk To Pedestrians that was aired on Science Today. Hybrid cars on city streets are very quiet. If you live in the Chicago, I am sure that you will appreciate anything that would make life easier on the ears; however noise plays an important role in protecting and warning pedestrians that are walking across streets in the city. This is especially true for pedestrians with disabilities. Blind pedestrians rely upon hearing for almost every aspect of their daily lives. Luckily visually disabled persons have resources available to assist them in living independently. Organizations such as The Chicago Lighthouse are there to help.
This Science Today airing reminded me of a case we had in Cook County when our client, a blind pedestrian, was struck by a City of Chicago, Streets and Sanitation, garbage truck.
In that case, our client was legally blind and had been trained by the good folks at The Chicago Lighthouse so that he could live independently, like he was doing on the day when he was returning home from the store. Unfortunately, even the loud noise of a garbage truck, could not prevent our client from being hit and dragged 30 feet from the crosswalk on North Avenue in Chicago. Our client suffered serious injuries including, bilateral femur fractures, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and serious degloving injuries.
With new hybrid cars populating the roads, it is more important than ever for Illinois drivers to follow the rules of the road in yielding the right of way to pedestrians with disabilities, as outlined in the Illinois Rules Of The Road.
I, like most, would love to live with a minimal environmental footprint. However, with the new technology that will necessarily develop, it is important that pedestrians, those that are not using any fossil fuels by walking, and especially disabled pedestrians are not placed at an increased risk of injury.
In this blog, I will periodically post links to recent literature that I find important in my practice. This is one of those blogs and the article that caught my eye is called Committing Single Events To Memory, from Science Today at the University of California.
When I first started handling traumatic brain injury cases (TBI) I was amazed at how much of the brain we do not understand. I find that due to this lack of knowledge, any traumatic brain injury lawyer must constantly be reviewing the latest scientific and medical journals that seek to understand more about the brain. This article addresses issues that may arise in the treatment of memory loss as the research seems to have isolated that Arc activation and regulation controls certain memory functions. In most TBI cases, memory loss is affected. This research could potentially affect my clients' treatment and their cases, and that is important to me.
A woman accused of helping lure a boyfriend to a hotel room and gluing his penis to his stomach as punishment for his cheating ways says she and the other women went to the motel to confront the man and let him know they all knew what was going on.
Prosecutors say the women, including the man's wife and another girlfriend, lured the man to the motel to punish him for cheating. Court documents say the man agreed to be bound with sheets and blindfolded by one of the women, and that she used Krazy Glue to attach his penis to his stomach.
This is the type of story that the media loves, but as I look at it from the perspective of a personal injury case, here are my thoughts:
1. There is indeed an injury.
2. The criminal matter against the women involved in this case will definitely affect the personal injury action against these criminal defendants.
The women involved in this alleged battery have rights guaranteed to them by the United States Constitution. They each have the right to assert their 5th Amendment rights against self incrimination. Now, why would that come up in a personal injury action? If the criminal action against the women in criminal court is at the same time the personal injury action is pending in civil court, discovery, in the civil court would be interrupted and delayed until after the criminal proceedings.
Discovery is the process, in a litigated case, where the litigants have an opportunity to find out information about the contested issues in a case. In a personal injury action based upon negligence and/or battery, a party is entitled to take the sworn testimony of the defendant to find out, under oath and punishable by perjury, what they claim happened. If the criminal matter is pending, it is unlikely that the defendant would agree to provide sworn testimony in the personal injury action while they are still subject to criminal liability. This happens all of the time in personal injury cases where drunk drivers injure innocent people. A lot of times the drunk driver will be charged with DUI. Often times the injury case will be put on hold while the defendant decides how to best defend his interest in the criminal DUI case.
I still recall a case I had when I was a first year lawyer. In that case, an innocent cab driver was struck by a drunk driver. We tried to take the deposition of the drunk driver in the personal injury case but the defendant asserted his 5th Amendment rights against self incrimination in the civil action because he was still subject to criminal liability. The reason his deposition was important was because in Illinois an injured party has only one year from the date of the incident to file a lawsuit under the Dram Shop Act. In sum, this act allows an injured party to recover from an entity that serves an intoxicating beverage to a person that contributes to the intoxication of a person that injures another. Without the defendant's testimony about where he was drinking it is difficult to find the potentially culpable Dram Shop.
3. It is unlikely that any of the criminal defendants and/or ladies involved will be covered under their homeowners' policies.
The ladies involved in this case are being charged with an intentional act. A very common and almost universal exclusion to homeowners' policies is to exclude insurance coverage for the intentional wrongful acts of an insured. For example, we all remember that O.J. Simpson was charged with the murders of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. After the jury in the criminal matter found Mr. Simpson not guilty, a wrongful death suit was brought against O.J. Simpson seeking compensation for the wrongful death of Nicole and Ronald. A verdict was entered against O.J. Simpson in the wrongful death action. Although O.J. Simpson had a homeowners insurance policy, covering him for the negligent acts he could have committed that would have caused injury, this insurance policy did not cover intentional wrongful acts, like murder; therefore the homeowners policy in effect on the date of the deaths could not be accessed as a form to collect on the verdict obtained. O.J. Simpson had assets that could be attached to partially satisfy the judgment, but often times this is not the case.
In this Krazy Glue case, Mr. X, will likely have a difficult time collecting against these women (potential defendants) due to the lack of coverage that will be afforded to them by the insurance carriers providing the homeowners policies.
4. As a trial lawyer, I think one of the most important aspects of evaluating any injury case is to look at how the case would be perceived by normal people that will be sitting as a jury in this case. This injury, although shocking at first, will likely be seeking compensation primarily for pain and suffering during the time his penis was glued to his stomach. I doubt that there will be any permanent injuries that would allow Mr. X to be compensated for his inability to engage in activities he did prior to the event. This would limit the amount of money he would be entitled to for compensation since the law is simply to compensate a person for the nature, extent and duration of the injury. Also, it is likely the jury would be less sympathetic to the victim given his past behavior. While it certainly doesn't justify a battery, he is not the most sympathetic victim.
On August 11, 2009, Raul Torres, owner of Torres Construction, hauled a load of dirt in a Bobcat front loader toward a dump truck parked at a construction site in Chatham on the South side of Chicago. His company was repairing a basement floor in an apartment building that's being converted into condos. His son, Valente Torres, was playing on the sidewalk. The loader's back wheels rolled over the curb and the heavy steel bucket filled with dirt suddenly slammed toward the ground fatally crushing Valente's skull, according to a witness.
I read this article in the Chicago Sun Times and couldn't help but think of all the times I have brought my son, Zack, to work with me. Unlike Mr. Torres, I work in an office setting where the risks of workplace injuries are much lower. This unfortunate accident highlights the reasons why any construction site has the potential to be dangerous, and it is crucial that safety guidelines, including all OSHA regulations, are followed.
OSHA regulations have been put in place by the United States Department of Labor with the purpose of providing a safe workplace for workers and those that find themselves in close proximity to construction projects. All of the regulations for workplace safety can be accessed through the US Department of Labor website.
I recently resolved a workplace accident case where an experienced Chicago Laborer was seriously injured while working as a bottom man assisting in the installation of sewer pipe. Although my client was not operating the Target Pro 65 III Concrete Walk Behind Saw, he was in the zone of danger when the 36-inch diamond blade became a projectile and struck his left arm, severely injuring his left ulnar nerve. We brought a lawsuit against the general contractor on the job site and
claimed that they violated certain OSHA regulations that governed workplace safety when a concrete walk behind saw was being used.
This Torres case is tragic, yet I see little doubt that there is a cause of action for wrongful death of Valente Torres. The mother of Valente Torres could bring a cause of action against Torres Construction seeking compensation for the wrongful death of her son caused by the negligence of the company's employee. There is likely to be insurance to cover the negligent acts of the employees of Torres Construction. There may also be additional defendants that could be culpable based upon the results of the investigation as per how the bobcat functioned and whether any other company had a duty to provide a safe workplace. I wish only the best for the Torres family. Accidents do happen. Personal injury actions seek compensation for injuries suffered. Wrongful death actions seek compensation for the death of a loved one. In my opinion, this is the type of accident, although very unusual, that Torres Construction would be insured against.
Born and educated in Illinois, Gregg Strellis has used his Midwest work ethic to build an established law firm in Chicago. Gregg has spent his entire legal career fighting for the rights of severely injured individuals and has analyzed thousands of potential injury cases. MORE...
In that case, our client was legally blind and had been trained by the good folks at The Chicago Lighthouse so that he could live independently, like he was doing on the day when he was returning home from the store. Unfortunately, even the loud noise of a garbage truck, could not prevent our client from being hit and dragged 30 feet from the crosswalk on North Avenue in Chicago. Our client suffered serious injuries including, bilateral femur fractures, a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and serious degloving injuries. 
