We strive to maximize our clients' recovery in every case. As trial lawyers, we prepare every case in anticipation of jury trial. Our effort is often rewarded by our opponents' willingness to pay a fair and reasonable amount to settle a case. When they fail to do so, our hard work has led to many successful jury verdicts. The following are examples of the types of cases we have prosecuted and the results we have obtained.
According to a search of the Jury Verdict Reporter, Bruce Pfaff is one of only two lawyers in Illinois who has obtained four verdicts in excess of $10,000,000 for his clients. This accomplishment speaks to the dedication and commitment Pfaff & Gill, Ltd. makes to our clients. Those verdicts were $30 million in K.B. v. Kim, $27 million in C.M. v. Ford Motor Co., $14.5 million in L.C. v. Ford Motor Co., and $10.5 million in D.B. v. Advocate Medical Group. Those cases are examples of our trial lawyers and trial team at its finest. Two of those verdicts were obtained in product liability cases and two were obtained in medical malpractice cases, both practice areas of great interest to our firm.
Our results in past cases show that hard work and diligence pay off for our clients:
Chicago Auto Defects Cases
C.M. v. Ford Motor Co.
$27,000,000 jury verdict for the estate of a 46-year-old man who died because the driver's seat of his vehicle failed in a rear impact, causing him to suffer fatal head injuries. The jury's award included $25,000,000 for loss of society suffered by his wife and two children, an Illinois record.
L.C. v. Ford Motor Co.
$14,500,000 verdict for a woman who became paraplegic when her 1991 Ford Explorer was rear ended. Her driver's seat broke, and she was catapulted into the rear of the vehicle. The verdict was rendered against Ford Motor Company and the uninsured driver of the other vehicle. The verdict was affirmed on appeal, and the judgment plus interest was paid in full.
L.S. v. General Motors Corp.
Confidential settlement to the surviving adult children of a woman who died in a rollover collision. Claimed auto defects were in the door mounted seat belt system, and the automatic door locking system of the Pontiac Grand Am.
J.T. v. Seat Belt Manufacturer.
Confidential settlement on behalf of young man who was paralyzed when his seat belt inertially unlatched during a collision and he was ejected from his seat.
E.M. v. Confidential Auto Manufacturer
Confidential settlement on behalf of a young woman who was paralyzed when she was ejected from from a vehicle when the door latch and lock system failed and the door opened during the crash.
Chicago Birth Injury Cases
J.F. v. A suburban physician group
$7,900,000 settlement for a four-year-child with moderate cerebral palsy due to a physician’s neglect in delaying delivery. The case was settled within six months of filing, greatly reducing lawyers’ expenses and fees. The doctor should have understood that the fetal heart tracings showed an ominous pattern indicative of hypoxia and ischemia and that a cesarean delivery was necessary to protect the baby. He proceeded to a vaginal delivery instead, delaying the birth and increasing the baby's exposure to harm.
K.B. v. Kim
$30,000,000 jury verdict for a six-year-old girl who suffered cerebral palsy due to a delayed emergency cesarean section, delivery.
M.C.K. v. NWMH
$7,000,000 settlement for the birth injuries sustained by a girl during her delivery. She suffers from cerebral palsy, and lives at home with her parents.
S.M. v. Michael Reese Hospital
Settled claims of a mother and her brain damaged child for $5,750,000. Child suffered cerebral palsy as the result of medical negligence during the two hours immediately before the delivery. As part of the settlement, an annuity to pay lifelong benefits to the child was established.
E.H. v. Michael Reese Hospital
Settled claims for the wrongful death of a 35-year-old single woman, survived by her minor daughter, for $3,800,000. The mother gave birth to her daughter four days before her death, and succumbed to a pulmonary embolism while she was a patient in the postpartum unit. The hospital and the physicians failed to institute any prophylaxis against pulmonary embolism, despite the mother being at high risk for the complication.
M.M. v. C.M.H.
$3,000,000 settlement for an adolescent boy who sustained a brain injury due to an overdose of Phenobarbital given to him when he was a newborn.
M.C. v. Raj
$1,800,000 settlement to the surviving parents and half brother of a nineteen month old child who died at Lutheran General Hospital. Bryce had hydrocephalus, and was being treated with an external ventricular drain to reduce the amount of cerebrospinal fluid in his brain. The drain malfunctioned, and despite adverse neurological signs and symptoms over the course of 20 hours it was not replaced by the attending neurosurgeon. As a result, he suffered cardio-respiratory arrest and died.
J.V. v. Scott Multack, D.O.
$800,000 settlement to the parents of a stillborn boy who suffered from intrauterine growth retardation which was not diagnosed before his death by the obstetrician managing the prenatal care. Ultrasound evidence indicated a substantial possibility of growth retardation which was never followed up by the obstetrician. Had the diagnosis been reached, an induced or cesarean delivery would have prevented the stillbirth. The amount paid is the highest in Illinois for an Illinois stillbirth settlement.
Chicago Construction Accident Cases
Union Oil Fire LItigation
Acted as lead counsel on behalf of plaintiffs who were injured or died in the Romeoville explosion and fire. All cases settled for an aggregateof $29,000,000. The six clients represented by Bruce Pfaff settled their claims for a total of $12,700,000 and worker's compensation lien waivers valued at approximately $1,000,000.
Estate of B.D. v. ABB C-E Services, Inc., Commonwealth Edison Co., et al.
$3.6 Million verdict for widow of 35 year-old electrician who fell to his death through a temporary floor opening at ComEd Station 18 in Romeoville.
N.K. v. LOC Construction Co.
Settled claims for personal injuries on behalf of a 37 year-old man who was crushed under a concrete catch basin in a job site excavation for $2,630,000. The settlement was paid by two general contractors, one subcontractor, the landowner, an engineering firm, and the City of Crystal Lake. The settlement was a record recovery in McHenry County. The previous high settlement in the county was $850,000, and the previous high verdict was less than $500,000.
M.A. v. Jimmy'z
$600,000 settlement for a 45-year-old electrician who fell on a construction site when he tripped on some wire mesh that had been poorly placed by an employee of a different trade.
D.A. v. Werd Constr. Co. and R.S.S. Constr., Inc.
$550,000.00 plus waiver of $100,906.01 workers compensation lien settlement for plaintiff who suffered comminuted, displaced and angulated fractures involving the distal tibia and fibula, as well as an ankle fracture, which required surgical repair and hardware placement due to a deck collapse in a construction accident.
W.T. v. Courthouse Development
$400,000 settlment for a 53-year-old man who was injured while at work when he fell of a 6-7 foot scaffold. Though the defendant denied it, the scaffold was assembled by the defendant in violation of OSHA standards.
P.M. v. Patel Builders, Inc. and Divydeep Patel
$185,871.13 jury verdict in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois to a 29-year-old man who was working as a bricklayer's assistant and suffered a trimalleolar (ankle) fracture when a box fell onto his ankle whil emptying a storage crate. The case settled post-trial for $202,500.00.
Chicago Medical Malpractice Cases
Estate of M.G. v. Gregory Rauch, M.D., Orland Park Primary Care Specialists, Ltd.; Brian Crowley, D.O., Palos Emergency Medical Services, Ltd.; Maria Zurawski, R.N.; Acute Extracorporeal Services, Ltd.; Advocate Christ Medical Center
$12,261,131 jury verdict in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois for a 49-year-old gentleman who died after failing to receive emergent plasmapharesis for thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura (TTP). The jury found defendants Acute Extracorporeal Services, Ltd., a subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care North America, and Advocate Christ Medical Center negligent. Read more
D.B. v. Advocate Medical Group, S.C.
$10,500,000 jury verdict for a 72-year-old woman who suffered an above knee amputation of her leg due to a failure of the emergency room doctor to diagnose bacterial cellulitis.
S.D. v. Advocate Christ Medical Center
$9,900,000 voluntary settlement of a case brought on behalf of a boy, then 18 months old, who suffered brain injuries due to negligence post-operative care at that institution in April 2003. The child developed post-operative bleeding that went undetected and untreated by the physician overseeing the child’s care in the pediatric intensive care unit which led to his arrest and brain damage.
H.P. v. Lutheran General Hospital
$9.35 million settlement for a 49-year-old gentleman who suffered disabling injuries after brain surgery to remove a 5 cm olfactory groove meningioma. The physicians and their experts claimed they did nothing wrong, and that the mortality and serious morbidity rates for this type of surgery exceeded 20%. The settlement will enable the injured party to move home and receive home nursing care after having spent more than 5 years living in a nursing home.
E.O. v. Edgewater Medical Center
$9,346,933.64 jury verdict for a 42-year-old man who died in 2000 as a result of unnecessary heart surgery.
Estate of M.R. v. a Chicago anesthesiologist and hospital
$8,000,000 wrongful death settlement. 52-year old woman died after anesthesiologist failed to intubate her when she went into respiratory arrest during surgery to remove an enlarged thyroid gland. The doctor will pay his $2,000,000 policy and the hospital, sued under the principle of apparent agency, will pay $6,000,000.
J.H. v. University of Chicago Hospitals
$7,250,000 settlement for a seven-year-old brain damaged girl. She suffered an anoxic arrest in the emergency room after 7 hours of medical care that did not properly treat her sickle cell crisis.
J.L. v. Trinity Hospital
$2,750,000 settlement plus $1,000,000 consent judgment in a medical malpractice lawsuit for the benefit of the surviving spouse and children of a 35 year-old woman who died due to the failure to treat acute pelvic inflammatory disease.
S.S. v. Winslow
$1,100,000 settlement to the family of a 62 year-old husband and father of four who died as a result of congestive heart failure which was not properly treated by his cardiologist. The patient had had four prior open heart surgeries for valve problems, and would not have required a fifth surgery had the defendant physician properly diagnosed his condition.
K.H. v. Hospital
$1,000,000 settlement for an eleven-year-old boy who suffered damage due to a cardiac arrest 9 days after open heart surgery.
A.S. v. OB/GYN Surgeon and her Hospital Employer
$950,000 settlement for a 51-year-old woman against her surgeon and her surgeon’s hospital employer. Surgeon was attempting operative treatment for a fibroid uterus and menorrhagia. During the surgery, the surgeon injured the plaintiff’s colon requiring another surgeon to step in and emergently attempt to repair the injuries. As a direct result of the doctor’s negligence, plaintiff required a hysterectomy, was forced to have a colostomy bag for three months and suffered from a recto-vaginal fistula for seven months. She now has diet restrictions and intermittent abdominal discomfort.
N.B. v. MacNeal Hospital, et. al.
$801,642.57 verdict for the estate of a 78-year-old man. Plaintiff claimed that the defendants failed to timely appreciate and treat a large hemorrhage in the decedent's chest which led to his death during a femoro-popliteal bypass.
R.O. v. Sudarsanarao Akkineni, M.D.
$736,600 medical negligence verdict for 41 year-old man who suffers from neurogenic bowel and bladder due to the delayed diagnosis and treatment of cauda equina syndrome. Good Samaritan Hospital settled for $1.35 million, but Dr. Akkineni and ISMIE, his insurer, made no settlement offer. Michael Gill tried the case against Dr. Akkineni in DuPage County before the Hon. Hollis Webster.
Chicago Car Accidents & Truck Accident Cases
Estate of J.L.G., deceased v. Dennis Oltesvig and A Wisconsin Trucking Company
$9,362,850.56 verdict for man who was contacted by another truck while standing on the underride bar of his trailer, tarping a load. The contact caused massive hemorrhages in both thighs from transaction of all vessels in the legs. Decedent had 85 minutes of conscious pain and suffering, and he died the next day.
G.P. v. Carmichael Trucking, et al.
$1.165 Million dollar car accident settlement for a 72 year-old driver of the 3rd car in a 4 car collision who suffered a vertebral fracture requiring 3 surgeries, 5 months in a halo brace with rehabilitation, resulting in bilateral peripheral double vision, loss of range of motion in his shoulders and numbness in hands.
D.D. v. Schneider National Carriers. Inc.
Truck accident settlement of $1,012,000 for the surviving children of a 74 year-old woman run over and killed by a large tractor trailer exiting a Sears loading ramp in Park Forest, Illinois.
T.H. & L.J. v. Colonial Coach Lines
$750,000 settlement for the passenger and driver of a Pace bus that was rear-ended by another bus. The driver suffered an injury to his lumbar spine and underwent L4-L5 laminectomy. The passenger suffered a C5-C6 herniation and underwent a fusion as those levels. The driver’s case settled after trial assignment and the passenger’s case settled three days prior to trial.
A.P. v. Farjon and SJB Saturn, LLC d/b/a Saturn of Glenview
$147,997.44 jury verdict in Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois to a 29-year-old man who suffered multiple injuries in a motor vehicle collision on the Edens Expressway near the Wilson Avenue exit.
Chicago Personal Injury Cases
D.S. v. MiTek Industries, Inc. v. C.I.T. Industries, Inc.
$13,544,172 jury verdict in the Circuit Court of Tazewell County, Illinois for a product liability case involving a 19-year-old young man who suffered an above-knee amputation of his left leg due to a defectively designed and manufactured Roof Glider machine. (see Verdict Report)
S.R. v. Cascade Mountain, Inc.
Confidential settlement for 15-year-old young man who suffered fractures to C5-C6 and was rendered paraplegic due to a defectively designed and maintained snowboard jump at Cascade Mountain in Portage, Wisconsin.
Y.I., A.A. & M.F. v. The Mark Travel Corp. d/b/a Funjet Vacations
Confidential settlement for mom and her two children who suffered serious personal injuries when the driver taking them from their hotel in Negril, Jamaica to the airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica crossed the center line and struck a lumber truck. The driver was killed. Mom, 34, suffered numerous internal and orthopaedic injuries necessitating abdominal surgery in Jamaica, and orthopaedic procedures at University of Chicago Hospital on her knee, hip and shoulder. Her daughter, 15, suffered fractures to her right arm requiring multiple surgeries. Her son, 4, suffered a permanent brachial plexus injury. Plaintiffs had purchased an all-inclusive vacation package from Funjet that included transportation to and from the airport in Jamaica. Plaintiffs alleged that the driver was Funjet’s apparent agent.
C.N. v. Levy Security
$400,000 jury verdict for a registered nurse who was attacked and beaten by a psychiatric patient at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The suit was successfully prosecuted against the security service whose workers did not timely respond to the emergency call for help.
Estate of O.R. v. Cedar Lake Park, Inc.
$506,370.36 jury verdict reduced to $253,185.18 for estate of 17 year-old boy who drowned at defendant’s beach. Jury found the decedent 50% liable.
R.H. v. Central Telephone Company of Illinois
$16,000,000 verdict for a 48-year-old incomplete quadriplegic who suffered his injuries as a result of contacting a bare 7200 volt electrical wire suspended above a roof where he was working. The award was reduced by 40% contributory negligence, resulting in a total judgment of $9,623,000. The case was subsequently settled for $10.2 million, which included interest on the judgment and $500,000 to the worker's wife for loss of consortium.
P.D. v. Commonwealth Edison
$3.6 Million verdict for widow of a man who fell through a 3 foot by 8 foot hole in a catwalk 30 feet up in the air. The section of catwalk was removed by other workers and the opening was not barricaded or roped off.
R.M. v. Greyhound Lines, Inc.
$75,000 settlement for a 49-year-old gentlemen who was unlawfully detained, robbed, battered, and mentally abused by security guards at the Greyhound Bus Station in Chicago. The occurrence was captured by surveillance cameras and the case settled shortly after filing a personal injury lawsuit.
Chicago Sexual Assault Cases
Does v. Minor Perpetrator and his Mother
$2,550,000 settlement for four children molested by a neighbor’s child. Multiple events over a six month period, the victims were 5 and 6 years old and the perpetrator was 11. Claims were against the neighbor’s child and his mother for negligent supervision because the mother was aware of previous accusations against her child and had been warned by her child’s therapist that the 11-year-old was not to be left alone with younger children because of his propensity to commit such acts. During pendency of case, we were able to prove that the child perpetrator and his mother were covered by the renters policy the mother had on the apartment.
C.R. v. Jacqueline's Transportation
$500,000 settlement for a disabled minor who was sexually assaulted by a school bus driver. The suit was premised on the bus company's failure to provide supervision of the driver, and on the bus attendant's abandonment of her job on the day of the occurrence.
C.J. v. Alpha School Bus Co., et al.
$250,000.00 for 12-year- old autistic girl sexually assaulted on school bus by another disabled student.
Doe v. Tejpal
Confidential settlement to a three-year-old boy, John Doe, who was injured when defendant's maintenance man entered the boy's apartment and sexually molested him. Plaintiffs brought suit against the apartment owner for giving the maintenance man a pass key for all the apartments without doing a criminal background check, which would have revealed a prior similar conviction.
Chicago Product Liability Cases
C.M. v. Ford Motor Co.
$27,000,000 jury verdict for the estate of a 46-year-old man who died because the driver's seat of his vehicle failed in a rear impact, causing him to suffer fatal head injuries. The jury's award included $25,000,000 for loss of society suffered by his wife and two children, an Illinois record.
L.C. v. Ford Motor Co.
$14,500,000 verdict for a woman who became paraplegic when her 1991 Ford Explorer was rear ended. Her driver's seat broke, and she was catapulted into the rear of the vehicle. The verdict was rendered against Ford Motor Company and the uninsured driver of the other vehicle. The verdict was affirmed on appeal, and the judgment plus interest was paid in full.
D.S. v. MiTek Industries, Inc. v. C.I.T. Industries, Inc.
$13,544,172 jury verdict in the Circuit Court of Tazewell County, Illinois for a product liability case involving a 19-year-old young man who suffered an above-knee amputation of his left leg due to a defectively designed and manufactured Roof Glider machine. (see Verdict Report)
R.B. v. Garage Door Manufacturer.
$9,000,000 settlement to the family of a four-year-old boy who suffered brain injuries after being trapped under a garage door. The “contact��? safety reverse system that was supplied with the garage door operator failed to reverse the door, and the boy was asphyxiated for 5 or more minutes before his mother found him.
O.R. v. Dri-Tec Manufacturing, Inc.
$8,104,001.35 judgment against Dri-Tec Manufacturing, Inc. for a 24-year-old machine operator who died of compartment syndrome when his arm was crushed between two rollers of a 1990 coating and laminating machine that was designed without proper safety guards for operators. He was survived by his wife and 2-year-old son. Though the defendant company was sold and later dissolved, the case continues against the former owner for fraudulent conveyance and to pierce the corporate veil to hold the owner personally liable for the judgment.
R.S. v. United Engineering Co.
$4,650,000 settlement to the family of a thirty eight year-old husband and father of two who suffered third degree burns and later died as the result of an explosion at a steel making furnace in Peoria, Illinois. The defendant designed and manufactured water cooled panels used in the roof of the furnace which leaked, causing the explosion.
S.B. v. YCM.
$1,520,000 plus waiver of $260,000 worker's compensation lien for a 22-year-old who lost his non-dominant arm below the elbow in a work mishap. In an attempt to determine the cause of imperfect drilling by the machine, he slipped into the spinning drill. The defendant's machine did not have an automatic shut-off when the doors were open and did not have adequate safety guards to protect workers from the spinning drill.
T.F. v. Rockwell International
$750,000 settlement to a carpenter who received a 110 volt electrical shock and suffered hand injuries while using a router at work. The router had a short in the motor, and it injured the worker because it was not properly grounded.
K.B. v. Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd.
Settled claims on behalf of 33 year-old incomplete quadriplegic for $6,175,000. Keith was injured when a plank on a scaffold snapped, causing him to fall 20 feet to a cement balcony. Weyerhaeuser Canada negligently graded the board, and Edward Hines Lumber Company negligently sold it to the plaintiff's employer for use as a scaffold plank.
L.S. v. General Motors Corp.
Confidential settlement to the surviving adult children of a woman who died in a rollover collision. Claimed auto defects were in the door mounted seat belt system, and the automatic door locking system of the Pontiac Grand Am.
J.T. v. Seat Belt Manufacturer.
Confidential settlement on behalf of young man who was paralyzed when his seat belt inertially unlatched during a collision and he was ejected from his seat.
E.M. v. Confidential Auto Manufacturer
Confidential settlement on behalf of a young woman who was paralyzed when she was ejected from from a vehicle when the door latch and lock system failed and the door opened during the crash.
Chicago Wrongful Death Cases
Tylenol Poisoning Cases
Acted as co-lead counsel for the seven wrongful death cases pending against McNeil Consumer Product Co. These cases settled for a confidential amount in May 1991. An individual poisoned several bottles of Tylenol, which was not apparent to consumers who subsequently purchased the medicine because the bottles were not tamper-resistant or tamper-evident. In claims against the manufacturer, it was shown that the company was aware the product was subject to tampering but took no action to produce a safe product.
E.O. v. Edgewater Medical Center
$9,346,933.64 jury verdict for a 42-year-old man who died in 2000 as a result of unnecessary heart surgery.
Estate of J.L.G., deceased v. Dennis Oltesvig and A Wisconsin Trucking Company
$9,362,850.56 verdict for man who was contacted by another truck while standing on the underride bar of his trailer, tarping a load. The contact caused massive hemorrhages in both thighs from transaction of all vessels in the legs. Decedent had 85 minutes of conscious pain and suffering, and he died the next day.
O.R. v. Dri-Tec Manufacturing, Inc.
$8,104,001.35 judgment against Dri-Tec Manufacturing, Inc. for a 24-year-old machine operator who died of compartment syndrome when his arm was crushed between two rollers of a 1990 coating and laminating machine that was designed without proper safety guards for operators. He was survived by his wife and 2-year-old son. Though the defendant company was sold and later dissolved, the case continues against the former owner for fraudulent conveyance and to pierce the corporate veil to hold the owner personally liable for the judgment.
Estate of M.R. v. a Chicago anesthesiologist and hospital
$8,000,000 wrongful death settlement. 52-year old woman died after anesthesiologist failed to intubate her when she went into respiratory arrest during surgery to remove an enlarged thryoid gland. The doctor with pay his $2,000,000 policy and the hospital, sued under the principle of apparent agency, will pay $6,000,000.
D.M. v. Michael Reese One Day Surgery Center
Substantial settlement of wrongful death claim of 36-year-old gentleman who had a hernia surgery at this outpatient center. He arrested during the procedure, suffered massive brain damage, and died 3 weeks later. His widow wishes to keep the amount of the settlement private.
Estate of W.R. v. John Ebihara, M.D., et al.
$1,800,000 wrongful death settlement. 57-year-old man died due to the failure of 3 internists to timely diagnose and treat bacterial endocarditis. Survived by his widow and 3 adult children.
Estate of T.C. v. Luca Cicalese, M.D.
$1,500,000 wrongful death settlement. 42 year-old man bled to death following a kidney-pancreas transplant surgery at UIC. Mr. C bled excessively during the procedure as a result of taking Plavix. The surgeon failed to timely treat the Plavix-related bleeding.
Estate of W.T. v. Isaac Thapedi, M.D.
$950,000 wrongful death settlement for estate of a 69 year-old man who underwent an anterior cervical decompression and fusion by Dr. Isaac Thapedi. Dr. Thapedi failed to decompress the spinal cord, failed to recognize that the spinal cord remained compressed, and failed to re-operate. As a result, Mr. T was discharged and spent the remainder of his life in nursing homes. He died on September 16, 2004 from sepsis related to decubitus ulcers. The settlement was paid 3 days before trial by ISMIE in response to plaintiff’s $1 Million policy demand.
Estate of F.M. v. USA
$934,126 verdict for Wrongful Death in Federal Tort Claims Act case for estate of 76-year-old man who died at the West Side V.A. Hospital 4 days after a lung biopsy because Drs. Ziad Hanhan and Norman Snow failed to prevent and/or timely diagnose and treat a pulmonary embolism. This bench trial was tried before Hon. Matthew F. Kennelly (USDC ND IL).
Estate of L.G. v. County of Cook
$800,000 wrongful death settlement. 63-year-old man died due to nursing staff’s failure to provide Vitamin K and blood products as ordered to treat accidental Coumadin overdose. Survived by adult son. Case settled before disclosure of expert witnesses.
Contact a Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer
If you, a loved one, or a client has sustained serious personal injuries, please consult with an experienced personal injury lawyer who can help you recover damages for your injuries.
Contact a Chicago personal injury lawyer from the law firm of Pfaff & Gill, LTD.
