Our Personal Injury Lawyers Proudly Serve Chicago and All of Illinois.

Our Record of Success In Product Liability Cases

The firm’s shareholders have had great success in trying and settling cases arising out of the use of unsafe and defect products:

J. 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. This verdict was named one of the Top 100 Verdicts in America in 2005 by Verdict Search, a national publication. The case was ultimately settled.

L.C. v. Ford Motor Co. – $14,500,000 jury verdict for a woman paralyzed below the chest and her husband due to the unsafe design of the driver’s seat of a 1991 Ford Explorer, which broke when she was rear ended in Hammond, Ind. This is the highest verdict for paraplegia in the State of Illinois, according to the Jury Verdict Reporter. The First District Appellate Court affirmed the judgment, and the full amount of the judgment and interest was paid.

D.S. v. MiTek Industries, Inc. – $13,544,171 jury verdict for a 22 year old worker who suffered a leg amputation using a roof truss press designed by MiTek. The case was tried in a county where there had never been a million dollar verdict before. The jury awarded every penny requested. The judgment was affirmed by the Third District Appellate Court and the Supreme Court denied defendant’s petition for leave to appeal. Defendant paid the full amount of the judgment and interest.

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. The jury award included $10,000,000 for non-economic losses.

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′ 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.

Unnamed Plaintiff v. Unnamed Automobile Component Maker: A 25 year old Chicago area man settled his product liability case against the component part maker for $3,980,000. He claimed the seat belt on his vehicle failed in an automobile collision causing paralysis. The other motorist in the collision paid $20,000, his available insurance, and an additional $80,000 was collected from the injured party’s underinsured motorist coverage for a total settlement of $4,098,000.

Unnamed Plaintiff v. Unnamed Automaker and Dealer – Our 57 year old plaintiff fell asleep at the wheel of his convertible couple, lost control and rolled over while driving on I-94 in SW Michigan. During the course of the rollover, the A-pillar on the driver’s side deformed downward, exposing the plaintiff’s spine to severe flexion. This caused incomplete quadriplegia. We sued the automaker and dealer for failing to incorporate pop-up or fixed roll-bar technology on the convertible that would have made the injury less likely. We settled the claims of the plaintiff and his wife for $3,650,000.

Unnamed Plaintiff v. Unnamed Automaker: $3,030,000 settlement for a young woman who was an unbelted passenger laying in the backseat of a car hit in an intersection collision. The door adjacent to her head opened and she was ejected. She suffered a thoracic spine injury.

Tylenol Poisoning Cases – Acted as co-lead counsel for the seven death cases pending against McNeil Consumer Product Co. Cases settled for a confidential amount.

R. v. Chrysler Corp. – Settled claim on behalf of a 28 year old paraplegic who was hurt when his Jeep CJ7 rolled over and he was ejected. The amount of the settlement is confidential.

F. v. Day – Represented injured worker who had his left hand amputated as a result of contacting the blades of an industrial mixer. Case settled for $1,000,000.

B. v. Shiley Co. – Settled case on behalf of the survivors of a 36-year-old woman who died when her mechanical heart valve sustained a weld fracture and failed. Shiley insisted, and the client consented, to keeping the amount of the settlement private.

R.K. v. Commonwealth Edison – Represented a young adult who suffered electrical injuries when the mast of a portable drill rig he was driving contacted an overhead power line. Case settled for $1,800,000.