NOTABLE CASES​

​​Denton v. Universal Am-Can, Ltd.
2019 IL App (1st) 181525

$52 million judgment affirmed including the $35 million punitive damage award. 

Defendants' truck driver collided into plaintiff severely injuring him.  Defendants found to have been negligent in hiring truck driver with a felony road rage conviction, found guilty of negligent supervision of driver and negligent retention of driver; company also found guilty of willful and wanton misconduct or gross negligence in hiring the driver who defendants knew had a felony road rage conviction and who the defendants, themselves, deemed an unsafe, dangerous driver.

Passafiume v. Jurak, 

Illinois Supreme Court, No. 2024 IL 129761

$1.7 million jury verdict upheld.

Supreme Court held that a plaintiff's marriage does not affect the damages recoverable for the loss of a decedent's material (household) services/pecuniary losses under the Wrongful Death Act. 

Givens v. City of Chicago
Illinois Supreme Court, No. 2023 IL 127837

Summary Judgment Reversed in Police Misconduct Case; Trial on the Merits Ordered.
City's police officers fired 76 rounds of ammunition into a van.

Case remanded for a jury trial filed by the two passengers in the van who were wounded.

​

Agwomoh v. Village of Dolton and Officer Ryan Perez

2022 IL App (1st) 210892, appeal denied, No. 129153 (3/29/2023)

Summary Judgment Reversed in Police Misconduct Case; Trial on the Merits Ordered.

Wrongful death action reinstated where Police Officer alleged to have willfully and wantonly interfered with a head-injured patient's CT scan procedure thereby ultimately causing patient's death.  Officer entered CT scan room when disoriented patient got up off the CT cart; ordered patient back on cart and threatened to tase him; proceeded to tase patient numerous times while using TASER gun incorrectly; beat the patient including in his head; put his knee on patient's back and neck all resulting in patient dying 20 minutes after officer pulled off patient.  Neither section of the Tort Immunity Act, 745 ILCS 10/4-102 or 745 ILCS 10/2-202, held to have provided tort immunity as a matter of law. 

Case reinstated for a trial on the merits. 

​

Hoffman v. Dorlan Crane
2014 IL App (1st) 122793

   $28 million judgment affirmed. 

Plaintiffs suffered catastrophic injuries resulting from the defendants' truck driver who crashed into the plaintiffs' vehicle. Negligence, vicarious liability and joint venture liability theories affirmed.

​

Passafiume v. Jurak

2023 IL App (3d) 220232

$1.7 million judgmentaffirmed in medical negligence case. 

Appellate Court held that expert testimony on loss of material services (household chores) property admitted for jury's consideration. 

Foley v. Fletcher
    (2005), 361 Ill. App. 3d 39
$15,225 million Judgment Affirmed

Medical negligence verdict affirmed against doctor and health care providers found negligent in causing injuries to baby in utero which resulted in cerebral palsy and other serious injuries. 

Arient v. Yasser Alhaj-Hussein,
​2017 IL App (1st) 162369
​$8 million judgment affirmed. 

Medical negligence verdict affirmed in a case tried on multiple theories of liability.  Defendants did not submit special interrogatories to the jury, and thus, the appellate court had no way of knowing upon which of the acts of negligence alleged against the defendant doctor the jury based its verdict which rendered the defense claim of error legally irrelevant.​

Blockman v. McClellan and Vector Marketing Corp. and CUTCO Corp.,
2019 IL App (1st) 180420
$4.8 million judgment affirmed. 

Plaintiff successfully proved that the defendants were responsible for the admitted negligence of one of its CUTCO knife salesmen who, in attempting to meet company's sales requirements, was hurrying on expressway to make an in-home sales demonstration, and in an effort to let the next customer know he was running late, used the G.P.S. on his cellphone to calculate how late he was going to be for his next, in-home knife demonstration sales appointment.  In so doing, he crashed into a vehicle in front of him thereby killing the driver.  ​

Browning v. Ektelon Division v. Williams
    (2004), 348 Ill. App. 3d 830
$3.525 million Judgment affirmed.

After three appeals (handled by Lynn Dowd), salesman's judgment, entered 13 years earlier, against sporting goods/firearms company, affirmed resulting in $7 million payment due to accrued post-judgment interest dating back to date of original judgment.​

​Lagesse v. Franciscan Alliance, Inc.,

2021 IL App (1st) 200956

$1.6 million  jury verdict affirmedin medical negligence action. ​

Miden Property Holdings, Inc. v. Sweiss, et al., 

2021 IL App (1st) 1991153

$175,000 Slander of Title punitive damage award affirmed.

Jarosz v. Buona Cos., LLC,

2022 IL App (1st) 210181

Reinstatement of case where court rejected defense argument

that Owner could abrogate duties of care to third party maintenance company. ​​

​

Vanderhoof v. Berk,

    2015 IL App (1st) 132927

$910,742.79 judgment affirmed.
Doctor proven to have been negligent in cutting patient's bile duct.  

Kramer v. UBER and Szczepaniak,
2018 IL App (1st) 171411
Obtained reinstatement of case against UBER and one of its drivers for negligence when UBER's driver ordered the plaintiffs-passengers out of the vehicle in a Chicago neighborhood unfamiliar to plaintiffs, rather than delivering them to the destination for which UBER was paid for transport, resulting in another vehicle hitting and injuring the plaintiffs.

​Doe v. Township High School Dist. 211, (“Doe II”)
    2015 IL App (1st) 140857
Plaintiffs sued defendants for their failure to have prevented one student from having sexual relations with a special needs student.  Appellate court held that defendants must produce special education director’s notes and certain video recordings. 

Prowell v. Loretto Hosp.
    (2003), 339 Ill. App. 3d 817
Issue of fact existed as to whether emergency medical technicians were willful and wanton, causing decedent to fall off stretcher. There was evidence that, despite warning that stretcher was not secure, technicians attempted to move decedent.

Theofanis v. Sarrafi
    (2003), 339 Ill. App. 3d 460
Proper way to correct wildly inconsistent jury verdict in malpractice action was to grant new trial, not change the judgment to make the result consistent; physician's notes of conversations with disabled patient were barred under Dead Man's Act.

ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT CASE HIGHLIGHTS

Corbett v. City of Highland Park, 2017 IL 121536
​745 ILCS 10/3-107(b) of the Governmental Tort Immunity Act was intended to apply only to primitive or rustic trails. Skokie Valley Bike Path was a 10-mile-long, shared-use path, paved with asphalt and held out for the use of bicycles, pedestrians, and in-line skaters. It was not a "trail" within the meaning of the statute​.​

Wilkins v. Williams, 2013 IL 114310 
Ambulance driver, who worked for ambulance service, was providing nonemergency medical services when an accident with plaintiff occurred. Based upon the Emergency Medical Services Systems Act, defendants were not civilly liable to plaintiff for negligence in performing the nonemergency medical services transport in this case.

Petrovich v. Share Health Plan (1999), 188 Ill. 2d 17
Landmark Decision holding that defendant, health maintenance organization, was vicariously liable for negligence of its independent-contractor physicians under apparent and implied authority doctrines; defendant held itself out as the health care provider.

Ziarko v. Soo Line R.R. Co. (1994), 161 Ill. 2d 267
Tortfeasor whose negligence was wanton and willful, but not intentional, who paid more than his pro rata share of common liability, could obtain contribution under Joint Tortfeasor Contribution Act from joint tortfeasor found only negligent.

Goldberg v. Ruskin (1986), 113 Ill. 2d 482
Landmark Decision in which a child's action for wrongful life was properly dismissed for failure to state claim for which relief could be granted because relief sought would involve court system in making comparison between being born with a disease and not being born at all.​