Chicago Injury Blog

Our children's safety should never be compromised. One of the most important areas of concern for safety, not only in Chicago or Illinois, but all over the United States, is the method we transport our children to school -- buses. Chicago has seen its unfortunate number of tragic bus accidents and it is mind bongling why seat belts were never mandated on school buses. It is about time that children stop being projectiles inside of a tin can when the buses they are riding in are in accidents. We have seat safety laws for our cars, minivans, suv's, trucks, airplanes, etc. But why don't we have mandated seat safety for school buses? Hopefully, that will all change in Illinois soon with a new bill being proposed by Rep. Elizabeth Coulson.

I urge all of you to support this bill. I cannot think of a more important piece of legislation that would have a more immediate impact on the health and welfare of your children and mine.

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Continue reading "Chicago Wide School Bus Safety is Mandatory" »

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Everyone by now has heard of the Judge in New York who sued his dry cleaner for the ridiculous sum of $54,000,000 for losing his pants. This law firm, and every lawyer I know, has condemned his lawsuit and the pursuit of a judgment against the dry cleaners. Thankfully, justice did prevail and he literally lost his pants in the lawsuit.

A good friend of mine has prepared an educational parody of Fancy Pants. Please take a look at the video below and watch why good lawyers don't want people like this filing lawsuits. Good lawyers only want good clients who have legitimate and compensable injuries.

Thanks to Tom Young for his production.

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Romanucci & Blandin has always been a strong advocate for aviation safety, not only in Chicago but all over the country. Our recent involvement in the Southwest Airlines runway incursion at Midway Airport has led to substantial safety upgrades at the airport with many more safety features to come. However, there continues to be a lot of work in this ever-changing industry of expansion and retraction. Only yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board began investigating a runway incursion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in which two airliners may have come within 100 feet of each other.

At about 2:30 p.m. on July 11, 2007, the crew of United Airlines flight 1544, an Airbus A-320, received taxi clearance from the terminal to runway 9L via taxiway T7.

Delta Airlines flight 1489, a Boeing 757, arriving from Atlanta, Georgia was inbound for landing on runway 9L. As United was taxiing on taxiway D near runway 9L, the tower controller noticed the airplane was going too fast to hold short of the runway and told the ground controller to tell United to stop. United stopped on runway 9L, 30 feet from the centerline.

As Delta flight 1489 was touching down on runway 9L, the tower controller instructed them to "go around." The airplane became airborne and the tower controllers reported that Delta flew over UAL by less than 100 feet.

Fort Lauderdale International Airport is not equipped with either a ground safety system such as an Airport Movement Area Safety System or Airport Surveillance Detection Equipment. The United crew stated that they missed the turn onto taxiway B. The FAA has classified this incident as a pilot deviation.

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This morning, the American Association for Justice, which will hold its annual meeting and conference in Chicago, Illinois, released an important poll. It shows significant anxiety concerning corporate misconduct and large support among voters for a strong civil justice system to ensure corporate accountability and fairness. Key findings reveal that:

• Americans are deeply worried about their nation’s future, and concern about corporate misconduct is a major source of their anxiety. “Worried swing voters,” who see corporate irresponsibility as a central problem, may play a pivotal role in the 2008 election.

• Voters will support candidates who defend the civil system over candidates who assail “frivolous lawsuits” and advocate “tort reform.” Pro-civil justice candidates not only command overwhelming support from swing voters, but also appeal to significant blocks of Republicans.

Romanucci & Blandin is proud to be an AAJ supporter and we will continue to pursue the rights that are clients are entitled to every day.

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For those who know our firm, you are aware that community safety in the Chicago area is always one of our priorities. When one of my son's friends was seriously injured in a little league baseball game on opening day this spring, I knew that someone had to do something. Fortunately, the boy's mom has been very successful at advocating for wooden bats to replace metal bats. Her article ""Metal Bats Strike out with Barrington Parents" highlights the inherent dangers of metal bats.

What follows is my letter to the editors of all of the major publications in Chicago. The letter was published my over 50 community newspapers. Word has spread and our fight will continue on to the Illinois legislature.

Until a few months ago, I had very little interest in metal baseball bats. Then I learned firsthand about the serious safety threat they pose.

As a personal injury attorney who has witnessed one too many times the devastating impact that sports equipment can have, I am writing to make your readers aware of the imminent danger of metal bats.

On opening day of baseball season, the 14-year-old son of a close friend was seriously injured while pitching during a Pony League game. A line drive hit by a metal bat struck him directly in the face, destroying his orbital lob and nose and requiring plastic surgery to repair. He will never look quite the same.

New York City has banned their use for 13-18 year-olds as of September 2007. North Dakota has banned them, and numerous other leagues and organizations across the U.S. have banned them or are considering doing so. The Illinois High School Association currently has five conferences that use only wood bats because of the growing safety concerns about metal bats. Jack Mackay, a former metal bat engineer for Louisville Slugger, has been an outspoken advocate against the use of metal bats.

I urge all local baseball leagues to ban the use of metal bats for the sake of our children and our communities. It would be a shame if this becomes a legislative issue when local leagues could so easily resolve the problem.

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The family of a Northern Illinois motorcyclist who died in a cornfield after making two 911 cell phone calls authorities couldn’t trace filed a lawsuit Monday against two Illinois counties.

Kurt Regnier, 47, of Capron, died in July 2006 of injuries to his head, neck and chest after a motorcycle accident. His Harley-Davidson veered off a rural McHenry County road into a cornfield where he laid for about four hours before a passer-by found him and notified authorities. Regnier was dead when paramedics arrived.

The suit, which names McHenry and Winnebago counties, alleges both counties had access to technology necessary to determine Regnier’s location from the 911 cell phone calls. It claims both counties were negligent in not setting up the service and upgrading technology. The lawsuit also claims McHenry County collected more than $2 million for the technology upgrades since 1999 but didn’t use the money.

Continue reading "Chicago Area Family Files Lawsuit Over Missed 911 Cell Phone Call" »

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The U.S. government can tax an individual's compensatory damages for emotional distress and injury to reputation, a federal appeals court has ruled.

In its 3-0 decision, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said legal recoveries for these amorphous injuries count as income for tax purposes. The court distinguished emotional distress and reputational harm from physical injuries, the compensation for which does not count as income and is not taxable under federal law.

The appeals court rejected a taxpayer's argument that compensating emotional and reputational injuries does not enrich an individual but merely makes that person ''whole.'' Thus, the person has not received any ''income'' but has simply been returned to where he or she was before the injury, the taxpayer argued.

Continue reading "U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says: Careful What you Tax for on a Tort Recovery" »

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