Chicago Injury Blog

This has to be one of the most dramatic saves a pilot has made on a landing. As the wheels touched down a nearly 100 mph crosswind blew the jet off the runway causing one of the wings to scrape the runway. The pilot cooly steers the jet from the side of the runway to put it in position for a full engine thrust and manages to circle the jet for a second landing which was successful. Watch the video and look at the serious yaw the plane is experiencing before the wheels touch the runway. Kudos to Lufthansa and its pilot.

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Posted In: Aviation News , Breaking News , News That Affects You

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Romanucci & Blandin has been actively involved in the Ford City Mall natural gas explosion for quite some time now. In that occurrence, many people were injured when a natural gas pipeline ruptured in the Ford City Mall parking lot. As having personally inspected the scene several times after the explosion -- it looked nothing short of a war zone. Quite frankly, it appeared as if a bomb had been dropped into the parking lot. as the cause and origin of that explosion is yet to be determined and the litigants are deep into discovery, it would be inappropriate to comment at this time what we feel is the cause of that particular explosion.

However, this most recent incident underscores that this State and this country is facing a crisis in its aging infrastructure. in the Waukegan incident it has been reported that a main ruptured. Mains are not supposed to rupture unless they are so old that they cannot handle he pressure of the gas in the main or they are being ill-maintained. Either way, we have a problem and it will not be fixed unless we get our butt out of Iraq and stop spending the money on a war we will never win and spend that money here at home fixing our infrastructure and education system. OK. Enough said. Thanks for listening.

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If you have ever flown into Jackson Hole, Wyoming, you will be hard pressed to say that there is a prettier landscape to fly in and out of. After all, this is the only commercial airport in the United States that resides in a national park. Despite all of this, runway excursions are not immune.

As you know, Romanucci & Blandin has been very vocal about the safety of our skies -- especially when it comes to our airplane landings. Lately, there have been way too many incidents of overruns and excursions. The NTSB is investigating another such incident from Jackson Hole.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent two investigators to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to investigate an incident in which a United Airlines jet veered off the side of a runway.

Continue reading "And Another Airline Runway Excursion ..." »

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Posted In: Aviation News , News That Affects You

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Romanucci & Blandin has reported that we have been the major proponent behind the ban of metal baseball bats in little league play. We are now one step closer to achieving that life saving reality. Rep. Robert Molaro of Illinois has introduced HB4140 which would ban non wood bats for organizational use for children under 13 years of age. We hope that Committee Hearings will be held soon and then on to Springfield for a vote. In the near future we will be publishing all of the known data inherent in the risks of metal bat use in baseball. This blog entry is to advise our readers of the introduction of the bill.

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Loyola University Medical Center, a Chicago area Level 1 Trauma Center, has announced plans to use new technology that will help surgical teams keep track of all sponges used during a procedure.

About 1,000 times a year, a surgical sponge is left inside a patient during a procedure.

To keep that from happening at its facility, Loyola is becoming one of the first hospitals in the country to use sponges labeled with bar codes.

Continue reading "Chicago Area Hospital Aims to Reduce Sponge Count Losses " »

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The Chicago Defender recently reported on Romanucci & Blandin's latest effort to restore some common sense to the City of Chicago and its police department:

The oldest child of a West Side man, who was killed after Chicago police officers shot him multiple times earlier this month, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department. Wisconsin resident Angela Jadoo, the mother of Freddie Wilson's 13-year-old son, filed the suit Monday in the Circuit Court of Cook County alleging that the police acted with little regard of Wilson's life and violated his civil rights.

Continue reading "Chicago Defender Reports on Freddi Wilson" »

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The Illinois 1st District Appellate Court on Friday affirmed a $17.68 million verdict in favor of Romanucci & Blandin client, Vernon Hudson, who was left paralyzed when his vehicle was struck by a Chicago police car involved in a chase of a homicide suspect.

Hudson was on his way home from his job as a truck mechanic at the time of the May 2001 collision on the Eisenhower Expressway. He sued the city and Officer Sung Joo Lee, who later was dismissed from the suit. Hudson brought both negligence and willful and wanton conduct counts against the city.

A Cook County jury ruled in favor of Hudson on both counts after a March 2005 trial before Cook County Circuit Judge Irwin J. Solganick. Solganick denied the city's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial.

Among the city's arguments on appeal was that it was immune against the negligence count pursuant to the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, 745 ILCS 10/1-101 et seq. The city also argued that Lee's conduct was not willful and wanton.

Continue reading "Illinois Appellate Court upholds $18M verdict in Chicago police department chase" »

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Posted In: Breaking News , News That Affects You , Noteworthy Verdicts , Transportation News

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The family of a Chicago North Lawndale man fatally shot by police last week filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Monday against the City of Chicago and the Police Department.

This shooting is the latest in a continuous string of public embarrassments for the Chicago Police Department. Mayor Daley has had to react to the recent rash of deaths and shootings and tasers by instituting a national search for a leader to the department that can restore the public's confidence in knowing that Chicago is, indeed, protected by the nation's finest. Romanucci & Blandin has successfully prosecuted and brought to trial cases where the Chicago Police Department has been accused of misconduct.

The lawsuit alleges Aaron Harrison, 18, was unarmed and running from police officers when he was shot by an officer. Police have said the teen, who had a lengthy arrest record and one drug conviction, was shot once after an officer told him to drop his weapon but instead he pointed a 9mm handgun at them as he ran during a chase. Harrison died of a gunshot wound to his upper left rear shoulder, with the bullet exiting through his neck, the Cook County medical examiner's office said.

The family's lawyer said at least two video cameras near the scene may have captured the shooting, which sparked heated protests in the neighborhood in the days that followed.

Continue reading "Chicago Police Under Investigation for Suspicious Death" »

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In yet another a blow to the families of those killed and injured in the 2003 Lincoln Park porch collapse in Chicago, the Illinois Appellate Court ruled Wednesday that the City of Chicago cannot be held liable for negligence that the families say led to the tragedy.

Families of the 13 people killed and dozens of others injured had sued the city, among others, after records showed city officials inspected the porch at 713 W. Wrightwood but failed to cite property owners for obvious defects that experts said caused the collapse.

The Appellate Court said that, under state law, the city is immune from lawsuits unless there is proof the city showed "an utter indifference to, or conscious disregard for, the safety of others."

Romanucci and Blandin is involved in a police chase with the City of Chicago where we were able to proceed to trial after the trial court ruled that the police officers involved were both negligent and willful and wanton. a jury returned a verdict of $17.6 million. the City of Chicago appealed and the matter is awaiting resolution by the Appellate Court.

Continue reading "Chicago Off the Hook for Deadly Porch Collapse" »

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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.

Please read more:

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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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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