Case Results

Hallsten v. City of Chicago, et. al.

The plaintiff, a third year law student who was riding his bicycle to school, attempted to cross Dearborn Street from Delaware Street on the corner where the Park Newberry high rise building was being constructed. While stopped inside a construction sidewalk canopy within the Dearborn street cros... Read On

Hruby v. FCB, Ltd.

The plaintiff, age 42, was working as a part-time secretary in a commercial office building when she existed the rear door to the office building, slipped and fell on concrete stoop and fractured her right heal. Plaintiff alleged that the stoop had an excessive slope in violation of building code... Read On

Estate of Taylor v. Chrysler Motor Co.

Verdict: $4,500,000 A sixty-year-old woman who was survived by two adult children was one of twelve passengers on a Dodge Model B3500 Wag “cargo van.” The vehicle traveling southbound on I 55 rolled over and crashed in a snow storm killing all passengers and the driver. The plaintiff's estate al... Read On

Morgan v. International Harvester Co., nka Navistar

The plaintiff’s mother was mowing the lawn with an International Harvester "Cadet" 85 Special, a rear-engine riding lawn mower which was manufactured in l975. After the mower became stuck along the fence, the mother got off her seat without disengaging the manual blade control lever and attempted to move the machine. The plaintiff, a two-year-old boy who had been inside the screened porch, unexpectedly opened the door and wandered into the lawn in front of the mower at the same moment that the mower became dislodged. The mower traveled a few feet before knocking the toddler to the ground and mutilating his left foot and ankle. The plaintiff alleged that the mower product should have been equipped with a selective “Deadman” safety seat, which causes the engine to automatically kill if the operator leaves the seat without remembering to disengage the manual blade lever. The plaintiff’s counsel found industry research that showed that the primary injury to bystanders and riding mower operators was blade contact while the operator was off the seat. The plaintiff’s counsel deposed the chief engineers from two industry competitors who testified that a Deadman safety device design was available and used by three competitors in industry. The plaintiff’s counsel found three facsimiles of Defendant's mower product and had one re-engineered and built with a Deadman safety seat device that eliminated the danger. This case was the largest settlement from hundreds of cases involving power riding lawn mower accidents and lack of Deadman safety seat switches and is now an industry safety standard. Read On

Robertson v. Straight Line Water Sports, et. al.

Verdict: $1,100,000 The defendant Straight Line Water Sports began marketing a new water ski rope device called the “Woggle,” which was manufactured in Hong Kong by an injection mold plastic process. The woggle was intended as a quick release device to connect and disconnect tow ropes to water s... Read On

Frazier v. The Limited, Inc.

The defendant Victoria Secret, a subsidiary of the Limited, entered the body and skin care products market in l995 and sold a product labeled “Pear Glace Moisturizing Body Splash.” The product was its number one selling cosmetic product. Victoria Secret’s Marketing Department designed label and marketed it as a moisturizer, despite the product’s primary ingredient being SD Alcohol 40 which is highly flammable. The plaintiff, who was a twenty-year-old African American female, followed the instruction on the label and claimed did not realize it was flammable. She applied the product liberally, as instructed, to her arms, chest and neck, while dressing in the bathroom with the door closed. After she put on her blouse, she lit a cigarette causing ignition and a blue flame. She suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns to eleven percent of her body. The defendant re-labeled the product post-accident to say “flammable—keep away from heat or open flame” and dropped the word “moisturizing.” The plaintiff’s counsel argued that the product was misbranded as a skincare product under FDA guidelines and that, although the product had a scented fragrance, the average woman would not assume it was perfume product which are known to be inherently flammable. Research of competitive market products, such as “Jean Nate Body Splash,” revealed that body splashes carried a warning regarding flammability. Read On

Hornsby v. Undisclosed Mobile Trash Truck Manufacturer

Under a confidential settlement, the Defendant which was a national manufacturer of garbage truck container and compaction equipment had designed and manufactured a tailgate with an unguarded, exposed "slide shoe" assembly for the hydraulically powered compaction arm, all of which created a hazardous pinch-point for operators of the truck. In downstate Illinois, the Plaintiff had all toes of his right foot amputated while troubling shooting for a hydraulic leak. Read On