Partner James Barrow Wins Motion in Slip & Fall Case at Community Center

2016-L-288 (Illinois, Kane County)

Plaintiff entered a local community center and tripped on a mat placed at the entryway, sustaining injuries and suing the community center. Plaintiff brought suit against the community center, the maintenance company for the center, and other ownership entities associated with the center.

Partner James Barrow defended the maintenance company, filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that there was no reason for the maintenance company to be in the case. He argued the plaintiff could not make a prima facie case of negligence, that based on the plaintiff’s deposition testimony he could not point to a reason for his fall and could not establish causation as to his injuries, and that the rug, to the extent it was a defect, was open and obvious. The trial court granted the motion dismissing the maintenance company from the case. When the plaintiff filed a motion for reconsideration, James argued in defense of his motion and the judge upheld his order.

After Mystery Fire in Historic Chicago Building, Costello Legal Defends Accused Plumbing Company

2015-L-013013 (Illinois, Cook County)

A historic Chicago building over 100 years old that used to be a school was being gut rehabbed to put in high end condos. At 2am, a fire broke out during construction between the 3rd and 4th floors and the contractor pointed the finger at the plumbing company who they believed caused the fire. However, the plumbing company had left the job site hours before. Costello Legal picked up the defense of the plumbing company and engaged in a lengthy process of discovery to determine who was on the site and what happened.

After years of discovery, the parties’ demands were too divergent to settle, and attempts at mediation failed. Each side hired experts to opine on what caused the fire, resulting in a “battle of the experts” type of construction defect dispute. The case went to jury trial, where plaintiff demanded millions in damages up to what the cost might be to restore the building to its pre-fire site. However, Dan Costello and James Barrow mounted a vigorous defense, using their experts’ testimony to poke holes in plainitff’s theories about the cause of the fire. Before judgment, the plaintiff decided to reduce their risk of going home with nothing and agreed to settle the matter for less than 20% of their original trial demand.

Control Panel Fails at Steel Facility, Costello Legal Gets Maintenance Company Out on Motion

64D05-1411-CT-9781 (Indiana, Porter County)

At a steel production facility, a control panel that controlled the operation of a stacking device failed, causing damages approaching $50 million. Due to the number of companies working on the site and interacting with the machinery, the case spent significant time in discovery across many parties. During the discovery process, a contractor that once worked on the control panel was brought in, on a negligence theory as well as a claim that the contractor breached implied contracts resulting in the damages. Costello Legal partners Dan Costello and James Barrow picked up the defense of the company.

Costello Legal filed a motion on behalf of the contractor alleging that they could not be held responsible in any way for the accident. The motion argued that the damages incurred fell outside the scope of work performed by the contractor, that there was no causational link between the contractor’s work and the damage that resulted, and based on the work actually performed by the contractor, there existed no “implied contracts” between the contractor and the facility that were breached in any way. The judge agreed, granting the motion, fully dismissing the contractor from the suit and allowing the contractor to avoid a potentially lengthy and expensive trial.

Three More Jury Trial Wins at Costello Legal

Costello Legal has just won three jury trials this winter, marking 10 wins so far for 2015 and a very successful year. Congratulations to all the attorneys and support staff who worked hard and made this possible!

2013-L-11132 (Illinois, Cook County)

The Plaintiff, a 48 year old special education coach, was involved in a low-speed rear end collision in Evanston, Illinois, and sued the car that struck him. Plaintiff insisted on taking the matter to trial, claiming $80,000 in damages including outstanding medical expenses, the need for future medical care, lost wages from the incident, and permanent injury to his lower back. Partner James Barrow, representing the defendant at trial, showed the jury that this low speed collision could not have possibly caused the damages the plaintiff claimed, which were all the result of a pre-existing medical condition and an intervening work related injury. The trial lasted 3 days and included 5 witnesses, including a treating physician, independent neurosurgeon, and a biomechanical engineer. After deliberating for 90 minutes, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendant.

2010-L-6503 (Illinois, Cook County)

After the Plaintiff, 39 year old health instructor, fractured her larynx while working out on a glute-ham machine, she filed suit against the gym, the manufacturer and the retailer. Prior to trial, Plaintiff settled with the manufacturer and retailer, leaving only her premises liability claim against Quad's Gym, Inc. Plaintiff requested $1.16 million at the end of a jury trial, including $130,000 in past medical bills, scarring and permanent changes to her voice. The trial lasted three and a half days and included eleven witnesses, including two laryngologists and one expert biomechanical engineer. For the defense, the team of Daniel Costello and Jessica Biagi fought zealously to deny fault and prove the defendant's affirmative defense of contributory negligence. Within 90 minutes, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty in favor of Defendant Quad's Gym, Inc.

2012-L-11088 (Illinois, Cook County)

The Plaintiff, a 53 year old nurse, fell while roller skating backwards in a roller rink, resulting in a fractured wrist that required surgery. She claims her fall was caused by an object on the ground, and filed a premise liability and negligence claim against the roller rink for failure to maintain and inspect the floor of the roller rink. The trial lasted three days and included seven witnesses. At the end of trial, Plaintiff asked for $125,000. Jessica Velez from Daniel P. Costello & Associates vigorously defended the roller rink and made it clear not only that Tinley Park Roller Rink properly supervised and maintained the roller rink, but also it was not possible the object on the floor could have caused the plaintiff's fall. After only 40 minutes of deliberation, the jury agreed and returned a complete defense verdict.

Sixth Jury Trial Win for Costello Legal

Daniel P. Costello & Associates just racked up the firm's sixth jury trial victory in a row, this time a large case in Cook County.

2010-L-13633 (Illinois, Cook County)

Plaintiff tripped and was injured in a parking lot, dying four days after the fall. As a result, plaintiff's estate brought a wrongful death claim against the owner of the lot, Berwyn Eagles Aerie. Plaintiff alleged that a parking stop was left in a dangerous condition in the lot for over a year, causing the plaintiff to trip and get injured. Partners Dan Costello and James Barrow represented the defendant Berwyn Eagles and ultimately took the case to trial, showing clearly that the defendant was not negligent in its upkeep of the lot in any way. After only 20 minutes of deliberation, the jury agreed and found in favor of the defendant on all counts.

Costello Legal Wins Two Jury Trials in One Month

Daniel P. Costello & Associates congratulates two attorneys within the past two weeks who won full defense verdicts for our clients in jury trials in Cook County, a historically plaintiff-friendly venue.

Nicolau v. Mt. Prospect Child Care Center, Inc.

After a five year old girl fell off the monkey bars and broke her arm, her parents sued the day care center in the Cook County Law Division alleging negligent supervision and claiming $64,442.14 in damages. During the jury trial, Plaintiffs presented seven witnesses in their case-in-chief over three and a half days, including a liability expert. The firm received the case just one month prior to trial and Jessica Biagi, an associate at Daniel P. Costello & Associates, LLC, did an outstanding job quickly preparing the matter for trial reviewing thousands of pages of evidence. Within only an hour of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

Jeff Wilson v. Action Towing, Inc. and Roxanne Rorah

The plaintiff, a 50 year old limousine driver, claims he was injured after falling off the back of a flat bed tow truck owned by our client. The Plaintiff claimed the defendant gave him instructions on climbing the truck and failed to warn him of the danger involved. The plaintiff asked for $152,000 in damages including over $37,000 in medical specials. For the defense, Partner James Barrow first won a motion for summary judgment as to counts for res ipsa loquitur, negligent spoilation and intentional spoilation, leaving only negligence counts. During the four day trial, James got the plaintiff to admit he knew what he was doing was dangerous and made it clear to the jury that the defendant bore no fault for the plaintiff’s accident. After deliberating for two hours the jury returned a full defense verdict.Congratulations to both Jessica and James!

Man falls off Tow Truck Trying to Get a Can of Diet Coke

2012-L-012989 (Illinois, Cook County)

After plaintiff got in a car accident and had his car towed, the tow truck driver pulled to the side of the road before getting on the highway to check the chains and connections. During this, plaintiff attempted to get into his car to get a can of diet coke by climbing on the flatbed of the tow truck, and in the process he fell from the flatbed sustaining significant injuries.

Plaintiff, in an attempt to implicate the towing company, made a claim that the driver of the tow truck actually offered a can of coke to the plaintiff, stopped the truck so plaintiff could get his coke, and directed the plaintiff to get onto the flatbed of the truck. James Barrow, representing the towing company, vigorously denied plaintiff’s story. James won a motion to dismiss some of plaintiff’s claims such as a Res Ipsa Loquitur claim, but ultimately the negligence count remained and the case went to trial with plaintiff refusing to lower their demand under $100,000. James defended the towing company and convinced the jury the plaintiff’s version of events could not have been true, and won a full defense verdict.

What a Way to End a Year, 2012 Ends in a Bang

As another year draws to a close the internet is a buzz with stories of the top ten movies of the year, this year's best gifts, and the stories of the year. We have been doing quite a bit of reflecting here again, and we wanted to share some of the highlights of 2012 with our friends and clients.

Although typical lists try and recap the entire year, we won't try and do so here. It just happened in December but we would be remiss if we didn't start with an excellent trial result. On December 10, 2012 a Cook County jury found in favor of our client, a national retailer, in a high stakes jury trial. The plaintiff asked the jury for $9.5 million dollars where he had nearly $1 million in paid past medical bills, $2.1 million in wage loss and a claimed $6 million in non-economic damages. The plaintiff would not move off a $5.4 million pre-trial demand, and turned down a joint defense offer of $2 million dollars, with indications for additional settlement. The jury found for our client, and assessed 0% liability. This was a major victory as joint and several liability in Illinois would require payment of medical for any verdict including 1% on liability. The trial team of Dan Costello, James Barrow, and Jessica Biagi tried the case for nearly two weeks, ending in a verdict followed by the Illinois Trial Lawyer's association. In addition to success in the Courtroom the firm has spent a great deal of time developing and studying industry best practice.

In September 2012, Dan Costello presented on the Ethics of Alternative fees to global risk managers and insurance executives in Philadelphia. He presented on a panel with former Associate General Counsel for Harleysville Insurance, along with the former Chief Legal Counsel for the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance. Shortly after presenting, Dan was part of the second Litigation Management Institute at Columbia Law School in October 2012. The intensive program provided by CLM is a one of kind program putting experienced litigation attorneys, risk management officers, and corporate leaders through rigorous course work for three days. Leaders from Google, Marriott, Liberty Mutual, and other Fortune 100 companies guided the attendees through best practice in litigation management and service to clients. Dan is one of 170 people in the U.S. to have completed the course, and he earned the CLMP designation.

Finally, the firm prides itself on the work that it is doing with two national insurance carriers in regards to litigation management. 2012 saw the firm work successfully with two major U.S. based carriers to create counsel scorecards, litigation management best practices, and unique solutions. These solutions will create value long into 2013 and into the future. Although a successful 2012 is over, there are many exciting events planned for next year, and we look forward to celebrating them with our friends and clients.

Daniel P. Costello specializes in construction litigation, complex litigation, and litigation management.