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.
