Jessica and Brittney win MSJ in Premises Liability matter on issue of duty to repair a sidewalk

20-L-454 (Will County, Illinois)

Brittney Frederick and Jessica Biagi won summary judgment on a case involving a trip and fall in a shopping plaza in Will County. Plaintiff was an older woman who claimed she was walking from the parking lot into a liquor store when she tripped over an unmarked height differential on the sidewalk. Plaintiff sustained a shattered/fractured wrist requiring two surgeries, and then filed suit against the shopping plaza and the liquor store. Jessica and Brittney defended the liquor store on behalf of CGW.

Plaintiff initially made a settlement demand to both Defendants totaling $300,000, but Brittney and Jessica didn’t believe their client owed any duty to maintain the sidewalk. They moved for summary judgment on behalf of their client, arguing that the terms of the lease between the liquor store and shopping plaza put the responsibility of sidewalk repairs squarely on the plaza, not on their client. Because of this, the liquor store owed no duty to Plaintiff. They further argued that any responsibility that the liquor store took on voluntarily, like shoveling or sweeping the sidewalk, did not create a duty to repair the sidewalk.  

Plaintiff argued that the liquor store still owed a duty to provide a safe ingress and egress to Plaintiff because she was a business invitee, and this was enough to establish a duty on the part of the liquor store. The Judge agreed with Brittney and Jessica, and believed that any duty to Plaintiff was owed solely by the shopping plaza, and dismissed the liquor store from the suit.

Brittney wins MSJ on Unavoidable Collision Doctrine in multi-car collision on I-355

2020-L-004279 (Cook County, Illinois)

Brittney Frederick won summary judgment on a case involving a multiple vehicle traffic accident on I-355 in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The accident occurred when a sedan weaved in and out of traffic, going up to 80 miles per hour in a construction zone.

The driver attempted to get around the a semi-truck, but mistimed his lane switch, hitting the semi-truck’s wheel and starting a chain reaction. The semi-truck was forced into the next lane, where it collided with a second semi-truck. The impact from that collision forced the second semi-truck into the left lane, where it collided with Plaintiff’s vehicle and pinned him against the concrete median.

The driver who started the chain reaction crash settled for policy limits before suit was filed. Plaintiff then sued the two semi-truck drivers complaining of a variety of injuries, including nerve damage and PTSD from the accident. Brittney Frederick took up the defense of the first semi truck which was initially struck by the at fault driver.

After a long discovery phase, Brittney filed her summary judgment motion, arguing that Plaintiff could not prove proximate cause based on the Unavoidable Collision Doctrine. She argued that even if the client could have done something to prevent the accident, his actions were not a substantial cause of the accident. Only the dismissed defendant could be held legally responsible for Plaintiff’s injuries. The remaining defendants joined onto Brittney’s motion. In response, Plaintiff focused on the fact that the truck drivers did not see the speeding vehicle before it made contact with their trucks was proof of negligence on their part. The Judge disagreed, holding that there was nothing either driver could have done to avoid the subject collision. The judge granted the motion and dismissed Brittney’s client from the case.

CGW Wins MSJ after Plaintiff Voluntarily Stops on Highway Causing Multi-car Collision

Shawn Staples

2018-L-006190 (Cook County, Illinois)

Matt Pierotti and Shawn Staples won summary judgement on a case involving a multiple vehicle traffic accident on I 90/94 in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The Plaintiff was a young woman who claimed she stopped and attempted to help Matt and Shawn’s client, who lost control of his car during inclement weather. After Plaintiff stopped her vehicle, she was rear ended twice by two other Defendants on the highway. Plaintiff complained of continuing knee pain from the accident, and underwent surgery. Even after surgery she claimed her pain persisted and secured an expert to opine as to the necessity of future surgery.

Prior to trial, Plaintiff made a settlement demand to all three Defendants totaling $500,000, and just before the trial was scheduled to begin, Plaintiff settled with and dismissed the two other Defendants who had struck Plaintiff’s vehicle. This left Matt and Shawn’s client as the only remaining Defendant.

Matt Pierotti

Matt and Shawn moved for leave to file a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the posture of the case was significantly altered by the dismissal of the two other Defendants. Matt and Shawn argued that even accepting Plaintiff’s factual account as completely accurate, their client’s actions could not have been a proximate cause Plaintiff’s injuries as their client never touched Plaintiff’s vehicle. Their client simply caused the condition by which Plaintiff was injured: and based upon binding precedent from the Illinois Supreme Court, only the dismissed Defendants could be held legally responsible for Plaintiff’s injuries. While Plaintiff argued that there were still issues of fact to be considered by a jury, the Judge held otherwise. “In short, [Plaintiff] cannot establish proximate causation because her action in pulling over and stopping in the lane of the expressway to render aid was not something [The Defendant] could have reasonably foreseen or anticipated, rendering the injuries she suffered from the collisions by the dismissed Defendants themselves unforeseeable.”

Matt and Shawn were thrilled with this result for their client, which avoided the additional time and expense of trial.

Back-to-Back Wins on Motions for Summary Judgment

In March, Daniel P. Costello & Associates won two large cases with a combined value of over $5.6 million on motions for summary judgment.

Personal Injury Case- Janitorial Company

Plaintiff, a 32 year old resident of a condominium complex, was attempting to dispose of glass shelves into a dumpster when a mirror fell onto plaintiff’s foot causing severe injuries which necessitated an amputation of his left leg just below the knee. The plaintiff was seeking a settlement in excess of $4 million for his injuries. Plaintiff sued a number of defendants in Illinois federal court including our client who was the janitorial company allegedly responsible for garbage pickup, common area cleanup, and maintenance around the dumpster coral. Plaintiff alleged that the Janitors were negligent in placing the mirror on the dumpsters and/or failing to remove it. The defense team at Costello Legal headed by Managing Partner Dan Costello vigorously defended the janitorial company. Mr. Costello argued that not only was our client not responsible for creating the hazard but that they also had no notice of the hazard and therefore owed plaintiff no duty of care. The federal court agreed, and granted the motion on all counts and dismissed the case with prejudice.

Construction Defect Case

Dan Costello and Andrew Smith were able to obtain summary judgment and dismissal of all counts against their clients in a high stakes construction defect case. Mr. Costello defended handling the claim from the inception, including coordinating the investigation, coordinating coverage, bring in the third party defendants, and defending the Developer and General Contractor. The plaintiff’s in this case demanded over $1.6 million for alleged construction defects that went back to the construction of the building in 2002. Cook County Judge Mitchell ruled that the claims were barred under the statute of limitations/statute of repose as the plaintiff’s had direct knowledge of the minor water intrusions issues shortly after construction, and had a duty to investigate this claims. After several years of litigation and numerous depositions the Costello team were able to get all of the counts including breach of warranties, and fraud. The case is now subject to appeal.

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!