Following a two-week trial from August 10–24, Costello Ginex & Wideikis, PC partners Dan Costello and Michael Turiello secured a major defense victory in a highly contested construction-site wrongful-death case involving the tragic death of a 19-year-old contractor. Plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury for $190 million.
The Court submitted both wrongful-death and conscious pain-and-suffering claims to the jury. It also allowed the jury to consider separate theories of premises liability and negligent activity.
Our client was apportioned only 5% responsibility under premises liability, resulting in exposure of $650,000. This is less than one half of 1 percent (.34%) of the ask at trial.
The jury separately apportioned 40% under negligent activity, creating a maximum alternative exposure of approximately $4.05 million. The defense maintains that this theory should not have been submitted because the allegations concerned conditions and actions the defendant allegedly failed to undertake—not contemporaneous affirmative conduct. Based on the Texas Supreme Court's recent decision in JMI Contractors, LLC v. Medellin, 716 SW3d 740 (June 26, 2026), which requires evidence of contemporaneous activity (i.e. malfeasance) that caused the injury for a negligent activity claim to be submitted to the jury, and other appellate issues zealously preserved by the trial team, the defense expects the overall amount to be reduced to $650,000 or less following post-trial and appellate review. The premises-liability finding also remains subject to challenge because the alleged condition was open and obvious.
A special thanks to Heidi Gumienny Simmons and Andrew Nelson at Wright Close Barger & Guzman for their outstanding work with us on this case on the appellate issues. Also thank you to Stephen Graham at Amerisure for the opportunity to let us parachute into this case, and local counsel Barry Hardin. Finally, an enormous thank you to the client and their in-house team for their incredible support during the trial.
We are proud of the preparation, perseverance, and teamwork required to achieve this result in an exceptionally difficult and consequential case.
Partners Dan Costello and Shipra Mehta win Summary Judgment in Matter involving Commercial Vehicle Crash in Construction Site
Dan Costello and Shipra Mehta won summary judgment on a traffic construction case with demands totaling over $75 million for six plaintiffs in the Circuit Court of Cook County. The case involves 24 separate construction defendants on an interstate rebuild where a commercial vehicle flipped over; killing or significantly injuring all of the passengers in the vehicle.
Shipra Mehta Wins Defense Victory for Concrete Subcontractor in Death Case
2017-L-000052 (Lake County, Illinois)
A woman slipped and fell while leaving a Bank of America in Waukegan, Illinois, and then died months later. The deceased husband, as Special Administrator of her Estate brought suit against the Bank of America and property owner, attributing her death to complications from this fall, bringing wrongful death and survival claims against the defendants. Plaintiff alleged the ADA ramp was negligently maintained, though as the ramp was built a few years before the fall, the owner and property manager subsequently sued the contractors involved with the prior construction alleging improper construction and noncompliance with the plans and specifications.
Shipra Mehta defended the concrete subcontractor and after multiple depositions including the completion of expert discovery, filed a motion for summary judgment emphasizing the speculative nature of the overall claim, lack of notice of any issues with the construction, and compliance with the construction plans and specifications. As such, Shipra argued, no reasonable jury could find against the concrete subcontractor. The Court agreed, granting the concrete subcontractor's motion for summary judgment, dismissing all claims brought against the subcontractor in its entirety.
Dan Costello to Speak at CLM's "Preventing Nuclear Verdicts: A Virtual Series"
Another Stunning Verdict from Costello Legal
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.
