Costello Legal Wins Motion on Slip & Fall in Chicago Grocery Store Parking Lot

2017-L-002318 (Illinois, Cook County)

An employee of a national grocery chain store location in Chicago was putting carts away when he fell in the parking lot, claiming to have fallen on an unnatural accumulation of ice and snow. The grocery chain, after settling the matter with the employee, filed a subrogation case on the employee’s behalf against the property owner and the snow removal contractor, alleging that they allowed a negligent accumulation of ice and snow that caused the employee’s injury.

Attorney Erin Cannon of Costello Legal took up defense of the property owner, and ultimately filed a motion for summary judgment claiming the landowner was not negligent in any way, as there was no evidence of an unnatural accumulation of ice and snow, that the landowner had no notice of any defect on the premises, and to the extent there was any defect it would have been open and obvious. Erin focused on inconsistencies in the plaintiff’ deposition testimony that made it clear the plaintiff could not meet their burden to show that an unnatural accumulation of ice and snow existed and the judge agreed, granting the motion and dismissing the property owner.

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.

Gravestone Injury at a Cemetery

2014-L-12244 (Illinois, Cook County)

When a family went to visit our client’s cemetery to visit family graves, one of the children in the family grabbed a gravestone for support, whereupon the gravestone fell on the child, injuring his leg. The parents brought suit against the cemetery on behalf of their son. As trial approached, plaintiffs made a demand of $95,000. However, Costello Legal drafted a motion for summary judgment on the issue that the duty to maintain gravestones belongs to the individual plot owners, not the cemetery, and the court agreed, granting the motion and dismissing the case.

Continued 2016 Success with Two More Trial Victories

Daniel P. Costello & Associates is continuing a very successful 2016 with two more complete defense verdicts at trial. Combined, these plaintiffs asked for nearly $1.5 million at trial.

Jones v. West Cook YMCA

The 68 year-old Plaintiff broke her wrist when she slipped and fell on a pool deck. Plaintiff retained a parks and recreation expert with over 40 years of experience to contend that the West Cook YMCA was negligent in eight different ways. Among other allegations, Plaintiff argued that the defendant should have installed rubber mats, abrasive stripping, or handrails on the pool deck. After six witnesses testified over four days, Plaintiff requested nearly $400,000.00 in damages. For the defense, Jessica Biagi from Daniel P. Costello & Associates, LLC, fought zealously to deny fault and prove the Defendant's affirmative defense of contributory negligence. Both YMCA employees and a professional engineer testified that the floor was sufficiently slip-resistant and reasonably safe. Within fifteen minutes of deliberation, the jury returned a complete defense verdict.

Sustek v. First Choice Landscaping

After the Plaintiff, a 53 year semi truck driver injured his knee after falling into a 10" x 10" hole in the parkway while removing fallen leaves, he filed suit against Peoples Gas, Northern Pipeline, Jacobs Engineering, and First Choice Landscaping. Prior to trial, Plaintiff settled with all the other entities, leaving only the premises liability claim against First Choice Landscaping. Plaintiff requested $1,081,110.05 million at the end of a jury trial, including $83,527 in past medical bills, $9,436 in lost wages and future medical for a possible knee replacement. The trial lasted 8 days and included fifteen witnesses, including three experts, one of which was an expert in soils. For the defense, Susan Bledsoe of Daniel P. Costello & Associates fought zealously to deny fault and prove that First Choice landscaping had no knowledge that a void created by another defendant was festering under the surface of the new sod, only coming to light after 2 weeks of excessive watering by the plaintiff. The jury properly returned a verdict of not guilty in favor of Defendant First Choice Landscaping.

Trial Win After Slip & Fall at Pool

2013-L-012143 (Illinois, Cook County)

Plaintiff, an older woman, was at a local pool and recreation facility. After coming down a stairway she stepped onto a wet pool deck and slipped, injuring herself. She sued the recreation facility alleging a number of acts of negligence on behalf of the facility, saying the facility should have put a mat on the floor or posted a sign. Plaintiff demanded over $200,000 but ultimately the case went to trial where Jessica Biagi represented the recreation facility. Jessica Biagi made a common-sense argument to the jury that a wet area by a pool is open and obvious, and that a wet floor does not constitute an unreasonable risk of harm. The jury returned a full defense verdict after only fifteen minutes of deliberation.