Insurance – Allstate To Raise Rates For Illinois Insureds
May 4, 2012
Allstate Corp. is increasing car insurance rates in Illinois by 3 percent to 5 percent beginning May 17, according to company filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance. The size of the increases will depend on how long a customer has been with the company.
via Allstate car insurance hike reverses hometown discount – Finance News – Crain’s Chicago Business.
Insurance Rates – Allstate Using Driving Records to Set Homeowners’ Rates in Oklahoma
March 6, 2012
The Northbrook-based company confirmed that it has begun considering the driving records and auto-claims history of people who apply for a new homeowner’s product in Oklahoma called House & Home.
House & Home, introduced in the Sooner State last October, effectively could make homeowners pay more of the cost of their roof repairs. Allstate said last week it plans to roll out the new product to additional states through 2014. Speaking to investors last week, Allstate Chief Executive Tom Wilson said House & Home could help the company reach its target of a 13 percent return on equity by 2014. Allstate’s ROE was 4 percent at year end.
An Allstate spokesman confirmed Tuesday that House & Home marks the first time that the company has used a potential policyholder’s driving records and auto-claims history when giving quotes on home coverage.
via Allstate using driving records to set homeowners’ rates in Oklahoma – chicagotribune.com.
March 20th Vote Smart: Review Judicial Evaluations Presented by Illinois State Bar Association
February 29, 2012
Rating Judicial Candidates
Since Illinois voters have the responsibility to elect judges, the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) feels it has an obligation to share with the public information about qualifications of judicial candidates. The lawyers who practice alongside candidates for judicial office are in a unique position to assess the professional qualities that are necessary for good judges.
View ISBA’s judicial ratings for the March 20th primary by county.
Judicial Evaluations | Illinois State Bar Association.
Wrongful Death – A Series of Mistakes Cause Girl’s Death
February 22, 2012
If not for a series of “mistakes” made by the four paramedics who treated Starks on that fateful day, attorney Brian Murphy argued that the girl would be alive today.
The first mistake was that the child was “intubated through the esophagus that leads to the stomach, instead of through the trachea that leads to her lungs,” Murphy said.
The second mistake involved ignoring a “standing medical order” issued by the Fire Department. According to Murphy, it states that, if a patient’s condition worsens, paramedics are to look into the patient’s mouth to “visually observe where the breathing tube was placed.”If the paramedics had done that, Murphy said, “They would have seen the tube was in the esophagus and not in her trachea and they would have removed it and properly placed it.”
The third mistake involved the “fender-bender” that delayed Starks’ transport to the hospital.Instead of proceeding to Trinity Hospital after determining that the driver of the other vehicle was not injured, the paramedics chose to follow, what Murphy called a “ridiculous general order” that states that, if you’re in an accident involving property damage, you remain on the scene.
via Paramedics’ alleged mistakes in girl’s death likely to cost taxpayers .
Dog bite Injuries – Denver TV Anchor’s Is Bitten In The Face During Interview
February 16, 2012
Approximately 800,000 dog bite attacks occur each year in the United States that require medical treatment. Children account for many of these dog bite victims. Each year, thousands of children are either killed or seriously injured by dog bites injuries. Dog bites can cause serious and disfiguring injuries that may have life changing and life long effects on a person. The effects are catastrophic all the way around: the victim will have to live with the effects of his injuries and the dog, more often than not, will have to be put down.
The story below is just an all too familiar story about an all too trusting individual who simply fails to assess the real dangers of getting too close to an animal with which she is unfamiliar.
A veteran Denver television anchor was injured Wednesday after she was bitten in the face by a dog while doing a live broadcast about a dog rescued by a firefighter. Kyle Dyer was interviewing Michael Robinson — the owner of an 85-pound Argentine mastiff that fell into a lake on Tuesday while chasing a coyote in the city’s Lakewood area — and firefighter Tyler Sugaski, who put on a wetsuit and rescued the dog, when the attack occurred. According to KUSA-TV, firefighters, paramedics and animal control officials were called to the station after the attack.
The station posted a statement on its Facebook page that Dyer was “getting medical attention due to the injury” and the station was waiting to find out the extent of her injuries before issuing further information. A station spokeswoman was not available for comment. The station showed video of Dyer petting the dog, but cut off the video before the attack and said they would not show it. A station spokeswoman did not return a call seeking comment. Julie Lonborg, spokeswoman for Denver Health hospital, said in a statement that Dyer was in fair condition and being evaluated by a trauma team. The hospital said she was awake and visiting with family. KUSA-TV said she may go home as soon as tonight.
Megan Hughes, spokeswoman for the Denver Environmental Health department, said no decision has been made on what will happen to the dog.
via Dog bites Denver TV anchor’s face during interview – CBS News.
Wrongful Death – Mother: Cop, Not Ex-Boyfriend, Deserves Prison Time
February 1, 2012
At what point negligence becomes willful and wanton disregard for a person’s safety?
This is the question that the alleged facts of the case below raises for me. The alleged facts are generally that the boyfriend was drink and calls on his girl to drive hum home. She has a suspended driver’s license and has no babysitter on call. So she puts the baby in the safety seat, as she should, and get the drunk boyfriend. On their way home, they are stopped by a police officer. Upon realizing that the girl friend’s license is suspended, he arrests her, and gives the keys to the car and the baby in the back seat to the drunk boy friend to go home. On their way home, the drunk boy friend crashes the car killing the baby.
Police officers have immunity from the negligent acts they commit while in the performance of their duties. However, police officers are still responsible for willful and wanton acts they commit that causes harm to others. That is, while a police officer may not be held responsible for running into a bystander while chasing a bad guy, he can be held liable if he runs into the bystander on purpose or the chase he has entered into is so dangerous and so unreasonable that it becomes tantamount to a willful and wanton act.
In the case below, the police officer allegedly gives the keys to a drunk person allowing him to drive the vehicle along with the baby in the backseat. Is this an act of negligence that is tantamount to a wilful and wanton disregard for the safety of others, namely the baby in the backseat? I suppose if the case does not settle, twelve jurors will be able to tell us the answer.
“This police officer might have prevented this offense, but he did not cause it,” stated Burmilla.
However, LaFond’s attorney, Mark Horowitz, countered that Officer Felicetti bears all of the responsibility.
“He controlled the situation. He’s the one that pulled her over. He could have ‘A’ told Kathie to drive the child home. He could have given her a ticket roadside. He could have said go home, don’t let me catch you out again,” he said.
via Mother: Cop, Not Ex-Boyfriend, Deserves Prison Time | NBC Chicago.
Wrongful Death – Father Knows Best – Son’s Death in Salt-truck Was Avoidable
January 24, 2012
When a company designs and manufactures a product, the Law requires that manufacturer and/or designer to make sure that the designed product is reasonable safe for its intended use. Too often, it is the personal injury legal battle that brings about those simple changes, that were they implemented to begin with, the injury for which the lawsuit was brought would not have happened. It was the amputated leg of a homeowner whose legs were badly mangled up under his lawnmower when he felt and it back over his legs that prompted manufacturers to put that kill switch on the mower’s handle. It was the McDonald’s case that prompted car manufacturers to equip their cars with cup-holders. It was the avoidable death of several drivers that prompted car manufacturers to use the three-point seat belts. These simple modifications added to the cost of manufacturing, but has prevented additional injuries and death.
In the example below, and the wrongful death lawsuit that has been filed, the same principle is again at play. A simple cut-off switch and/or a protective panel could have prevented the death of a young man? The Jury will make that finding in due time I suppose.
“A suburban father filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday, one month after he made a horrific discovery at the family’s business: His son had fallen on a salt-truck auger, and the younger man’s clothing had been pulled in to the mechanism, strangling him.
David Pittas filed the suit Monday in Cook County Circuit Court against the manufacturer and others tied to the sale of the salt spreader that killed his 26-year-old son Timothy Pittas. The younger Pittas would still be alive today had the salt-spreader been equipped with an emergency shut-off device or at least if the auger — the metal device that spins and spreads the salt — had a guard around it.
“The only reason we’re doing this is so no other person has to go through what I’m going through, or what my wife is going through or my [other] son is going through or my daughter is going through,” a choked up David Pittas told the Sun-Times, referring to his wife Mary and their two surviving children. “It’s wrong to bury your son, and it’s wrong that we had to. If I can save one other person’s life with this then Tim didn’t die in vain.””
via Father says son’s death in salt-truck accident didn’t have to happen – Chicago Sun-Times.
_____________________________________
If you or a loved one has been a victim of personal injury in Chicago or the surrounding area, contact or call us at 312-252-5252 for a free no obligation consultation to discuss your legal options.
Mediation – 678 Partners Ask CFR on How Mediation Can Yield Lower Costs, Produce Win-Win Results And Leave Less Emotional Strain in Comparison Vimeo
January 13, 2012
678 Partners ask CFR on how mediation can yield lower costs, produce win-win results and leave less emotional strain in comparis from Amir Homayoun Rafizadeh on Vimeo.
Had an eye opener discussion with Erin Johnston CEO and Founder of CFR an IL based mediation business. Idea Chef and I have been talking to different groups in the prior weeks about the Gulf Oil Spill and its consequences to the BP brand. Today we also decided to invite Nima Taradji as well to get the perspective of a trial attorney. Very educational and interesting findings when comparing mediation, arbitration and also litigation. Big cost and time differences between the techniques, better outcomes when both parties agree to some aspect rather than having one looser and one winner. Something very few people know: Emotional toll on the case looser, something mediation avoids because both parties decide, and not one or the other. Grab a cup of coffee over a Saturday or Sunday and listen to this interview.
