Cases
Representative Cases: 2019 - Obtained not guilty verdict in favor of a suburban Chicago hospital & its staff nurse & physical therapist in a medical negligence case where plaintiff claimed permanent back & leg injuries following a hospital fall that occurred while the nurse was transferring plaintiff to a bedside commode. Plaintiff alleged that the nurse was negligent in failing to use a gait belt, a walker, or a second person to assist with transfer & that the physical therapist was negligent in failing to document prior episodes of knee buckling & reporting those elides to the nurse. Plaintiff asked for nearly 800,000 in compensatory damages. M.K. Vs. AGSH, DuPage County, IL, Judge David Schwartz
2016 - Obtained a not guilty verdict in favor of an internal medicine physician
his medical group. Plaintiff's attorney asked the jury for 4.5 million. Plaintiff alleged that, due to years of negligent internal medicine care by the defendant physician, the decedent, age 48, developed uncontrolled diabetes
high cholesterol which went untreated
led to the decedent's sudden cardiac death following a workout. The defense argued that the care provided met the st
ard of care,
that the decedent's sudden death was the result of asymptomatic coronary artery disease. S.T. v. E.H., et al. (Cook County, IL, Hon. Daniel Lynch)
2016 - Tried case to deadlocked jury (reportedly 8-3 in favor of defense)
favorable settlement after plaintiff's attorney asked the jury for 1.2 million. Plaintiff, age 42, alleged that she sustained permanent brain damage following a hypoxic event in a hospital post-anesthesia care unit as she was recovering from fibroid removal surgery that was complicated by post-operative bleeding. She alleged that the defendant surgeon had violated the st
ard of care in his stitching technique,
was late in responding to an emergency situation that had developed in post-operative period, resulting in a delayed second surgery
a period of massive bleeding
oxygen deprivation leading to permanent, minor brain damage. The defense argued that the second surgery was completed on a timely basis,
that the st
ard of care was met with respect to the stitching by the surgeon. Plaintiff's brain damage was, at most, minor,
she was by
large functioning at the same level as prior to the surgery. M.G. v. A.H., et al. (Cook County, IL, Hon. Deborah Dooling)
2015 - Lead trial attorney that obtained a defense verdict in a res ipsa loquitur medical malpractice case wherein plaintiff sought nearly 1 million in damages. Plaintiff, a former tennis professional, claimed that she suffered a fractured bone in her foot during a spinal fusion surgery that occurred in 2003. As a result, she had to undergo two foot surgeries
her back did not fuse. The defense argued that her foot was sprained, not broken, during the hospitalization
that the injury did not occur intra-operatively because plaintiff did not complain of foot pain until 3 days after surgery. After less than an hour of deliberations, the jury returned a defense verdict. M.G. v. R.F., UCH, Court No. 05 L 8098 (Cook County, IL, Hon. Frank S. Bartkowicz).
2011 - Member of trial team that obtained defense verdict in favor of major Chicago medical center following a two-week medical negligence trial. Damages in excess of 45 million were sought. The plaintiff in this case alleged that proper informed consent was not obtained by a transplant surgeon prior to a 2007 kidney transplant surgery. In addition, the plaintiff was later found to have contracted HIV
Hepatitis C that was transmitted from the deceased donor - one of four such individuals in the Chicago metropolitan area to have contracted HIV from transplants of organs from this deceased donor. After two hours of deliberations, the jury returned a defense verdict. A.M. v. UCMC, Court No. 08 L 12783 (Cook County, IL, Hon. Judge Thomas L. Hogan).
2011 - Member of trial team that secured verdict in favor of hospital
its obstetrician following a week-long jury trial. Damages in excess of 4 million were sought. Plaintiff alleged that a 1996 birth at the medical center was h
led inappropriately, leaving the child, now age 14, with a brachial plexus injury in the left shoulder
arm. The plaintiff argued that the obstetrician
a resident in training were negligent with respect to maneuvers utilized to relieve a shoulder dystocia that occurred during the child's birth,
that as a result of inappropriate traction on the baby's head during delivery, certain nerves near the baby's spine were stretched or partially torn, resulting in the injury. Mr. Johnson argued that the physicians utilized the appropriate maneuvers to alleviate the shoulder dystocia,
the jury was shown a videotape created by the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists which matched the maneuvers utilized by the obstetricians. After an hour of deliberations, the jury returned a defense verdict. A.L., et. al., v. UCMC, et al., 06 L 7347 (Cook County, IL, Hon. Elizabeth Budzinski).
2010 - Lead trial attorney obtaining unanimous not guilty verdict in favor of a Bloomington, IL obstetrician/gynecologist (ob/gyn) from a jury impaneled in McLean County, IL. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant surgeon violated the st
ard of care throughout two surgical procedures that he performed on her in May 2005. As a result, she alleged that she suffered a bowel obstruction that required a third surgery to correct,
permanent episodes of abdominal pain
gastrointestinal issues for which there is no effective treatment. Damages in excess of 700,000 were sought. Defendant argued that st
ard of care was met
that the third surgery required - a partial small bowel obstruction - is a known
recognized complication of the initial bowel repair surgery he performed. The jury deliberated for approximately 3 hours prior to coming to its verdict. A.O. v. G.O., et al, Court No. 06 L 140 (McLean County, IL, Hon. Judge Michael Prall).
2009 - Obtained favorable result in Cook County, IL, for a national restaurant chain in a premises liability case. Plaintiff alleged he slipped
fell on wet flooring inside the plaintiff's restaurant while trying to deliver more than 300 lbs. of beer in kegs. Plaintiff claimed he subsequently developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) in both of his legs, which caused him to be unable to find any employment since 2004. The plaintiff's attorney asked the jury to award just under 3 million. The jury returned a verdict of 200,000, which was reduced to 100,000 after the jury found that plaintiff was 50% contributorily negligent for his injuries. The jury further found that, as to the restaurant's contribution claim against the plaintiff's employer, the employer was liable in contribution for 30% of the verdict based upon the negligence of the employer in training
supervising the plaintiff as to the number of kegs he could safely transport while on deliveries. M.M.
M.M. vs. TGI Friday's, at al, Court No. 06 L 956 (Cook County, IL, Hon. Judge Thomas Flanagan).
