Larry R. Rogers Jr.

The Decedent was attempting to cross the street in a crosswalk in her motorized wheelchair when a truck driver failed to stop at a stop sign and struck her. The Decedent suffered eviscerating injuries to her lower extremity, which lead to her death shortly thereafter. The Decedent was unmarried and unemployed at the time of her death, and is survived by four adult children, two of whom lived out of state.

Sexual assault – John Doe was a disabled minor in the cluster program at Chicago Public School’s Bogan Technical High School. He has had an IEP since he was in preschool at CPS. According to John Does’ IEP, he required a paraprofessional, among other things, to supervise while transitioning throughout the building, to and from all specials, lunch, on and off the bus, and in the bathroom. Student A was another cognitively disabled minor in the cluster program at Bogan High School. CPS knew that Student A had an IEP, a functional behavior assessment, and a behavior intervention plan that addressed, among other things, his significantly maladaptive behaviors, violent behavior including physical and verbal aggression toward others, anger control, and inappropriate sexual behaviors. CPS was aware that Student A was a danger to himself and others as it was documented in Student A’s IEP. Prior to attending Bogan, Student A required a one-on-one dedicated paraprofessional aide. While at another CPS school, Student A was found in a bathroom stall with two other students from the cluster program and according to CPS’ documents a Safety Plan was developed for him. The staff involved in this bathroom incident were very concerned that the dedicated aide for Student A was not in place and may have been a contributing factor. The staff said this needed to be addressed to deter from any future occurrence. Despite this, at Bogan Student A was not given a one-on-one dedicated aide. In June of 2016, another disabled student in the cluster program at Bogan reported being sexually assaulted on more than one occasion in the bathroom at Bogan by Student A. The administration was aware of these allegations and did nothing to protect other students. Student A was not given a dedicated aide and his teachers and aides in his classroom were not advised that there were allegations that he sexually assaulted another student. Bogan and CPS did not implement a Safety Plan for Student A to prevent this from happening to another student. Student A continued to be a student at Bogan and was not provided with a dedicated aide for the 2016-2017 school year, despite these allegations and ongoing behavioral and disciplinary infractions. On February 8, 2017, John Doe’s bus was late bringing him home from school. Upon arriving home, he was agitated and kept hitting himself saying he hurt me. Upon inquiry by his mother, he advised that Student A sexually and physically assaulted him.

Co-counsel with Larry R. Rogers, Jr.

Settlement: $ 850,000.00

Medical Malpractice/ Wrongful Death: Plaintiffs allege that Decedent was admitted for a routine hip replacement surgery. During his post-operative, inpatient treatment, his care providers failed to recognize the presence of an ileus and, after Decedent began to experience difficulty breathing, the anesthesia service attempted an intubation but failed to protect Decedent’s airway, which caused Decedent to go into cardiac arrest and pass away

Wrongful death verdict. On March 10, 2009, Matthias Mayhorn was at his home when 2 plain clothes officers arrived to arrest him pursuant to an investigative alert for a domestic incident. Mr. Mayhorn fled into his bedroom and attempted to exit a 2nd floor bedroom window when he was grabbed by his legs by the officers. The officers alleged that Mr. Mayhorn pulled a gun on them while he was attempting to evade arrest through the 2nd floor window and while being held by his feet by the officers. The defense further alleged that the police officers shot Mr. Mayhorn twice when he refused to drop the weapon and were justified in the use of deadly force in doing so. The Plaintiff established that Mr. Mayhorn was not shot at the window as the defense contended in a struggle with the police officers, but more likely than not was shot in the gangway below where he did not pose a threat of imminent death or serious bodily harm to the police officers or others. The Plaintiff introduced forensic evidence found at the scene, and testimony from a forensic pathologist regarding the downward and forward trajectory of the bullet wounds to the back of the head and the leg, to establish that Matthias was shot from a distance, and not at close range as the officers suggested. The Plaintiff also alleged that the lack of fingerprints or other evidence tying the weapon found at the scene to Matthias Mayhorn fit the profile for that weapon being a “drop gun” that was dropped at the scene to explain the unjustified shooting. The jury awarded $1.5 million dollars for the loss that Mr. Mayhorn’s three minor children suffered due to his death.

Co-counsel with Larry R. Rogers, Jr., and Sean Houlihan.

Settlement: $1,500,000.00

Medical Malpractice/ Wrongful Death: The Decedent died from a pulmonary embolism eight days after undergoing surgery at Westlake Hospital allegedly because she did not receive appropriate anticoagulation medication post-operatively. Plaintiff alleged that the Defendant care providers failed to appreciate the patient’s risk factors for developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism. Defense argued that pharmacologic intervention was not necessary because the patient was ambulating adequately post-operatively