Contingent Commercial Litigation: This case involves the embezzlement of $53 million dollars from the City of Dixon. by Rita Crundwell, who served as comptroller and treasurer of Dixon, Illinois, from 1983 to April 2012. This was reported to be the largest embezzlement of a municipality in the history of the United States. Plaintiff, the City of Dixon, brought a negligence action against Clifton, Larsen, Allen, Fifth Third Bank and Janis Card & Associates. Clifton, Larsen, Allen was the accounting firm hired by the City of Dixon to perform the City’s annual audits throughout the time period of Rita Crundwell’s theft. Plaintiff alleged that Clifton was negligent in that it failed to discover the theft of the money during the performance of their annual audits. Clifton was further negligent in not reporting and/or investigating numerous irregularities in Rita Crundwell’s tax returns. Fifth Third Bank and its predecessor banks held multiple City of Dixon. accounts as well as a “secret” account improperly opened in the City of Dixon’s name by Rita Crundwell which she used to deposit the stolen City of Dixon’s funds. Rita Crundwell then used the account to pay for numerous personal items such as jewelry, automobiles and to finance her equestrian business. Plaintiff alleged that Fifth Third Bank was negligent in allowing Rita Crundwell to open the secret account and also failed to disclose the existence oft his account in annual bank confirmations to the City’s accountants. Plaintiff alleged that Janis Card & Associates was negligent in failing to identify the theft and by entering into a joint venture with Clifton, Larsen, Allen to perform the City of Dixon audits after 2005.

L. v. Active Transportation Company, LLC

Trucking/Wrongful Death: L., 43, was driving with his wife and children as passengers when he slowed down due to construction on the highway in Lafayette, Indiana. A truck struck him from behind, causing his car to burst into flames. L. sustained fatal injuries. He is survived by his wife and two minor children. His wife sustained facial fractures, a concussion, bone bruising, lacerations, and sprains. His daughter suffered second and third degree burns, requiring amputation of her left leg and the toes of her right foot. She also fractured multiple broken bones in her pelvis and fingers. L.’s son suffered second and third degree burns to his legs.

(2019) Trucking Negligence: This action arose out of a collision that occurred on September 24, 2017, on Interstate 80, near Mile Marker 29.0, in Chesterton, Indiana. The Defendant Driver, Individually and as an Agent and/or Employee of a local trucking company was driving a tractor trailer westbound on I-80 several vehicles behind Plaintiff’s vehicle on the roadway. Suddenly, the Defendant Driver struck the rear of another tractor trailer, causing it to jackknife into the rear of the Plaintiff’s vehicle, causing Plaintiffs vehicle to spin off of the roadway and onto the shoulder. Plaintiff, a 24-year old male, became trapped in the driver’s seat of his vehicle from the collision and suffered a traumatic fracture of his spinal cord resulting in lower extremity paralysis.

Plaintiff was represented by partner, Larry Rogers Jr.

Medical Malpractice/Birth Injury: On December 18, 2011, the Plaintiff Mother presented to the hospital for labor and delivery. Pitocin was administered at 7:30 p.m. to augment labor contractions. Fetal heart rate monitoring began at 7:30 p.m. and was normal and reassuring through 10 p.m. Plaintiffs’ alleged that the fetal monitoring tracings became non-reassuring and abnormal after 10:00 p.m. through delivery at 12:28 a.m. the following morning. Plaintiffs contend that had Mom delivered between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on December 18th, A. would have been neurologically normal. Because of the delay in delivering A., she suffered brain damage and resultant spastic quadriplegia, cerebral palsy and seizures. This settlement is a state record for a child injured at birth.

T v. Elmhurst Hospital, et al.

Medical Malpractice/Brain Injury: Minor plaintiff at three months of age was intubated by defendant physician. Plaintiff alleges that defendant doctor and undisclosed hospital were negligent in the failure to intubate Dalian causing subglottic stenosis. The subglottic stenosis subsequently required the plaintiff to have a tracheostomy. In September of 2006, the minor plaintiff was hospitalized at a separate hospital when the tracheostomy tube occluded and caused an anoxic event. Plaintiff did not receive proper oxygenation for approximately 12-15 minutes. Plaintiff alleged that the defendant failed to monitor the plaintiff while hospitalized.

As a result of the anoxic event, plaintiff sustained permanent damage and is a spastic quadriplegic. He suffers from cortical blindness and requires a gastrostomy tube.

This is one of the largest settlements in Illinois history.

M.M. v. Allied Barton

The Plaintiffs worked for a law firm in the large office building located at 500 West Madison Street. Allied Barton provided Security Services to the building. On December 8, 2006, a former client of the firm’ sentered the 500 West Madison office building armed with a revolver, chain, padlock, hunting knife, and hammer in order to seek out and kill one of the attorneys who he mistakenly believed had wronged him. After loitering in the building’s lobby and being turned away by the security desk, the former client was permitted access to the law firm, located on an upper-level floor, by Allied Barton security. Once he had gained access to the law firm, he shot and killed three individuals and injured the fourth. Joseph A. Power, Jr. represented the Estate of M.M. and recovered $14.6 million for his client. Larry R. Rogers, Jr. represented the Estate of A.H. and secured an $11 million verdict for his client. James Power represented R.L. and secured a $5 million verdict.

K. vs. Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, et al.

Medical Malpractice: 46 year old male presents for a laparoscopic nephrectomy due to kidney cancer. During the procedure, aortic transection and ligation occurred with a stapling device which was not recognized by the healthcare practitioners until the patient’s transfer to an outside institution. Additionally, injuries to the right kidney were caused by a stapling device which had transected and ligated arteries to the right kidney. As a consequence, the Plaintiff is a paraplegic and requires permanent dialysis.

R.A v. A Local Hospital, et al.

(2024) Medical Malpractice: 35-year-old mother of 3 girls, all delivered vaginally, presents to hospital for labor and delivery of her first son.  Cessation of Pitocin over hours should have occurred due to tachysystole and/or Category II tracings to improve the tracings and if not, delivery by urgent c-section was needed.  Baby’s tracings were Category I for many hours previously, including on arrival.  The failure to stop Pitocin and notify physician(s) of continued Category II tracings without improvement resulted in fetal deterioration (Category III tracings) and uterine rupture of mom’s unscarred uterus.  Baby suffered total acute asphyxia and permanent neurologic injury.

S.V. v. Brunswick Boat Group

S.V. was a 43-year-old successful business man who suffered catastrophic injuries that rendered him a quadriplegic as a result of the Defendant’s negligent boat design.  Specifically, S.V. was hosting a summer boat party on a rented yacht when he fell from the top deck onto the deck below. The case came to Power Rogers after another Plaintiff’s attorney at a different law firm in Chicago fumbled a $25,000,000 settlement offer and left S.V. facing the real possibility that he would receive no compensation at all for the significant injuries he suffered.   Through a thorough review of contract law, as well as a detailed examination of the facts and circumstances surrounding the settlement offer, Joe and James were able to prove the validity of S.V.’s acceptance of the $25,000,000 offer, and ultimately were able to secure an additional $4.4 million in interest that was incurred as a result of the Defendant’s refusal to move forward with the settlement.

J.D., et al. v. Trucking Company and Steel Company (2019 – Northern District of Illinois District Court)

Trucking/Transportation Negligence: A father (M-64), mother (F-43), and their only daughter (F-11) were rear-ended by defendants’ semi-tractor/trailer when its driver fell asleep on Interstate 55. All three were killed (the father was survived by two adult children from prior marriages and the mother was survived by her parents and siblings). Plaintiffs alleged that the trucker, who was acting under the defendant steel company’s direction, had routinely violated the hours of service and other federal regulations and as a result, according to a sleep expert, was chronically sleep-deprived, which contributed to cause the fatal crash. Joseph A. Power, Jr. co-counsel with Kathryn L. Conway and James I. Power.