C. v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., et al.

Trucking: A 71 year old African-American man was injured on July 25, 1995 when a semi-tractor trailer owned by Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad Co. pulled from a stop sign at a T-intersection in Northlake in front of a truck traveling eastbound in which plaintiff was a passenger. He suffered a spinal cord injury which left him with incomplete paralysis in his arms and legs.

Jury Verdict: $10,430,617.92

Offer before trial: $1,600,000.00

Calbert v. Advocate Healthcare, et al

Medical malpractice verdict. Our client, C. Calbert, visited Advocate South Suburban Hospital because he had diarrhea for several days. Eleven days later, he was taken into surgery. To compensate for the drop in blood pressure he was experiencing, the patient was administered Levophed, a vasopressor medication. After surgery, he was instructed to slowly be taken off Levophed and switched to Neosynephrine, but only if his blood pressure dropped below 100. According to the plaintiffs, in the days immediately following his surgery, the ICU nurses did not perform the necessary testing on the arterial line – the line being used to monitor blood pressure. Because they were not testing the correct lien, there was a false read of low blood pressure. Because they detected low blood pressure, the staff gave the patient maximum doses of vasopressors, which he did not actually need. The overdose ultimately caused ischemia that necessitating amputation of his left arm and all of his toes.

Co-counsel with Larry R. Rogers, Sr., and Larry R. Rogers, Jr.

C., et al v. Transport Carriers, Inc., et al.

Trucking/Wrongful Death: The accident involved an International tractor which lost control on the ramp exiting the Chicago Skyway leading to the Day Ryan on July 1, 1999. The International tractor was being driven by Jesse Blackmon of Transport Carriers, Inc. After Mr. Blackmon lost control on the ramp, the Nissan Van being operated by plaintiff, attempted to avoid striking the Blackmon tractor and was rear-ended by a truck operated by Robert Lachowski of American Shipping and Packing. C. was traveling with his wife and children, 9 years old, 3 years old, and 9 months old. C. died as a result of his injuries.

Jury Verdict: $10,400,000.00

Offer before trial: $500,000.00

Offer during trial: $1,700,000.00

(2014) Medical malpractice. On September 4, 2007, Plaintiff presented to Advocate South Suburban Hospital after experiencing several days of diarrhea. He was admitted and taken to surgery on September 15th and during the surgery, he was administered the vasopressor medication Levophed for a drop in his blood pressure. Post-operatively, a consulting cardiologist ordered that the Levophed be weaned off and he be given Neosynephrine if his systolic blood pressure dropped below 100. Plaintiffs maintained that from September 15 – 17, the ICU nursing staff failed to perform dynamic response testing on the arterial line that was being used to evaluate Plaintiff’s blood pressure and as a result it was falsely reading systolic blood pressures below 100 when his true blood pressures were higher. As a result the nursing staff was administering maximum doses of vasopressors when he needed little if any. The excessive vasopressors caused vasoconstriction in his blood vessels and poor perfusion to his extremities causing them to become ischemic from lack of blood flow. As a result of the poor perfusion caused by the vasopressors, Plaintiff ‘s left hand, and the toes on both of his feet became ischemic, necrotic, gangrenous and needed to be amputated. The defense maintained that Plaintiff was a very sick man who was in septic shock with 5 system multi-organ failure and the poor perfusion was the result of a coagulopathy cascade caused by the sepsis and the body’s native shunting of blood to vital organs for survival. The defense maintained that Plaintiff desperately needed the vasopressors to survive his life threatening condition and but for the high doses of vasopressors, he would have died.

Medical negligence/wrongful death: 71-year old female presented to Chicago area hospital with chest pain, back pain, and fever. She had recently undergone chemotherapy for treatment of leukemia. While an inpatient at the hospital, she suffered an unwitnessed fall, resulting in a subdural hematoma. This brain bleed and its sequalae caused her death 2 weeks later. Plaintiff alleged that decedent was a moderate fall risk by objective and subjective measurement and additionally was at high risk for bleeding due to her thrombocytopenia (low platelets) from cancer and chemotherapy. Plaintiff alleged that the bed alarm was not properly set and that had fall precautions been implemented, Decedent’s fall and resultant injury and death would have been avoided.

Medical Malpractice: The mother of the deceased minor child delivered twins at 34 weeks at MacNeal Hospital by C-section. D., one of the twins, was diagnosed with a respiratory problem known as esophageal atresia with lower tracheoesophageal fistula. They diagnosed the condition on 11/15/06, ran tests on 11/16/06 and told family that on 11/17/06 they were going to attempt to reattach the esophagus to the stomach and address a fistula between the esophagus and lung. The family was told it would be 2-3 hours surgery, but after waiting 6 hours, they still had not heard anything. Finally they were told the problem was more difficult than anticipated and that they were waiting a specialist. Plaintiff’s investigation revealed that in fact a medical error occurred during the procedure. Instead of incising the fistula as intended, the surgeon transected the child’s bronchial tube to the lung and caused the lung to collapse. After the surgery, the child was on a ventilator and hospitalized until he ultimately died from his injuries.

No Lawsuit Filed (Cook County)
P.T. and S.T. v. Northwestern Memorial Hospital

(2017) Medical Malpractice: 55-year-old married female presented for removal of her esophagus due to difficulty swallowing and regurgitation. During the procedure, Surgical was utilized but was not removed ultimately migrating into her spinal canal compromising her spinal cord, which resulted in paraplegia and a neurogenic bladder and bowel. When imaging was ordered due to symptoms, the imaging was delayed, thereby delaying spinal cord decompression. Lead Counsel Joseph A. Power, Jr.

D.W., Individually and as Special Administrator of the Estate of C.A, deceased v. Apex Mortgage Corporation

Wrongful death/premises liability settlement. This cause of action arose from the injuries and subsequent death of C.A., a 34 year old City of Chicago Firefighter, resulting from a building collapse at 1738-1744 E. 75th Street in the City of Chicago on December 22, 2010. The Property was purchased by Defendants CHUCK DAI and RICHARD DAI and Defendant APEX MORTGAGE CORP., held the Mortgage Security Agreement for the Property. In 2008, the mortgage on the Property was in default and APEX MORTGAGE CORP. began discussions with the Dais to accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure. After receiving the signed deed in lieu of foreclosure documents from the Dais, Apex hired a real estate broker to assess the Property, change the locks, clean out the Property, and board up the Property. Upon inspection, the real estate broker determined that the Property was in poor condition. Apex subsequently made a Property loss claim with its insurance company that it had force placed insurance for a partial roof collapse. The Property loss claim was subsequently denied and Apex was provided with an engineer’s report of the Property from the insurance company which stated that the condition of the roof was a result of chronic lack of maintenance and total rotting having occurred of the roof beams. Throughout this time period, Apex was a defendant in a City of Chicago Housing Court case for the Property and was aware of the numerous code violations, including structural concerns with the roof and the walls at the Property. On December 22, 2010, at about 6:52am, a small rubbish fire occurred in the Property and the Chicago Fire Department responded. Firefighters, including C.A., forced entry into the Property to determine there were people inside the Property. While inside the Property, the east wall failed causing a total collapse of the timber truss roof onto firefighters, including C.A. As a result of the collapse of the timber truss roof, C.A. suffered severe and permanent injuries resulting in his death on December 22, 2010.

Plaintiff alleged that Apex had taken possession and control of the Property beginning in 2008. Apex was aware of the severe and dangerous structural problems and code violations at the Property, but it failed to do anything to remedy any of the conditions at the Property putting every person who walked into the Property in harm’s way, including Firefighter C.A. on December 22, 2010.

Firefighter C.A. left surviving him his wife, D.W., and their son, who was one years old at the time of C.A.’s death.

Co-counsel with Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Power Rogers Attorneys Larry R. Rogers Jr. and Jonathan M. Thomas secured a $10M settlement on behalf of a man who was shot in the back and paralyzed by a Chicago Police Officer in 2012. Prior to the settlement, officers involved in the encounter claimed the Plaintiff had pointed a firearm at an officer, and were honored by the City of Chicago for their heroic efforts. However, an investigation revealed that while the Plaintiff did have a firearm on his person at the time of the incident, there were no fingerprints on the gun, and no bullet chambered.

A $10,000,000.00 settlement was approved by the City Council of the City of Chicago on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 to compensate Plaintiff for the life-altering injuries he sustained as a result of the willful and wanton conduct of the City of Chicago’s Police Department, and specifically the same officers who received awards for their conduct in 2013.

Medical Malpractice: Two day old infant with Down Syndrome underwent surgery for bowel obstruction. A central venous catheter was incorrectly placed and allowed administered fluid to penetrate the heart wall resulting in cardiac arrest and permanent and severe brain injury.