Chicago Injury Lawyers Blog

Tim Cavanagh, founder and partner of Cavanagh Law Group, has been named a "Leading Lawyer" for the 10th consecutive year. This year Tim was selected by his peers as a "Leading Lawyer" in three areas: General Personal Injury Law, Professional Malpractice, and Transportation Liability. The honor is based on surveys conducted by Leading Lawyers Network, a division of the Law Bulletin Publishing Company. Tim was also recognized as one of the top 100 Consumer Lawyers in Illinois once again. To view Tim's "Leading Lawyer" profile, click here.

The family of a Wisconsin construction worker who was hit and killed while working on a road construction site in Elmhurst, IL has filed a lawsuit against Adan's Trucking, Inc., and the driver operating the company's vehicle. Thirty-eight-year-old Daniel Green of Fontana, WI was struck and killed by a semi-tractor trailer on September 12, 2011, while working near the intersection of US-20 W and York Road in Elmhurst, IL. Daniel Green leaves behind a wife, Mrs. Mary Kriete-Green and his loving family.

According to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court on September 23, 2011 by Chicago attorney, Timothy Cavanagh a partner at Cavanagh Law Group, Green was working on a metal pipe in a gravel area 2-3 feet northwest of the right curb of the right turning lane when the driver of the semi-tractor trailer made an improper turn and struck Green with its rear tandem wheels. Green was then transported to Elmhurst Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The DuPage County Coroner's office and the police have both said that Green likely died of "massive traumatic injuries."

The case, Mary Kriete-Green, Special Administrator of the Estate of Daniel Green, Deceased v. Martin Montelongo and Adan's Trucking, Inc., case number 11 L 009979 is pending in front of Judge Michael R. Panter.

Lawsuit filed in construction worker's death

The family of a woman killed early Friday morning while walking on the Eisenhower Expressway has filed a lawsuit to preserve evidence against the Village of Westchester, BP Gas Station at 825 Mannheim Road in Westchester, the Illinois State Police, and the Office of the Medical Examiner of Cook County.

On September 2, 2011 at 3:30 a.m., the Illinois State Police pulled over Diana Paz for driving in the wrong direction on I-290 and arrested her for driving under the influence. Two hours later, Paz was released from the Westchester Police Department and transported to a nearby gas station by a member of the Illinois State Police. Thirty minutes after her release, Ms. Paz was killed while walking in a marked median area along the inbound lanes of the Eisenhower Expressway. According to a witness, Ms. Paz was struck by a Toyota truck that had crossed the marked median area. The driver of the pickup truck was charged with violating a restricted median.

On September 7, 2011, Cavanagh Law Group filed a lawsuit to preserve evidence and sought an Emergency Hearing in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Judge Eileen Brewer granted the family's Emergency Motion to protect and preserve all evidence in this incident including videotapes.

Mr. Cavanagh stated, "It is not right that the police would leave a twenty-five-year-old young woman at a gas station next to a major highway, while she was intoxicated, with no money or cell phone, in the dead of night." Mr. Cavanagh continued to state, "This family is entitled to answers and Judge Brewers ruling today will allow the family to see all critical evidence soon."

The case is entitled Maria Guerrero, as Next Friend of Erik Martinez v. Village of Westchester, et al. The case number is 11 L 9303. The case is pending in front of Judge Eileen Brewer in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Cavanagh Law Group has settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $6.3 million. The case arose out of a two-vehicle automobile crash that resulted in the death of a passenger in one of the cars. The lawsuit was litigated for 7 years and was appealed to the Illinois Appellate Court on two separate occasions. The name of the case is being withheld as several of the insurance companies involved in this record payout demanded confidentiality of the settlement. Tim Cavanagh, the founding partner of Cavanagh Law Group, stated: "The family is gratified that this case is finally resolved and that justice has been served. Their perseverance and courage in this lengthy litigation allowed Cavanagh Law Group to fully litigate the case and recover this record settlement."

The family of a United Airlines employee killed while helping to transport members of the United States military to Kuwait last year has filed a lawsuit against CAV International Inc., the Boeing Company and NMC/Wollard Inc.

Sixty-four-year-old John Bruce of Arlington Heights was killed while trying to unload baggage for American military personnel from a United Airlines 747 at the Al-Mubarak Air Base in Kuwait on October 9, 2009. The U.S. military contracted with CAV International, a U.S. corporation, to operate this and other U.S airbases around the world. The U.S. also contracted with United Airlines to transport the troops to Kuwait.

Bruce leaves behind a wife and two adult children. The family's lawyer, Chicago attorney Timothy Cavanagh of the Cavanagh Law Group has spent the past year trying to get the family basic information about what happened.

"For more than a year, CAV International has refused to provide any information or even acknowledge the death of John Bruce at the airbase it operates in Kuwait," says Timothy Cavanagh. "John Bruce was serving his country by helping to transport troops around the world. His family deserves answers."

According to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court on December 6, 2010, Bruce was working on a TC-888 mobile belt loader designed and manufactured by NMC/Wollard. The belt loader was positioned at the cargo door of the 747 when a CAV International employee moved the belt loader without any warning. Neither the belt loader nor the Boeing 747 aircraft was designed with fall protection equipment. Bruce fell more than a dozen feet to the tarmac and suffered a brain injury. After being hospitalized in Kuwait, Bruce was transported to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Illinois where he died on October 15, 2009.

The lawsuit alleges if the CAV employee had been paying attention and doing his job and if NMC/Wollard and Boeing had provided fall protection devices on it's products, the tragedy would never have happened.

Cavanagh says he has spent the past year fighting to get CAV International to produce documents in a discovery lawsuit filed in the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. United Airlines agreed to produce documents that prove John's death could have been prevented. However, CAV has refused to produce responsive documents or acknowledge their culpability.

"My husband's death has been a terrible tragedy for our family made worse by the lack of information about what really happened," says Patty Bruce. "We don't want this to happen to any other American working outside the country."

"Thousands of Americans are working overseas for U.S. companies and they don't lose their legal rights just because they are working beyond the U.S. borders," says Cavanagh.

Cleopatra Bruce, Special Administrator of the Estate of John Bruce, deceased v. CAV International, Inc., a corporation, The Boeing Company, a corporation, with its principal place of business in Illinois, and NMC/Wollard Inc., a corporation, case number 10 L 013818 is pending in front of Judge Brewer.

Larry Yellen, Investigative Reporter for Fox News Chicago, interviewed Tim Cavanagh regarding Canadian National Railway's history of crossing collisions in the Chicago area. Cavanagh, a leader in railroad litigation in Illinois and around the country, has secured a $9.1 million settlement against the CN/IC and a $55 million verdict against the CN/IC in the last decade. The story and interview can be found at:

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/20100428-canadian-national-history

Chicago railroad lawyer, Tim Cavanagh, founding partner of Cavanagh Law Group, will appear on Fox News Chicago on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 9 p.m. Cavanagh will appear in a story by Fox Investigative Reporter Larry Yellen. Yellen is reporting on human error of CN/IC employees and systemic failures of CN/IC that resulted in Cavanagh's $9.1 million settlement in Ajmeri v. CN/IC and Cavanagh's $55 million verdict against CN/IC in Velarde v. CN/IC. The errors mirror the conduct that caused the Katie Lunn tragedy on April 16, 2010. Cavanagh discusses the fail safe procedures like "stop and flag," Positive Train Control and Collision Avoidance Systems that could have prevented Katie Lunn's death.

Mr. Cavanagh is a nationally recognized attorney in railroad litigation. He has been named one of the Top 500 personal injury lawyers in the country by Lawdragon.

A video on the Amtrak train has confirmed witness statements that the gates and lights at the University Park crossing where Katie Lunn was killed on April 16, 2010 were not working. The Canadian National Railroad Company owned and maintained the tracks, gates and lights. The CN/IC had workers at the crossing hours before Katie was killed. The railroad has confirmed that workers deactivated the warning signals. At the time Katie drove over the crossing at 9:42 p.m., no signals were working that could warn her that an Amtrak train was approaching at 79 miles per hour.

This revelation raises troubling questions about safety at the CN/IC. Human error at the CN/IC led to a $9.1 million settlement in Ajmeri v. CN/IC and a $55 million verdict against the railroad in Velarde v. CN/IC. The attorney for the Ajmeri and Velarde families, Tim Cavanagh of Cavanagh Law Group is a leader in railroad liability litigation in Illinois and across the country.

On January 9, 2001, Fidel and Francisca Velarde were passengers of an SUV driven by their daughter, Lilia Apulello. The vehicle was crossing railroad tracks on Army Trail Road in Bloomingdale, Illinois. The owner and maintainer of the tracks, the Illinois Central Railroad Company d/b/a Canadian National/ Illinois Central Railroad Company (CNIC), knew for weeks that snow and road salt had caused the intersection's warning gates and lights to malfunction and was using a stop-and-flag procedure there until the signals were repaired. The train, consisting of three locomotives and 63 cars, proceeded through the intersection at 50 miles per hour. The SUV was struck and pushed 900 feet down the tracks. The Velardes suffered debilitating brain injuries. Television stations and newspaper reports offered conflicting accounts of whether the gates and lights were working properly.

The day after the crash, the family hired prominent Chicago injury lawyer, Tim Cavanagh, who had just obtained a $9.1 million settlement with CNIC in the Ajmeri case only three months earlier. The next morning, Mr. Cavanagh filed a lawsuit against CNIC and the train operator, Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad Company and filed an Emergency Motion for a Protective Order seeking to have all evidence preserved which was granted. Because of the preservation order, Mr. Cavanagh secured audiotapes of communication between dispatch and the engineer proving that the dispatcher mistakenly advised the engineer that the signal problem had been fixed.

Over the next several months, Mr. Cavanagh personally took over 35 depositions and successfully advanced the case to trial. One year later, a Cook County jury returned a verdict of $55 million for the Velardes and their daughter. The case was affirmed on appeal.

Four women were killed in a one car crash in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood in the early morning hours of Saturday, March 6, 2010. At 2 a.m. a Pontiac sedan was headed westbound on Garfield Avenue at a high rate of speed when it left the roadway and struck a tree. Chicago police and fire paramedics responded to the scene. The car was nearly unrecognizable due to the damage from the high speed impact with the tree. Chicago police are investigating.

Cavanagh Law Group has long been regarded as one of the preeminent firms in the state for personal injury, automobile liability and wrongful death. Timothy J. Cavanagh has been named one of the top 500 plaintiffs' lawyers in the United States by LawDragon Magazine, and today the partners of Cavanagh Law Group boast an astonishing record of success. With over $350 million in settlements, judgments and awards for our clients, the Cavanagh Law Group has earned the highest Martindale-Hubbell rating available. Some of our recent successes include:
$27 million, railroad crossing case
$14 million, medical malpractice
$13.7 million, wrongful death
$9.1 million, railroad crossing case
$7.5 million, medical malpractice
$5.7 million, motor vehicle liability
$4.5 million, motor vehicle liability
$4.5 million, product liability
$3 million, premise liability

Today we represent nothing less than a singular voice for personal injury victims' rights in Illinois.

In the early morning hours of Friday, March 5, 2010, a bus operated by Tierra Santa Tours, Inc. rammed another vehicle, crossed the center line and rolled over killing six and injuring sixteen in Arizona. The bus was transporting passengers on its trip from Mexico to Los Angeles. The crash occured on interstate 10 in Pinal County, south of Phoenix. Federal investigators have determined that the California bus company was operating the bus illegally because it didn't have the authority to operate over state lines.

The attorneys at Cavanagh Law Group have decades of experience handling transportation negligence cases in Illinois and around the country. Tim Cavanagh and Matt Rundio, partners at the firm, have teamed up to win numerous record setting verdicts. In Velarde v. Canadian National, the lawyers were the lead attorneys in winning a $55 million dollar verdict in a train/car crash. The verdict was recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top 100 verdicts in the nation in 2002. In 2009, the lawyers obtained a $13.7 million wrongful death verdict in Czapski v. Maher. Cavanagh has also obtained several record setting settlements including $9.1 million in Ajmeri v. Illinois Central , $4.1 million in Barnes v. Berry Electric Company and $4.5 million in Taylor v. Daimler.

Prominent Chicago injury law firm, Cavanagh Law Group is investigating potential product liability cases arising out of the Toyota recall. For weeks, the media has reported on disturbing evidence that Toyota withheld evidence of the number of complaints from sudden acceleration incidents. The company originally claimed that it started receiving complaints in 2007 but new evidence has revealed that complaints started as early as 2004. While Toyota issued a recall of certain vehicles in 2007, it originally blamed floor mats for sudden accleration problems. Last week, an internal Toyota memo from July, 2009 came to light. The memo revealed that Toyota saved $100 million by getting the government to allow it to replace floor mats in 55,000 vehicles as a solution to its sudden acceleration problem. While Congress investigates, there is a reported criminal investigation pending.

The attorneys at Cavanagh Law Group have handled significant product liability cases throughout their careers. Tim Cavanagh has obtained numerous multi-million dollar settlements in product liability cases including a $4.5 million settlement in Taylor v. Chrysler and a $3 million settlement in Munoz v. Mack Trucks. The firm is currently prosecuting a number of significant product liability cases involving wrongful death and catastrophic injuries.

On February 9, 2010, a vehicle crossing the railroad tracks at River Road and Northwest Highway in Des Plaines, Illinois was struck by a Metra train. The collision between the Crystal Lake bound No. 657 train was at 8:10 p.m. during the most significant snowfall of the year. Both the 71 year old driver and the 68 year old passenger were taken to Lutheran General Hospital. The driver was listed in fair condition but the pasenger was pronounced dead. The Des Plaines police are investigating.

Cavanagh Law Group is a leader in transportation litigation in Illinois and throughout the country. The firm's founder, Timothy J. Cavanagh, has obtained numerous multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts in railroad crash cases and other transportation cases. Mr. Cavanagh obtained a $55 million verdict in the Velarde v. Canadian National Railroad case that was upheld on appeal. He secured a $9.1 million settlement in the Ajmeri v. Illinois Central Railroad Company case in 2000. In April, 2009, he obtained a $13.7 million verdict in the Czapski v. Maher wrongful death case.

On October 9, 2009, John Bruce, an employee of United Airlines (UAL), was working for UAL on a military base in Kuwait when an employee of CAV International, a South Carolina corporation hired by the United States to operate military airports, mistakenly moved a "belt loader" and catipulted John off the loader and onto the pavement of the tarmac 20-30 feet below. John suffered a devastating head injury that resulted in his death the following week. On February 2, 2010, Cavanagh Law Group was retained by the family of John Bruce. The next morning, Tim Cavanagh filed a Rule 224 Petition for Discovery in the Circuit Court of Cook County naming United Airlines and CAV International as respondents. The petition seeks all evidence in possession of UAL and CAV including videotapes, witness statements and documents relating to the CAV employee who caused John's fall. On February 5, 2010, Cavanagh appeared before the Honorable Diane Larsen, a judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, seeking an order that all evidence be preserved and made available to Bruce's attorneys. Over objection of the respondent's attorneys, Judge Larsen granted Bruce's Emergency Motion for a Protective Order.

The case is entitled Patty Bruce, Personal Representative of the Estate of John Bruce v. United Airlines and CAV International, No. 2010 L 1552. The matter is set for a status hearing on March 5, 2010.

On February 8, 2010, Cavanagh Law Group filed a Wrongful Death lawsuit against Chicago police officer Joseph Frugoli and Dugan's on Halsted, the bar that served him alcohol. The case arises out of a horrific car crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway on April 10, 2009 that resulted in the deaths of Andrew Cazares, 23, and Fausto Manzera, 21. On that day, Cazares pulled his vehicle over on the side of I-94 near 18th Street because of a flat tire. Frugoli, a Chicago Police Detective, with a blood alcohol level of 0.277 (over 3 times the legal limit) drove his vehicle into the Cazares vehicle, killing the two young men. Frugoli has been charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI by the Cook County State's Attorneys Office. The criminal case, which has generated significant media attention, is currently pending at the Criminal Courts Building at 26th Street and California.

Cavanagh Law Group represents Andrew Cazares father, Jose Cazares and half-sister, Jilma Shakira Cazares in the civil suit, which is pending at the Richard J. Daley Center. The case is entitled Jose Andres Cazares, Special Administrator of the Estate of Andrew Cazares v. Joseph Fruglio, et al., Court No. 2010 L 1703. The case is being heard by the Honorable James Egan in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

On Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 9:30 a.m., Tim Cavanagh and Matt Rundio, partners at Cavanagh Law Group, will appear before Judge James Egan on an Emergency Motion for a Protective Order to make sure all evidence is preserved and Cazares attorneys have immediate access to the evidence.