An eleven million dollar settlement has been approved by Judge Cheryl Starks of the Law Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Case No. 98 L 6186, in connection with two of the deaths arising from a helicopter crash occurring on May 18, 1998, in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The estates of Shinobu Sada, age 49, and Kazuya Yamaguchi, age 38, are each to receive 5.5 million dollars. Each left surviving a widow and one daughter. The families were represented by Nicholas J. Motherway and Robert J. Glenn of the firm of Motherway, Glenn & Napleton.

The decedents were Japanese citizens on temporary assignment as teachers at Futabakai Japanese School in Arlington Heights and were surveying property on behalf of the school at the time of the crash. The helicopter pilot and a third passenger, Yasuo Sato, age 62, also died in the crash, which was blamed on pilot error.

The Illinois Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates has re-elected Nick

Motherway as its representative on the Board of Directors of The American Board of

Trial Advocates, a national trial lawyers organization. ABOTA membership is by

invitation only and the membership is comprised equally of trial lawyers who represent

plaintiffs and those who defend in personal injury litigation. ABOTA is dedicated to

preservation of the right to trial by jury in civil cases. Nick is now beginning his

third three year term on the ABOTA Board.

Robert J. Napleton gave a speech at the Chicago Bar Association on the subject of

establishing medical negligence from a plaintiff’s lawyer’s perspective before a large

crowd of Chicago attorneys. The seminar audience consisted of attorneys from the young

lawyers division of the Chicago Bar Association. Below is a copy of Bob Napleton’s

seminar materials provided to the seminar audience on October 4, 2001.

Below is a copy of Nick Motherway‘s seminar materials provided to the seminar audience on May 5, 2001.

A Will County jury has awarded $375,000 to a 64-year-old woman who suffered cystoid macular edema from complications related to a cataract surgery. The sight in her left eye was permanently damaged by cataract material that fragmented and lodged in the posterior segment of her eye.

Motherway, Glenn & Napleton attorney Robert J. Napleton represented the plaintiff in the medical malpractice case in front of 12th Judicial Circuit Judge Ludwig J. Kuhar. The award is the largest verdict or settlement for similar visual impairments from Will County recorded in the Cook County Jury Verdict Reporter, editor John Kirkton said. Rita Ingram v. Karl Fritz, M.D., 98 L 0002.

Nick Motherway has agreed to participate in the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) Evidence Seminar to be held on May 5, 2001 at the Double Tree Guest Suites, 198 E. Delaware Place, Chicago, Illinois. He will join other well known trial lawyers in presenting “how to do it” lectures to lawyers in attendance who are seeking to expand their legal knowledge. ITLA’s membership is comprised of attorneys representing the injured and the next-of-kin of those negligently killed in accidents and by medical malpractice. Mr. Motherway will address the subject of proving pain and suffering through appropriate evidence during a jury trial. Following the seminar, Mr. Motherway’s lecture materials will be available on this page.

On February 5, 2001, a Will County jury awarded a Plainfield couple (Stephen MontMarquette Jr. and Barbara MontMarquette) $2.25 million dollars for the wrongful death of their stillborn son, Stephen Charles MontMarquette III. The verdict against Joliet obstetrician Michael Borders, M.D. is an Illinois record for a stillborn child according to John Kirkton, editor of the Cook County Jury Verdict Reporter. “The highest verdict that we show for a stillbirth was in 1997 for $1 million” Kirkton said. “Before 1990, there was some dispute between the circuits as to whether to even allow loss of society for a still birth.”

In June 1996, Barbara MontMarquette was in her 36th week of pregnancy which was complicated by gestational diabetes (requiring her to take insulin) when the pregnancy was improperly managed by Dr. Borders. Plaintiffs alleged Dr. Borders failed to perform proper fetal surveillance and testing between 6/21/96 and 7/2/96 resulting in the delivery of their stillborn child on July 3, 1996. The jury’s gross award of $2.5 million was reduced by 10% because of the patient’s contributory negligence for a net award of $2.25 million dollars. Judge Gilbert Niznick presided over the 6 day jury trial. The jury deliberated 2 hours and 15 minutes before reaching a verdict. Robert J. Napleton represented the MontMarquettes at trial.