A distributor of racecar seats that are sold and marketed for regular passenger vehicles has paid the lion’s share of a $6.3 million settlement reached in the case of a woman who was rendered a quadriplegic.

The lawsuit stemmed from an accident that occurred on May 15, 2005, when Dalia Perez, then 19, was the front-seat passenger in a car driven by her boyfriend, Oscar Baeza, Jr.

Baeza, who had been drinking, was driving west on Irving Park Road when the speeding car left the roadway and struck a tree, Napleton said.

Earlier, Baeza, then 19, had removed the original equipment seats and seat belts from his 1995 Mitsubishi Eagle Talon and replaced them with racing seats.  He presumably would race the “tuner car” (a car with performance modifications) on weekends for recreational purposes, Napleton said.

The plaintiff contended that the seats were not properly bolted and/or installed into the car and that there was no seat belt available for her.

The plaintiff’s attorney contended that if the passenger seat had been anchored to the floor of the vehicle, Perez would not have sustained the spinal cord injury that left her quadriplegic.

The plaintiff’s attorney said the bulk of the settlement fell on the distributor of the seats rather than the driver – who had limited insurance – largely due to Illinois’ joint and several liability statute.  Napleton said.  “It’s the best possible result, given the insurance limits.”

The distributor of the seats paid $6 million, the full extent of its liability insurance policy, Napleton said.  Baeza paid $50,000 to settle the case.

Two other defendants – the owner of Cascade Banquets, and Governors Park of Barrington, Inc., a nursing and rehabilitation center – settled earlier, bringing the total settlement amount to nearly $6.3 million, Napleton said.

The case is Dalia J. Perez v. Oscar Baeza, et al., No. 09 L 3958, formerly No. 05 L 7932.

Nick Motherway and Bob Napleton have both been conferred the “Top One Hundred Trial Lawyers” award by the American Trial Lawyers Association, a national group of prominent attorneys dedicated to the art of jury trial advocacy. The partners said they were proud to have received this recognition and were grateful to their clients whose confidence in them allowed them to fight courtroom battles on their behalf.

It is the failure to do something the reasonably careful person would do or the doing of something the reasonably careful person would not do under the same or similar circumstances.

It is negligence by a healthcare professional. In most cases the claim must be proven by expert testimony. The expert must establish that the standard of care was not met, meaning that the defendant did not do what the reasonably competent healthcare professional would have done under the same or similar circumstances.

Yes. Generally, persons or corporations are only liable for an injury or death if they are negligent. They are also liable if they have higher degree of fault called willful and wanton conduct, such as drunk driving or other high risk behavior.

Sellers of dangerous products can be strictly liable even if they acted in good faith. Those who intentionally cause harm are liable, but are probably not covered by insurance.

No. Actions must “proximately cause” the injury or damages. A negligent driver who almost hits you owes nothing. The surgeon who operates while under the influence of drugs owes nothing if he did a perfect job. Such hypotheticals aside, negligence usually causes harm.

Generally it is that cause which in natural or probable sequence produce the injury complained of. It need not be the only cause or last or nearest cause. An experienced lawyer can determine whether negligence proximately caused an injury.

Causation is often an issue in cases of medical malpractice, including birth injuries such as cerebral palsy.

It is a formal legal document filed with a court, setting forth the reasons whoever is sued owes money damages. The language has to meet all the requirements of law or the lawsuit will be dismissed. It must be formally served on the defendant, who then must answer, admitting or denying what is charged.

Yes. If your injury claim has merit, you’re entitled to compensation for the pain and suffering your injury caused you.

It is a legal deadline to file a lawsuit. It must be met or the injury claim is barred.

Generally, in Illinois, in a personal injury case, the statute of limitations is two years for adults. It is only one year for claims against a government agency or a tavern. It is a longer period for minors. There are special rules based on when misconduct is first discovered which could extend the deadline beyond two years. An experienced lawyer can determine what statute of limitations applies in any given case.

The injured person, known as the plaintiff, has the burden of proving his or her case by a preponderance of the evidence. It must be shown that the elements of a case are more probably true than not true. This is sometimes referred to as the 51% rule, i.e., there’s a 51% or better probability that something is true.

No. Work injuries are covered exclusively under workman’s compensation laws and generally cover work related injuries regardless of who is at fault. There’s a limit on the amount that can be awarded. A jury trial is not allowed. Awards are made by arbitrators who apply predetermined legal formulas to decide the amount of the award.

If an on the job injury was the fault of a third party, such as the manufacturer of a defective product, a lawsuit can still be filed against the third party with the right to a jury trial and damages beyond the limits set under the workman’s compensation act.

There are none in Illinois. Insurance companies and other corporate groups have tried to limit damage awards, but such laws have been repeatedly declared unconstitutional.

The next-of-kin can sue for wrongful death. In Illinois, the next-of-kin are the surviving spouse and any children. If there are none, then the parents and any siblings are the next-of-kin. In addition to any economic loss, the next-of-kin can sue for grief and/or the loss of society, love and companionship of the decedent.

Lawsuits can seek to recover the reasonable cost of medical care even if some or all of the bills are covered by health insurance, but there is usually an obligation to reimburse some or all of the amounts paid by insurance companies and/or Medicare.  Generally, insurance companies are not entitled to full reimbursement although they will claim that they are.  An experienced lawyer can make sure you don’t reimburse too much.

On March 11, 2010 Judge William Maddux approved a 6 million dollar settlement on behalf of an 11 year old girl who suffered from cerebral palsy due to the defendant MacNeal Hospital’s failure to properly monitor the augmentation of labor with Pitocin.  As a result, the baby was deprived of oxygen during the mother’s excessive and inconsistent uterine contractions prior to her delivery by emergency Cesarean Section.  The lack of and deprivation of oxygen over a 4-5 hour period was a cause of the young girl’s cerebral palsy.

Nicholas J. Motherway and Don M. Sowers represented the plaintiff.

On January 27, 2010 Judge William Maddux approved a 1.35 million dollar settlement agreed upon prior to a lawsuit being filed for the death of a six day old boy whose death was caused by the failure of the residents and nursing staff of Rush Medical Center to properly monitor the fetal heart rate causing the mother’s uterus to rupture and the baby to be deprived of oxygen and ultimately brain death.

Don M. Sowers represented the plaintiffs.

There are more than 85,000 licensed attorneys in Illinois.  In a recent state-wide survey published in Leading Lawyers Network Magazine, partners Nick Motherway and Bob Napleton were named as among the top 100 consumer lawyers in the state.

When a three month old baby girl was being prepped for a heart test at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois, she was covered by an electric heating pad which burned her right foot.  Multiple skin grafts were needed to treat the burn, resulting in a settlement achieved by Nicholas J. Motherway in the sum of $903,000.00.