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Power Rogers & Smith: Our Success Record

After dozens of years representing clients in various personal injury matters under Illinois accident law, Power Rogers & Smith lawyers have built a reputation by recovering significant personal injury settlements and verdicts.

Power Rogers & Smith's attorneys have won numerous personal injury settlements. Verdicts are also something we go after, as we rank among the foremost Chicago trial attorneys. Our trial experience not only helps us in the courtroom but around the negotiating table as well. As our personal injury settlements and verdicts demonstrate, our lawyers are very adept at navigating Illinois accident law.

Some of our successes have included recovering $100 million in a wrongful death suit under Illinois accident law. This recovery was the largest personal injury award for a single family in Illinois. We have recovered large multi-million personal injury settlement and verdicts in other types of cases such as medical malpractice, product liability, brain injury as well as others. When necessary we will settle and when it is better to try the case, unlike other Illinois law firms, we will go to court. We ready ourselves for court from the first moment we get the case, building a sophisticated case and argument. Our trial experience, skills and strategies give our clients the best possible chance to recover.

Our law firm has recovered multi-million dollar personal injury settlements and verdicts under Illinois accident law. Whether a physician negligence settlement or a verdict against a hospital, our team of skilled, personal injury lawyers will always puts all of our resources and energy into fighting each and every case for our clients. And whether a physician negligence settlement or a verdict against a hospital we always seek maximum recovery allowable under Illinois accident law.

Listed below are a few of our significant victories.

Verdicts & Settlements

Rev. D.W. v. Transamerica Leasing, Inc. No. 98 L 3127
No. 85 L 11905

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Jr.

A record $100 million out-of-court settlement was reached on behalf of J. and Rev. D.S.W. of the south side of Chicago. This is believed to be the largest personal injury settlement to a single family in the country. Rev. and Mrs. W., both age 50, were the parents of six children killed in a fiery van crash at approximately 10:30 a.m. after Rev. D. W. struck a piece of debris that was lying in the roadway. The debris turned out to be a mud flap/taillight assembly that detached from a truck's chassis and became lodged in the van's gas tank. Sparks from the assembly caused an explosion and/or fire, which engulfed the van and its occupants in flames. Rev. and Mrs. W. were burned, but narrowly escaped. Their six children perished in the fire.

The investigation into this case led to the exposure of the truck driver's license for bribes CDL scandal that has plagued the secretary of state's office and has brought about 76 convictions including a former governor. The $100 million* settlement represents the largest settlement for a single accident or individual family in Illinois history.

*Illinois' largest personal injury award for a single family.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Medical Malpractice, Brain Injury
Record Setting Verdict. Failure to intubate or give oxygen to plaintiff undergoing bronchoscopic procedure and biopsy, resulting in brain damage.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence, Trucking. As the plaintiffs (a married couple and their two children) reduced speed near a highway construction site, a truck rear-ended their car, causing it to burst into flames. The father who was driving died due to his injuries. His wife sustained facial fractures, a concussion, and other injuries. The couple's son and daughter sustained second and third degree burns, which required the daughter to undergo amputation of her left leg and of the toes on her right foot. She also sustained multiple fractures in her pelvic area and fingers.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Product Liability. The two plaintiffs (minors) were fed infant formula deficient in chloride, a required nutrient. They both suffered brain injuries resulting in learning disabilities.
Record Settlement in Illinois

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Wrongful Death (Mother), Brain Injury (Infant Son). Failure to monitor oxygen status, to intubate, or to administer oxygen in timely manner, failure to administer cesarean section in timely manner.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Improper technique in mitral valve surgery caused air embolus, resulting in brain damage and quadriplegia.

Thomas G. Siracusa
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Plaintiff (11-month-old girl) negligently administered medication Albumin, which caused permanent brain damage.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Following cervical disc surgery, hospital failed to communicate postoperative neurological changes due to spinal compression, which resulted in the plaintiff becoming quadriplegic.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Medical Malpractice. After the plaintiff suffered a stroke and became paralyzed on his left side, his family physician and emergency room doctor were found to be negligent in failing to diagnose subacute bacterial endocarditis.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Medical Malpractice. Due to failure to diagnose preeclampsia in the pregnant plaintiff in labor, the mother suffered a seizure and her child suffered from hypoxia and ischemia. The child sustained brain damage and is currently institutionalized.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Improperly monitored anticoagulation therapy caused subarachnoid hemorrhage, cardiopulmonary arrest and additional brain damage, leaving plaintiff in a minimally conscious vegetative state.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Negligent surgical technique and surveillence in ventriculoperitoneal shunt revision operation caused permanent brain damage to plaintiff, a 9-month-old boy.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Wrongful Death, Trucking Accident. A tractor-trailer rear-ended the plaintiff decedent as they were traveling in the middle lane of Interstate 465. The truck pushed the plaintiff's car alongside until it was pinned against the median wall. The plaintiff was unable to escape his vehicle and died of his injuries.

Joseph A. Power Jr.
Larry R. Rogers Jr.

Medical Malpractice. Lack of informed consent in a non-FDA approved use of a stent device in treatment of aneurysm, perforation of cerebral artery caused intracerebral hemorrhage, resulting in severe brain damage.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Brian LaCien

Medical Malpractice. After undergoing a radical synovectomy procedure for a rare knee disease, the plaintiff suffered from compartment syndrome, but was only prescribed pain medication, and not diagnosed with or treated for the syndrome until the following day. As a result of the delay, she lost 90% of the muscle in her lower extremity, in addition to suffering from foot drop and severe nerve dysfunction.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Wrongful Death, Construction. A 25 foot I-bar inadequately secured to a tugger hoist fell 110 feet, striking and killing the plaintiff.
Reduced 35%: $9,250,000.00*

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Jr.

Motor Vehicle Negligence. Six weeks after the beaches had closed for the summer, a commercial boat ran over the plaintiff as she was swimming 50 yards from the lakeshore. The defendant had failed to keep a proper look-out, to maintain a proper distance from the shore, and to properly train its captains on U.S. Coast Guard rules as well as its own rules. The plaintiff had to have her leg amputated below the knee as a result of the accident.
Reduced 20%: $10,800,000.00*

Thomas M. Power
Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri
Medical Malpractice, Failure to test for tuberculosis

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Jr.

Medical Malpractice. After hyperstimulating the pregnant plaintiff's uterus with labor-inducing medication, hospital staff failed to recognize signs and symptoms of fetal distress. Due to inadequate flow of blood and oxygen to the brain, her child was born with cerebral palsy.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Medical Malpractice. Failure to Diagnose. Compartment Syndrome.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Jr.

Wrongful Death, Hospital Negligence. After the plaintiff (a minor) sustained a gunshot wound puncturing his aorta, mesenteric vein, and colon, he attempted to walk to a nearby hospital but collapsed within 50 feet of its entrance. A nurse, following policy not to assist injured people outside of the building, opted not to treat the young man. By the time police carried him into the E.R. 25 minutes later, the plaintiff had a barely palpable pulse and arrested within two minutes.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Failure to diagnose bradycardia of in utero child, delayed delivery resulted in child's severe choreoathetoid cerebral palsy.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Thomas G. Siracusa

Medical Malpractice. The pregnant plaintiff suffering with "splitting headaches" went to the E.R. where a physician diagnosed preeclampsia with hypertension. He recommended her obstetrician prescribe an anti-hypertensive drug, but the obstetrician phoned in an order for magnesium sulfate (a prophylactic for seizures that reduces blood pressure transiently) instead of hydralzine (an anti-hypertensive). The plaintiff hemorrhaged into her head and her HELLP syndrome made it difficult for her blood to clot. As a result, the plaintiff sustained severe brain injuries.
A record settlement in Lake County.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Following her daughter's birth, the plaintiff was diagnosed with post-partum cardiomyopathy, and prescribed Coumadin (blood thinner) to prevent blood-clot formation in the heart that would lead to embolic stroke. The hospital failed to monitor her INR levels (indicate degree of coagulation) and manage her Coumadin accordingly. As a result the plaintiff became over anti-coagulated, leading to a hemorrhagic stroke that left her with left-sided hemiparesis.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Medical Malpractice. During an elective biopsy procedure related to ankle-pain, the plaintiff was turned from supine to prone position, causing her to become hypoxic and slowing her heart rate to a bradycardic level. When the anesthesiologist noticed her skin turning blue (a late sign of hypoxia), she turned her back to the supine position and began resuscitation. As a result of the delay diagnosing her hypoxia, the plaintiff was deprived of oxygen for eight minutes, causing her to sustain anoxic encephalopathy and permanent brain damage.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Plaintiff in labor administered a high dose of epidural medication, causing respiratory issues that resulted in permanent and severe brain injuries.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Medical Malpractice. A physician at the hospital employing the plaintiff diagnosed him with migraines, and sent him back to work twice. On both visits, the physician failed to perform a routine CBC (Complete Blood Count) test that would have revealed polycythemia rubra vera (disorder which overproduces red blood cells). As a result, the plaintiff suffered a stroke and left-sided hemiplegia.

Todd A. Smith

Aviation, Product Liability. Plaintiff decedent was aboard a plane when it crashed, killing 127 passengers and 12 crew members. The crash occurred due to a defect in the rudder system of the Boeing 737-300.

Todd A. Smith

Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence. The plaintiff decedent was struck and killed in an accident caused by a CTA bus.

Todd A. Smith
Psychiatric and Medical Malpractice
This represented a national record settlement in a psychiatric malpractice case.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Larry R. Rogers, Jr.

Motor Vehicle Negligence, Paralysis. A semi-tractor trailer turned from a stop sign at a T-intersection into the lane already occupied by a truck carrying the plaintiff as a passenger. As a result of the collision, the plaintiff suffered a spinal cord injury, and is partially paralyzed in his arms and legs.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Brian LaCien

Motor Vehicle Negligence. A tractor-trailer lost control on an exit ramp of the Chicago Skyway. The plaintiff (a father traveling with his wife and three children) was attempting to avoid hitting it when another truck rear-ended his family's van. As a result of injuries sustained in the collision, the plaintiffs' 9 year old daughter died.

Todd A. Smith

Product Liability. Defendants who manufactured the drug Cordarone failed to alert the medical community about the risk of vision loss that had been associated with it for twelve years. As a result, the plaintiff suffering from a heart rhythm disturbance was prescribed Cordarone and lost his vision.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Failure to correctly place central venous catheter on infant with Down syndrome, which allowed administered fluid to penetrate the heart wall and cause cardiac arrest. As a result, the child suffered permanent and severe brain injury.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice, Failure to Diagnose. The physician failed to perform a spinal tap, which would have resulted in a diagnoses and treatment of the plaintiff's subarachnoid hemorrhage and aneurysm. The plaintiff (a 39 year old woman) died, leaving a husband and two children.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Medical Malpractice, Paralysis. The plaintiff underwent a decompressive laminectomy for severe cervical stenosis at the C5-6 and C6-7 levels. Osteophytes left behind after surgery caused internal stress to the spinal cord, affecting blood flow to the cord and spinal cord function. Due to the presence of the osteophytes, the plaintiff experienced persistent compression of the cord and quadriparesis.

Todd A. Smith
Thomas G. Siracusa

Medical Malpractice. Plaintiff going into early labor misdiagnosed and released with "urinary tract infection," premature birth led to child having significant brain injuries and physical impairments.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice, Paralysis. A spinal injection of an anti-platelet drug intended to treat plaintiff's neck pain caused a blood clot to develop his spinal cord, resulting in him becoming permanently paralyzed.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Railroad Accident. As he walked in a westerly direction with a friend, the plaintiff stopped at a railroad crossing to wait for a southeast bound train to pass. As he began to cross again once the southeast bound train passed, another northwest bound train struck him while his friend tried to pull him out of the way. The plaintiff suffered a brain injury, problems with bladder and bowel incontinence, and is permanently disabled as a result of the accident.

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. Failure to diagnose advanced aortic dissection.

Todd A. Smith

Motor Vehicle Negligence. A police officer abruptly stopped on Route 63, purportedly to chase a speeder traveling in the opposite direction. Another car swerved to avoid striking the police vehicle, and hit the plaintiff's car head-on. The plaintiff (8 months pregnant at the time) had to undergo an emergency C-section, but the fetus still sustained brain damage as a result of the collision.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. 10 year old plaintiff being treated for susceptibility to ventricular tachycardia died after suffering an arrhythmia at home. Caregivers failed to provide appropriate medication and failed to provide information regarding an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD).
This established a record verdict for the wrongful death of child.

Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Perforated bladder in woman undergoing surgery for ectopic pregnancy. Necrotizing infection developed in skin, muscle, and tissue upon release, making numerous surgical interventions necessary.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Medical Malpractice. Plaintiff undergoing triple by-pass surgery had chest tube removed, resulting in pneumothorax (presence of air in chest cavity between lungs and chest wall) that caused shortness of breath, and led to cardiac arrest and brain damage.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Plaintiff underwent exploratory surgery related to her Crohn's disease. Defendents failed to diagnose and treat postoperative bleeding in the plaintiff's peritoneal cavity, and she died as a result.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Todd A. Smith

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. Delay in treating plaintiff's massive hydrocephalus condition caused irreversible brain damage. Injuries caused plaintiff's death five years later.

Todd A. Smith

Psychiatric Malpractice. Use of improper techniques falsely convinced plaintiff she had past traumatic experiences, multiple personality disorder.

Todd A. Smith
Thomas G. Siracusa
Product Liability, Negligence. The plaintiff decedents (a married couple) were driving a used car when a tire blew out, causing the car to flip over. The accident occured due to manufacturing defects in the car's tires and also due to the negligence of the car dealer who sold the vehicle with worn tires. Both the husband and wife died as a result of the accident, leaving two minor children.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Medical Malpractice. While hospitalized and awaiting cardiac surgery, plaintiff was prescribed Propofol, but inadequately monitored. After experiencing cardiac arrest and anoxia, he slipped into a coma. As a result of his injuries, the plaintiff suffers from permanent brain damage.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Todd A. Smith

Defamation. This is the highest defamation verdict in Illinois history and the highest subsequent settlement for a judge in United States history

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Abnormal stress tests indicating the plaintiff required cardiac catheterization were mailed and faxed to his caregivers, who then failed to review them due to administrative error. Plaintiff died of sudden cardiac arrest less than 4 months later.

Todd A. Smith
Medical Malpractice. Improperly placed central venous catheter resulted in cardiac arrest and permanent brain damage.

Todd A. Smith
Motor Vehicle Negligence. The plaintiff (a pedestrian) suffered a spinal cord injury as a result of being hit by a car.

Todd A. Smith
Premises Liability

Todd A. Smith
Brian LaCien
Motor Vehicle Negligence. This represented a record verdict in a mild brain damage/closed head injury case.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Joseph W. Balesteri

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. After a procedure to remove the plaintiff's kidney to donate it to her mother, three kidney clips were placed on her renal artery. Twelve hours later, the kidney clips lost control of the artery after they fell off or were blown off by pressure. Despite numerous codes and repeat surgery, the plaintiff bled to death.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Thomas G. Siracusa

Product Liability. The defendants (an explosives company) failed to warn the plaintiff to use a lowering hook when placing explosives in a hole, rather than dropping them. As a result, a premature explosion caused the plaintiff to lose his eye and to injure his arm so seriously that it required amputation.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Motor Vehicle Negligence. The plaintiff (a minor) ran into the street, and the defendent hit him after failing to reduce his car's speed to avoid an accident. As a result of the accident, the plaintiff suffered brain damage.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. A physician saw potential abnormalities in the lung of a chest x-ray that two fellow doctors interpreted as normal, but no follow up or mention of it was made in 13 subsequent visits to the physician. When the plaintiff finally had a follow-up x-ray conducted a year later, it revealed cancer had spread from a lesion located in the upper left quadrant of her lung. Due to the delay in treatment, the cancer that would have been curable had metastasized to other parts of her body, and the plaintiff died within a year.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. Plaintiff (a severely mentally disabled 8 year old boy) underwent a tendon release procedure and suffered from cardio-pulmonary arrest in the operating suite. As a result, the plaintiff sustained brain damage.

Larry R. Rogers, Jr.
Brian LaCien
Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. A CT scan for young boy who fell at school was not carried out for approximately 12 hours after it was scheduled, and not read by his physician until the patient suffered respiratory arrest the following day. The CT taken the night before revealed a skull fracture and subarachnoid hemorrhaging, which led to an increase of intra-cranial pressure and brain herniation that caused his respiratory arrest and death.

Joseph A. Power, Jr
Todd A. Smith

Wrongful Death, Construction. This represented the largest verdict for the wrongful death of a tradesman in Illinois, and also the largest wrongful death verdict under the Structural Work Act in Illinois history.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Motor Vehicle Negligence. A satellite antenna van being driven by an employee of the defendant (a major Chicago broadcasting company) ran a red light, and hit a vehicle in which the plaintiff was a passenger. As a result of the crash, the plaintiff suffered trauma to his chest. During an angiogram procedure he suffered a cardiac arrest and a stroke that left him partially paralyzed throughout his body's left side.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Todd A. Smith

Medical Malpractice. Failure to diagnose cardiac tamponade 3 days postoperative cardiac surgery, resulted in irreversible brain damage.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. The plaintiff went in for elective heart and vascular surgery that included femoral artery access. Due to failure to monitor her vital signs, hospital staff were unaware of retro-peritoneal bleeding from site where the femoral artery sheath had been removed. As a result of her blood loss, she arrested and died.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri
Philip F. Maher
William J. Harte

Medical Malpractice. Failure to deliver infant before maternal infection crossed the placenta, causing the child permanent brain damage.

Todd A. Smith
Construction Injury. As a result of his injuries, the plaintiff suffers from cauda equina syndrome.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. After undergoing a neurological procedure, the plaintiff experienced reflex abnormalities and loss of motor control that went unreported to her physicians. As a result of the delayed diagnosis, thoracic spinal cord compression caused the plaintiff to become paraplegic.

Todd A. Smith

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. The plaintiff was struck by a car, and brought into the hospital with musculoskeletal injuries and a small subdural hemotoma. Blood-thinning therapy was ordered to reverse the effects of her previously prescribed Coumadin, but a delay in treatment allowed the subdural hematoma to spread. As a result, pressure built up in the brain stem caused the plaintiff to slip into a coma, and she died a short time later.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Sean M. Houlihan

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. Plaintiff released from hospital following outpatient laparoscopic surgery, despite symptoms that included severe abdominal pain. When she returned, it was discovered her small bowel had been perforated in surgery. The plaintiff died the following day.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Brian LaCien

Motor Vehicle Negligence. Plaintiff was crossing the street when he was struck by a delivery van whose driver failed to yield to the pedestrian in the crosswalk, while also driving too fast for conditions. The plaintiff suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident, and now lives independently in a supervised environment.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. During surgery to correct a miniscus tear, the plaintiff (a professional football player in his 4th season) sustained an injury to the medial articular cartilage of his left knee. He returned briefly, playing only 3-4 games a season until his sixth season, when his injury prevented him from passing the team physical.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Thomas G. Siracusa

Medical Malpractice. The defendents failed to diagnose perinatal asphyxia of the plaintiff (an infant), and as a result the child suffered from severe brain damage and cerebral palsy.

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. During surgery, the defendants first failed to properly diagnose an abdominal obstruction in the plaintiff, and then severed major blood vessels, which cut off the blood supply to her liver. As a result of her injuries, the plaintiff died.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Wrongful Death. Plaintiff decedent was working at a roadside construction site when an uninsured motorist struck and killed him. The crash had occurred, in part, because the county and the general contractor had failed to provide proper warning devices near the construction site.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. After undergoing aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting, the plaintiff was not provided with Coumadin for stroke prophylaxis. Asymptomatic pericardial effusion occured as a result. When the effusion was not addressed soon enough, it caused cardiac tamponade, leading to the plaintiff sustaining anoxic brain injury and eventually dying from her injuries.

Larry R. Rogers
Brian LaCien

Motor Vehicle Negligence, Trucking. The plaintiff (a protected person) suffered a traumatic brain injury the car he was driving was involved in an accident caused by a tractor-trailor.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. During anesthesia, the plaintiff's carotid artery was punctured, leading to subarachnoid hemorrhaging. The plaintiff suffered permanent brain damage and ultimately died as a result of her injuries.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Thomas G. Siracusa
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. The plaintiff had a stent placed in a coronary artery, and was discharged with a prescription for blood thinners Plavis and aspirin to prevent stent thrombosis. After he returned home, the plaintiff suffered a massive stroke, leaving him seriously disabled on the right side of his body. The defendant had failed to provide the plaintiff with Coumadin, which would have prevented the stroke.

Todd A. Smith
Psychiatric Malpractice. The defendants diagnosed the plaintiff (a ten year old minor) with multiple personality disorder, and used dangerous treatment methods while the plaintiff in-patient at the psychiatric ward for nearly two years. Treatment included searching the plaintiff's mind for "hidden" traumatic events, until he came to falsely believe he had been sadistically abused by his parents and his grandparents. Defendants also falsely convinced him he had been member of a secret satanic cult.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence, Trucking. The plaintiff decedent was driving in the northbound lanes of interstate 55 when the defendant, who was driving in the southbound lanes, crossed the grassy median and struck the plaintiff head-on. The plaintiff died as a result of multiple blunt force trauma sustained in the accident. The defendant was found to be operating his vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

Thomas M. Power
Joseph W. Balesteri
Medical Malpractice, Failure to diagnose perforated ulcer

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Medical Malpractice. Plaintiff (18 month old girl) underwent cardiac muscle biopsy, which caused arrest leading to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence, Product Liability. The plaintiff decedent was a riding as a passenger in a large van when the driver lost control of the vehicle along Interstate 55. The van crossed the grassy median and collided with a tractor-trailer traveling in the opposite direction, killing the driver and all ten passengers, including the plaintiff. The crash occurred both as a result of the driver failing to reduce speed given the snowy and icy conditions, and also as a result of a steering defect in the Daimler-Chrysler van that caused it to wander.

Todd A. Smith
Product Liability. The plaintiff (a minor) was injured diving into an above ground pool.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Brian LaCien

Premises Liability. When a fire occured at an office building, the plaintiff became trapped in a stairwell and passed out due to smoke inhalation. This is one of 22 lawsuits filed as a result of the October 17, 2003 fire at the Cook County Administration building.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. Failure to treat plaintiff for her cardiac condition, Long Q.T. syndrome. Despite knowing her brother had died of suspected heart disease, the doctor failed to prescribe any anti-arrhythmic medication, to hospitalize the plaintiff for her condition, or to order timely and appropriate diagnostic studies. She died of cardiac arrest.

Thomas G. Siracusa

Medical Malpractice. Due to the defendants’ failure to diagnose perinatal hypoxia in the plaintiff (an infant), he sustained brain damage resulting in cerebral palsy.

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Product Liability. The plaintiff died as a result of his injuries after a defective tractor he was operating rolled over.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Medical Malpractice. Failure to provide adequate instructions to a plaintiff prescribed Colchicine to treat gout, failure to warn plaintiff to stop medication with any experience of gastro-intestinal discomfort or of diarrhea. Plaintiff died as a result of Colchicine intoxication.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Premises Liability. The plaintiff (a 35 year old husband and father) died as a result of smoke inhalation after a fire started in an accumulation of trash in the building's garbage chute room.

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. The plaintiff was too sedated before a cervical epidural injection to feel the needle compressing her spinal cord. As a result, the medication was administered into her spinal cord, rendering her a quadriplegic.

Larry R. Rogers
Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. After a recent study-abroad trip to Ghana, a student presented to the hospital with a history of fever, headache, and chills. Despite telling staff of her trip and of her failure to take her malaria chemoprophylaxis, she was not admitted and the hospital failed to provide any malaria medication at discharge. After discharge her symptoms worsened, and she presented by ambulance to another hospital, where as a result of cerebral malaria she lapsed into a coma and died.

Todd A. Smith

Motor Vehicle Negligence, Trucking. The plaintiff (a farmer) was struck by a tractor-trailer as he traveled on Interstate 80, and suffered multiple bilateral leg fractures as a result.

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Construction. Elevator mechanic fell to his death.

Todd A. Smith
Devon C. Bruce

Personal Injury. Plaintiffs fell down same set of unmarked stairs concealed by product display 5 weeks apart. One of the plaintiffs sustained traumatic brain injury, personality changes, and short-term memory loss as a result of his fall. The other plaintiff suffered fractures and herniations of his L4-S1 disc that required fusion, laminectomy and discectomy. A previously sustained ankle injury of the second plaintiff was also aggravated that required fixation, fusion, and later, debridement when a postoperative bone-infection occured.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.

Medical Malpractice. Failure to properly monitor condition of plaintiff (a pregnant woman in labor), failure to provide a proper and timely diagnosis of plaintiff's uterine rupture, failure to continuously monitor fetal heart rate and perform a timely cesarean section. As a result, the plaintiff's child was born unresponsive, and was pronounced dead after an unsuccessful attempt to resuscitate him.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Medical Malpractice. As a result of failing to monitor her mother in labor, the newborn plaintiff became hypoxic during her delivery. Due to the hypoxia, the plaintiff suffers from cerebral palsy.

Thomas G. Siracusa
Joseph W. Balesteri
Product Liability

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri

Medical Malpractice. The plaintiff (a 2 year old) was undergoing surgery to remove a large liver mass, when the anesthesiologist placed the arterial line in a leg that had been experiencing vasospasm the day before. Soon after the line was placed, the arterial wave form was lost. When her leg was finally checked after surgery, six hours later, it was blue and required emergency vascular surgery. The plaintiff’s right extremity was salvaged, but she permanently lost all feeling below her right knee as a result of her injuries.

Thomas G. Siracusa
Medical Malpractice

Thomas M. Power
Negligence

Joseph W. Balesteri
Medical Malpractice. After an av malformation (an abnormal connection between the arteries and veins) was identified at the jejunum/ileum (located in the small intestine), the plaintiff’s bowel was resected. However, six days later while still admitted, ecchymoses developed in the arm and leg of the plaintiff along with tachycardia, restlessness, and discomfort in and around the abdomen. Once the plaintiff’s abdomen had already become firm and distended, a Code was called, but the plaintiff died due to postoperative bleeding and residual av malformation that the defendants had failed to properly treat.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Medical Malpractice. The plaintiff decedent was under the care of the defendant, when he detected a thyroid mass. He conducted an initial thyroid ultrasound and needle biopsy, which indicated no signs neoplastic cellular development. Rather than conducting any follow-up biopsies or ultrasound tests in the following four years, during which time the plaintiff continued to regularly see the defendant, the doctor would only measure the mass's dimensions by manual palpation. When the plaintiff was hospitalized to deliver a child, doctors found neoplastic lesions had caused a hip fracture, and they discovered cancerous growths on the plaintiff''s spine. Both were secondary to her metastatic thyroid cancer that the defendant had failed to diagnose. The plaintiff underwent numerous treatments in the subsequent years, but she ultimately died from complications related to thyroid carcinoma.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Carolyn Daley Scott

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. During a root-canal procedure, patient was administered an excessive intravenous sedation and inadequately monitored. The patient suffered cardiac arrest and died as a result.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Medical Malpractice. The defendant failed to warn the plaintiff of the risk that his cosmetic knee surgery could be "career ending."

This is the largest jury verdict in Illinois history involving lack of informed consent

Todd A. Smith
Brian LaCien
Automobile Collision, Trucking

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri
Medical Malpractice

Thomas G. Siracusa
Medical Malpractice

Todd A. Smith

Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence, Trucking. The plaintiff decedent (a minor) was a rear passenger in her mother's vehicle when it was struck by a tractor-trailer. Shortly after the collision, the plaintiff died as a result of massive head injuries she had sustained.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Devon C. Bruce
Motor Vehicle Negligence

Todd A. Smith
Devon C. Bruce

Work Injury, Premises Liability. Defendant failed to maintain its factory premises in a reasonably safe condition, leading to the plaintiff (an employee) tripping and falling 3 stories from a manlift. As a result, the plaintiff suffered a T8 compression fracture that required a T4-T11 posterior fusion. He is permanently confined to a wheelchair with only partial feeling from the waist down.

Joseph A. Power Jr.
Product Liability, Surgical Stapler

Larry R. Rogers, Jr.
Sean M. Houlihan
Medical Malpractice

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Premises Liability. The plaintiff died as a result of injuries suffered in a housing development fire. It was found that the alarm system failed to operate throughout the building and the firehoses located in some of the stairwells were inoperable.

Devon C. Bruce, Lead Counsel
Medical Malpractice

Todd A. Smith, Lead Counsel
Motor Vehicle Negligence, Brain Injury

Todd A. Smith, Lead Counsel
Wrongful Death, Trucking

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. Failure to diagnose, failure to treat pyelonephritis and urinary tract infections in plaintiff decedent (a pregant woman). As a result the plaintiff and her child died.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Joseph W. Balesteri
Medical Malpractice

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Automobile Negligence, Wrongful Death. The plaintiff decedent (a postal worker) exited a store, and was struck by an illegally parked car that had been hit by a cement truck, whose driver failed to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Wrongful Death, Product Liability. At a steel plant, a 235-ton ladle of molten steel erupted, showering its contents onto the plaintiff decedent. The continuous caster of the ladle had no overhead protection, which would have prevented the steel workers death.

Thomas M. Power
Medical Malpractice, Failure to timely intubate

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence. Plaintiff decedent was struck by criminal suspect fleeing several marked and unmarked police vehicles.

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Construction.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Medical Malpractice. The plaintiff being treated at a hospital suffered a subdural hematoma after falling from a gurney.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence. A bus driver failed to follow company rules to avoid backing up, if at all possible, and properly monitor the rear of the bus as he exited a driveway. As a result, the plaintiff was run over by the vehicles rear wheels and instantly killed.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Medical Malpractice, Wrongful Death. Diagnosed with a high-grade malignant fibrous histiocytoma, the plaintiff underwent a mastectomy and began chemotherapy. However, she was given the wrong chemotherapy in excessive doses that her physician failed to monitor, and she died as a result.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Brian LaCien
Wrongful Death, Trucking. The plaintiff decedent had pulled over his semi-truck to a highway shoulder to deal with mechachical problems, when he has hit and killed by another tractor-trailer.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Sean M. Houlihan
Motor Vehicle Negligence

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Negligence

Joseph W. Balesteri
Carolyn Daley Scott
Medical Malpractice. Infant sustained brain injury at birth after hospital staff failed to respond to late decelerations in fetal heart tracings. The newborn died as a result of his injury.

Devon C. Bruce
Wrongful Death

Thomas M. Power
Motor Vehicle Negligence

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence, Trucking. A piece of tarp used to cover lumber or steel on a flatbed truck fell off a truck owned by the defendant (a freight company), and landed in the middle of Interstate-94, causing the plaintiff decedent to lose control and crash his vehicle into a light pole.

Thomas M. Power
Construction Injury

Todd A. Smith
Medical Malpractice, Professional Negligence

Thomas G. Siracusa
Thomas M. Power
Medical Malpractice

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. The plaintiff decedent underwent gastric bypass surgery, but had to be re-admitted due to infection. A variety of complications occured thereafter that ultimately led to her death.

Todd A. Smith
Medical Malpractice. Failure to diagnose a cerebral spinal fluid leak that led to a compression of the spinal cord. Due to his injuries, the plaintiff now suffers from neurological deficits.

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. Failure to diagnose dissecting aorta.

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence, Trucking.

Thomas G. Siracusa
Medical Malpractice

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Brian LaCien
Wrongful Death

Todd A. Smith
Spinal Injury, Animal Control Act

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. Failure to diagnose sinusitus.

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Medical Malpractice, Wrongful Death. The plaintiff decedent died due to an untimely diagnosis of a highly malignant tumor (known as mesenchymal chondrosarcoma) located in his cervical spine.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Construction Injury

Todd A. Smith
Product Liability. Plaintiff lost hand in defective industrial washing maching.

Todd A. Smith
Industrial Accident

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. Despite plaintiff's abnormal chest x-ray, the defendants did not order a follow-up CT scan for a potential lesion. Instead, the defendants then ordered a second chest x-ray, which they incorrectly interpreted as normal. As a result, the plaintiff decedent's lung cancer went undetected for 20 months. Had the delay in diagnosis not occured, the plaintiff decedent would have had a 50% chance of survival.

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Carolyn Daley Scott
Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence, Trucking

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Aviation Accident

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice

Todd A. Smith
Work Injury

Todd A. Smith
Brian LaCien
Wrongful Death

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.

Wrongful Death, Construction Negligence. The defendent backed up his truck unexpectedly, striking and immediately killing the plaintiff, who was working as a laborer.

Todd A. Smith
Negligence

Larry R. Rogers, Sr.
Brian LaCien

Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice. While performing laparoscopic surgery, the defendent inserted a trocar that caused a capsular laceration of the plaintiff's liver, leading to a fatal air embolism.

Todd A. Smith
Wrongful Death, Motor Vehicle Negligence, Trucking

Joseph A. Power, Jr.
Medical Malpractice

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri
Medical Malpractice

Todd A. Smith
Joseph W. Balesteri
Medical Malpractice