Catastrophic Injury and Wrongful Death
* A female high school student was visiting her mother at the Cook County office building when a fire broke out. She and her mother became trapped in the stairwell, which then filled with smoke. The young woman became separated from her mother, succumbed to the smoke and lost consciousness, but escaped the stairwell alive; her mother died in the stairwell. P&S represented the young woman in recovering for the injuries and continuing suffering she experienced as a result of the fire.
* A father of three adult children and a minor daughter was leaving his job in the Western suburbs on a winter evening to catch the bus to return back to his home in Chicago. He was struck by a truck when crossing a six-lane road on foot. P&S represented the estate in obtaining a settlement as the case was nearing trial after years of litigation.
* As an expectant mother and her husband were preparing for childbirth, hospital staff mistakenly administered narcotic painkiller instead of antibiotic to the pregnant woman through an intravenous line, resulting in a narcotic-induced respiratory and cardiac arrest. The overdose was reversed with narcan and the mother proceeded to deliver their baby; however she soon thereafter suffered a fall as hospital staff had her walk to the bathroom. On the eve of filing suit, P&S obtained a settlement for the mother and father of the baby for the physical and emotional injuries suffered as a result of the incident.
* A teenage boy was swimming with a friend when the friend went down in the pool and did not come up. He went down in the water several times as he tried to save his friend, but he did not succeed. The boy required counseling as he struggled to cope with loss of his friend and inability to save him. P&S represented the boy who had tried to save his friend in obtaining recovery prior to file suit.
* P&S represented a 90 year-old woman in filing suit when she suffered carbon monoxide poisoning resulting in a heart attack after another resident of her condominium complex left his car running in the garage. The man who had left his car running died in the incident and P&S filed suit against his estate. P&S then obtained a settlement during negotiations as the suit was ongoing.
* A young woman from Mexico was working on a machine at a packaging plant when her hand became entangled in a chain as she tried to fix a problem on the line. She lost one finger and a portion of another finger. Another firm represented her in the claim for her workplace injury, and then brought P&S in to pursue a case based upon the condition of the packaging machine. The machine did not have a functioning automatic shut-off or guards. P&S filed suit and was eventually able to obtain a settlement from the firm who sold the used machine to the young woman’s employer.
* As a young man was riding his bike home from work, he was struck by a speeding taxi that failed to stop at a stop sign, causing him to be hospitalized with a brain injury. P&S filed suit and was then able to obtain a settlement.
Civil Rights
* Members of an extended Mexican family were holding a baptism party when it was raided by Cicero police. P&S became involved in the case just as it neared time for trial and then worked on the trial team with attorneys from several other firms. After five weeks of trial, the jury awarded substantial damages to two dozen plaintiffs and entered judgment for punitive damages against multiple officers. A considerable amount of the sum awarded has been paid and additional issues remain pending on appeal.
* Police opened fire on a car full of people celebrating the Chicago Bulls most recent championship victory. P&S worked with other lawyers in preparing the case for trial on behalf of the people who were shot by the police. A settlement was achieved on behalf of the plaintiffs on the eve of trial.
* A young man was shot by police officers and his mother pursued recovery on behalf of the estate. She had reached a settlement and sought to distribute the proceeds in a manner that would exclude the father, who was incarcerated, from any recovery. P&S was then hired by the father. The proposed distribution was halted and a settlement was eventually reached which provided the father with a substantial share of the recovery.
* Police improperly stopped the car of an African-American woman and falsely charged her with possession of marijuana after she had complained and one of the officers accused her of “getting all ghetto.” P&S filed suit and subsequently obtained a settlement on behalf of the woman, who is now working as a human rights investigator for a government agency.
* A man was at a bar when police came to deal with a disturbance involving other patrons. Police officers knocked the man to the floor and kicked his teeth in. P&S filed suit and was then able to obtain a settlement on behalf of the man.
* A woman tried to get the police to help her when she was being harassed by her ex-husband, against whom she had a previous protective order. Instead of stopping the ex-husband as he drove away, the officers became annoyed at her insistence that they do their jobs. They tackled her and dragged her by the hair across her front lawn in front of her children. P&S filed suit and pursued the case through the discovery process until a settlement was obtained on behalf of the woman.