Illinois Lawyer Blog

A federal lawsuit filed after the death of a young man at Cook County jail is raising a number of questions about how that facility is run. John Lambert[pictured below] was incarcerated in Cook County jail in June of 2007. Lambert had previously had some run-ins with law enforcement agencies, but they were all relatively minor. He was placed in a maximum secur… Read More

I was excited to see President Barack Obama sworn in as the 44th president on Tuesday. I was a big Obama supporter early on, when all the political types were saying it couldn’t be done. And I was impressed with his inaugural address as well. He wisely elected to dial down the inspirational content and instead focus on the serious challeges facing Americ… Read More

Recently met with a new client who was had been injured in an automobile collision. The other driver was insured by a carrier lawyers often describe as a “substandard”. The “substandard” designation is essentially code. First, it means that the available coverage is probably the minimum acceptable under the law. Secondly it means that t… Read More

A man previously convicted of murder for setting a fire that caused multiple deaths, now stands to collect a multi-million dollar payout arising out his prosecution and conviction. Madison Hobley was initially charged with setting a 1987 fire the killed seven people – including his wife and young son. He was convicted in 1990 and sentenced to death. Hobl… Read More

Holidays are over, time for the first post of 2009… I haven’t included many posts related to my own cases of late. Here’s a summary of a case that recently reached a very favorable conclusion. Client comes to me saying he was struck by a car while crossing the street on his bicycle. Due to the impact, he suffered a fracture of his leg, and a… Read More

According to an article in today’s Chicago Tribune, medical residents[medical school graduates caring for patients under the guidance of more experienced physicians] are still working way too many hours. The article, written by Mary Engel, discusses a report released Tuesday by the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academies. The report recom… Read More

Saw an online article from the Chicago Tribune the other day, discussing an unusual lawsuit recently filed against a local radio station. The article, written by Emily S. Achenbaum, detailed how a Chicago woman[identified only as “Jane Doe”]is suing WXLC, a Waukegan radio station, and its parent company, Next Media Group, Inc. after she won a conte… Read More

A Cook County jury recently awarded $16.5 million dollars to the family of a Cicero woman who died of a drug overdose while using a pain-killer skin patch. Janice DiCoslo was using a prescribed Duragesic patch when she died on February 15, 2004. In a normal patch, a gel containing fentanyl is released into the body slowly through a layer of film. Some of the p… Read More