Dec 26, 2016 | Ozmon Law News
Reprinted from Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
By John Flynn Rooney
Law Bulletin Staff Writer
Joliet lawyer Laird M. Ozmon steps into his term as president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association with a proud legacy, following in the footsteps of his father and making them the first father and son to have served in that office.
Ozmon, who runs a small firm bearing his name, recently became the first Joliet attorney to serve as ITLA president. His father, prominent Chicago personal-injury lawyer Nat P. Ozmon, headed the association in 1969-70.
The younger Ozmon noted that his father often said, “You must pay a little rent for the space you occupy in life.”
“In that vein, being active in ITLA and rising to the presidency, I see it as rent for what this profession has provided to me and what this profession has provided to society,” Ozmon said during a telephone interview Tuesday.
Nat Ozmon noted that Laird was born shortly after he was licensed as an Illinois lawyer in 1954. “I guess he was indoctrinated in some way to follow the pathway.”
One of ITLA’s main priorities is to continue to broaden its political base during the next legislative election in 1998 by supporting Republican candidates who favor the rights of injured consumers, according to Laird Ozmon, the group’s 44th president.
The approximately 2,300-member association, consisting primarily of plaintiff lawyers, has for many years typically supported Democratic candidates in state legislative races, Ozmon said. But in the past several years, ITLA also has backed some Republicans, he added, saying he couldn’t recall how many.
“It has not been extensive enough,” Ozmon said of ITLA’s support of Republican candidates who are sympathetic to the rights of injured workers and consumers, Ozmon said. ITLA will try to educate the public on a race-by-race basis in the next round of legislative elections and expects to back GOP candidates when warranted, he noted.
“We will support Republicans who are akin to the interests we have,” Ozmon said. ITLA’s support “shouldn’t be simply because of party affiliation.”
The association is deemed one of the most influential lobbying groups in the state’s capital. During the 1996 election cycle, ITLA’s political action committee spent about $500,000, with the majority of the funds going to Democratic legislative candidates, said James M. Collins, ITLA’s executive director.
ITLA suffered a blow in 1994 when Republicans gained control of both the House and Senate as well as the governorship. One of the results was the Civil Justice Reform Amendments of 1995, or “tort reform,” which plaintiffs’ lawyers and consumer groups contend drastically reduced the rights of injured persons.
Ozmon said one of the lessons learned from that experience was too broaden the group’s support of political candidates. “We have [started] to look more at the person, rather than the politics,” he added.
Ozmon conceded that ITLA will try to help Democrats regain control of the Senate in the 1998 election, and maintain the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. Democratic legislators have traditionally been more supportive of injured victims’ rights than Republicans, he added.
ITLA will also continue its commitment to the constitutional challenges to the Civil Justice Reform Amendments as another of its top priorities, according to Ozmon. In March 1995, Gov. Jim Edgar signed the amendments approved by the Republican-controlled legislature that eliminated joint and several liability and placed a $500,000 cap on non-economic damages.
ITLA has reportedly raised more than $500,000 from members in a one-time special assessment to fund the constitutional challenges to the tort amendments. ITLA members also pay annual dues ranging from $10 to $1,000 depending on how long a lawyer has practiced.
Two trial judges have held all the tort amendments unconstitutional, while other judges have struck down specific provisions.
The Illinois Supreme Court heard oral arguments last month in a consolidated case from Madison County involving the validity of the amendments in their entirety. Best v. Allied Equipment Co., Nos. 1890-81893.
Ozmon said he hopes the high court decides the cases by late fall so that lawyers and judges know whether the amendments are valid.
Another project ITLA will pursue this year is establishing its own Web site.
Association officials are talking to consultants about developing the Web site and hope to have it running by fall, Ozmon said.
The Web site offers an effective way to communicate with members and also reach others with the group’s message, according to Ozmon, who replaced Geoffrey L. Gifford, a partner of the Chicago law firm of Pavalon & Gifford. Ozmon was installed at a June 13 dinner-dance attended by about 425 people at the Oak Brook Hills Hotel and Resort.
Following his graduation from Loyola University College of Law in 1979, Ozmon went to work for his father’s law firm, now known as Anesi, Ozmon & Rodin, Ltd. The younger Ozmon, while with the firm, represented plaintiffs in personal-injury cases in areas outside cook County, including Joliet, Kankakee and Aurora.
He liked handling cases in the outly8ing counties and decided to strike out on his own, much to the surprise of his father. Laird Ozmon invited his father to breakfast on a Saturday morning at the Bismarck Hotel to break the news.
“I think to this day he thought I was going to borrow money from him,” Laird Ozmon said. But shortly thereafter, the younger Ozmon opened his own office in 1983.
“I had mixed emotions about that,” Nat Ozmon said of his son starting his own practice. But the elder Ozmon said he is proud of his son and his successes.
Laird Ozmon, who turns 43 in early July, is single and lives in Plainfield. He has a daughter, Natalie, 7.
Dec 26, 2016 | Ozmon Law News
Prominent Joliet injury lawyer Laird M. Ozmon was chosen by his peers to be among the top five percent of all lawyers in Illinois, according to Leading Lawyers Network (Division of the daily legal publication known as The Law Bulletin). Laird Ozmon has concentrated his practice in the areas, of personal injury and professional malpractice. He has been a good friend of labor and has represented the citizens of the collar counties for nearly 24 years.
Since graduating from Loyola Law School in 1979, Attorney Ozmon has amassed an impressive list of professional achievements. He was selected as the President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association in 1998, selected as a Leading American Attorney in 1999, nominated as a committee chair of the American Trial Lawyers Association, selected as an assemblyman of the Illinois State Bar Association as well as being invited to be a member of The Society of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates.
His law firm, Laird M. Ozmon, Ltd., has successfully recovered numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for his clients, many of which have been members of labor. “The fact that my colleagues would choose me to be a member of this select group of attorneys is quite an honor. I’ve always been committed to obtaining full and fair compensation for my clients and apparently my peers agree. I’m very grateful,” Ozmon said.
Leading Lawyers Network
The Leading Lawyers Network is the result of thousands of contacts with Illinois lawyers asking them which of their peers they believe comprise the top lawyers. Only those lawyers who are most often recommended qualify as Leading Lawyers.
Laird M. Ozmon was recommended as a Leading Lawyer in a statewide survey of more than 50,000 lawyers. Fewer than 5% of the lawyers in any state receive the distinction of being a Leading Lawyer.
Dec 26, 2016 | Ozmon Law News
SUCCESS STORIES
Leading Lawyers Network
Laird M. Ozmon has been helping injured people and their families find justice for nearly 25 years. His firm, the Law Offices of Laird M. Ozmon, Ltd., focuses solely on cases of personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death, and product liability.
Laird M. Ozmon
Among the success stories of Mr. Ozmon has helped write for his clients: $12 million compensatory and punitive damage award for a man whose hand was nearly severed by a power saw and $8 million recovered for a former firefighter who was mistakenly diagnosed with asthma during a routine physical.
Mr. Ozmon is a past president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, a governor from Illinois to the American Trial Lawyers Association, a past assemblyman to the Illinois State Bar Association, an inducted member of the Society of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates, and one of the top 5 percent of all lawyers as recommended by his peers to Leading Lawyers Network.
Mr. Ozmon was elected this year to his fourth consecutive term on the executive committee of the American Association for Justice, formerly known as the American Trial Lawyers Association. He was also appointed to the association’s National Finance Counsel, and he received its Distinguished Service Award for 2009. In addition, he co-authored the chapter “Trial Tactics in Medical Malpractice” for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, 1989-92.
In December, 2005, he was appointed by Justice Thomas Kilbride to the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions in Civil Cases. For nine years, he will represent the Third Judicial District on the 21-member committee.
It is that experience, sophistication, and commitment that helps Mr. Ozmon help his clients.
Dec 26, 2016 | Ozmon Law News
Malpractice suit settled for $8 million
HERALD NEWS
By Charles B. Pelkie
HERALD-NEWS STAFF WRITER
CHICAGO – A Joliet legal firm recently reached an $8 million settlement in a medical malpractice case involving a former Glendale Heights firefighter who was mistakenly diagnosed with asthma during a routine work physical seven years ago.
Scott Sircher, the 45-year-old former fire department lieutenant, actually suffered from a genetic disorder known as Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, which results in lung failure and can cause liver disease.
The disease currently has no cure. But Joliet attorney Laird Ozmon argued that if Sircher’s symptoms had been properly diagnosed during a work physical in 1994, his client could have received treatment that would have ‘slowed the destruction of his lungs and extended his life.
Sircher has since lost an estimated 75 percent of his lung capacity, and he requires oxygen intermittently, according to Ozmon. His body can stand only minimal exertion, making it impossible for Sircher to help his wife, Denise Sircher, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and lupus.
The attorney described his client as “a pulmonary cripple” whose life expectancy was reduced by 15 to 20 years because he did not receive timely treatment.
Ozmon filed a lawsuit in Cook County alleging that defendants Occupational Medicine Network Inc. and GlenOaks Medical Center, both located in Glendale Heights, should have properly diagnosed his breathing problems during a work-related exam in 1994.
The attorney alleged that doctors failed to conduct a pulmonary test that would have shown an irreversible loss of lung function and suggested that Sircher suffered from more than asthma. “It was a basic precursor to determining a loss of lung function inconsistent with asthma,” Ozmon said.
Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, which can be diagnosed with a blood test, would have been a likely culprit had the doctors looked beyond asthma, Ozmon said.
Instead, doctors cleared Sircher for duty 10 days after his physical, Ozmon said. As he worked, his lung function continued to deteriorate. He was finally diagnosed correctly in 1996, Ozmon said. “By that time, he could barely stand up in the shower,” Ozmon said.
The attorney representing Occupational Medicine Network and GlenOaks Medical Center could not be reached for comment Wednesday, The lawsuit also named as a defendant the Asthma and Allergy Center in Bloomingdale, where Sircher had been receiving treatment for his breathing difficulties.
An estimated 21 -million Americans are undetected carriers of the disease, according to the Alpha-1 Foundation Web site.
The liver normally produces a protein called trypsin, which assists in ridding the body of dead cells. A healthy person also produces a protein known as anti-trypsin, which prevents the trypsin protein from destroying healthy cells, specifically in the lungs.
The only approved treatment for the lung disease is a weekly augmentation of the Alpha-1 protein, which can cost an estimated $60,000 per person, according to the Alpha-1 Foundation.
Signs of the disease can include shortness of breath, rapid deterioration of lung function, decreased exercise tolerance, chronic liver problems, elevated liver enzymes and a lack of response to asthma or allergy treatment.
Dec 26, 2016 | Cases, Ozmon Law News
Medical Malpractice Case Will County, Joliet IL
Recently awarded the highest settled Medical Malpractice suit in the history of Will County for 9.2 million.
Will County, Il.(a suburb of Chicago) – On January 15, 2015, a Will County woman and her husband settled a medical malpractice lawsuit against a local hospital and surgical group, for a Will County record high settlement of $9.2 million. She filed suit because surgical complications after weight loss surgery in November, 2010, led to above-the-knee amputation of both of her legs. The surgeon was an employee of the surgical group and an agent of a local hospital. Based upon claims of agency the hospital participated in the settlement. There were no other significant claims against the hospital. A local hematologist also contributed to the settlement.
On November, 10, 2010, a local woman underwent a weight loss procedure called a gastric sleeve surgery, which involved removal of approximately 70% of her stomach. She had a preexisting blood clotting disorder, and for the previous ten years had been required to take a blood thinner called Coumadin every day. The blood thinner had to be discontinued just before surgery, with the expectation that it would be restarted in a timely manner after the operation. Unfortunately, she suffered a bleeding complication after surgery, and the surgeon decided to delay the restarting of those blood thinners. Due to the absence of an anticoagulation bridging plan, blood thinners were never restarted and after two weeks, she developed massive blood clots in her legs that ultimately resulted in the complete loss of blood circulation to her legs. Because circulation could not be restored, both of her legs were amputated above the knees on November 26, 2010.
A lawsuit was filed in Will County by Laird Ozmon of the Law Offices of Laird M. Ozmon, Ltd. alleging that her doctor failed to sufficiently educate her that due to her hyper coagulable condition, she should have had a less invasive and risky weight loss surgery called a lap band procedure, failed to properly manager her anticoagulants before surgery, failed to restart her anticoagulants when it was safe to do so, and failed to respond in a timely manner when she developed extensive blood clots.
The plaintiffs were represented by Laird Ozmon of Laird M. Ozmon, Ltd, (Joliet) and Mark McNabola, Ted Jennings and Ruth Degnan of McNabola Law Group, P.C. (Chicago) who were subsequently added as trial counsel. Defendant hospital was represented by Brian Fetzer of Johnson & Bell, Ltd. (Chicago); defendant surgeon and medical group were represented by Troy Lundquist of Langhenry, Gillen, Lundquist & Johnson, LLC (Joliet); and the hematologist and medical group were represented by Martha Swatek of Swatek Law Group, Ltd. (Geneva).
Dec 26, 2016 | Cases
Plaintiff, a bricklayer-carpenter, age 42, sustained a nearly complete amputation of his left hand, while using a power miter saw found to be unreasonably dangerous due to a lack of a right side lower blade guard. Plaintiff’s expert was the invertor and designer of the 10-inch Black & Decker Power Miter Box Saw ( Model 7717, Type 1) testified he designed guards for both sides but for marketing reasons Black & Decker omitted the right side guard.
Dec 26, 2016 | Cases
Laird Ozmon from Ozmon Law settled an $8,000,000.00 dollar Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AATD, A1AD) case for client Scott S. Scott was misdiagnosed with COPD for years when he actually had the rare Alpha-1 protein deficiency.
Beginning in 1991, defts misdiagnosed M-40 pltf’s genetic disorder(Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency) as asthma, resulting in loss of over 75% of pltf’s lung function, leaving him a pulmonary cripple and diminishing his life expectancy by 15-20 years. If identified by a simple blood test, progress of the disease could have been halted by serum replacement therapy and pltf’s emphysema prevented. Due to his extended treatment for asthma with steroids, pltf also developed osteoporosis and suffered multiple vertebral fractures. NOTE: this is the first known case involving the misdiagnosis of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Defeciency.
Dec 26, 2016 | Cases
Age 49, a carpenter, was using a 10-inch Black and Decker miter box saw when an unguarded blade on the right side struck his left hand, amputating one-third around the thumb. Thumb was sewn back on and palm repaired, but a year later index finger had to be removed and other fingers are unable to grasp, numb and have pain, due to tendon injury. Inventor had testified he designed guards for both sides but deft omitted right side because most users are right-handed.
Dec 26, 2016 | Cases
December 1, 2003, pltf M-16 presented to the emergency room of Deft Hospital with a two-day history of abdominal pain and diarrhea. He had a fever and was tachycardic. His CBC blood test revealed that his white blood count was elevated with marked shift to the left. A CT scan of his abdomen revealed that appendicitis could not be excluded as a possible diagnosis. He was admitted thereafter to deft Mercy Hospital. On December 2, 2003, he was discharged from the deft Mercy Hospital by deft Cesare Menendez, M.D., despite an abdominal white blood count, bandemia, and fever spike noted at time of discharge. On December 3, 2003, pltf’s decedent’s parents called deft Cesare Menendez, M.D. on two occasions informing him that their son’s condition was worsening. However, it was not recommended that they return to the hospital immediately, but rather were given an appointment for the following day at 1:00p.m. On December 4, 2003 at 1:40a.m., pltf’s decedent told his father to take him to the hospital but then collapsed and died. Autopsy later disclosed a purulent infectious process in the right lower quadrant most likely related to a perforated appendicitis resulting in peritonits, sepsis and ultimately his death.
Dec 26, 2016 | Cases
Male 44 yr old cabinet maker’s August 1996 chest x-ray was misread and defendants failed to diagnose his lung cancer until May, 1997, when it was Stage III and had metastasized to his brain. He died in Sept. 1997 (survived by wife and 3 grown children)
