News You Can Use
News and Law Updates from Ozmon Law
Illinois Supreme Court AFFIRMS Will County Ruling Which Struck Down Fees on Foreclosures Filings
On June 17, 2021, the state high court declared unconstitutional sections of two laws, a revision of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, which governs operations of Illinois state courts, and sections of the Illinois Housing Development Act. (Reuben D. Walker, et al v. Andrea Lynn Chasteen, et al. Will County Case No. 12 CH 05275)
Protecting Your Rights When You’re in a Bicycle or Scooter Accident
Last year at this time I wrote about the various modes of transportation that fill our roadways and sidewalks especially during these long-awaited sun-soaked days of summer. As a personal injury lawyer my mind quickly turns from delight to disaster as I see the sidewalks riddled with scooters and bicyclists narrowly missing pedestrians because I know the worst-case scenario.
Litigation in the Time of the Withering Attention Span
Neuroscientists can attest—our brains are changing. The human attention span is short; it has been clocked at as low as 8 seconds. Some neuroscientists say stop blaming you're smart phones, it’s your brain’s fault. Technology just makes it worse.Our brains...
Medical Malpractice Litigation Joins the Fight Against Opioid Misuse and Addiction
The gravity of the opioid crisis in this country is coming into full relief with more shocking headlines bombarding us every day. It is clear the ever cozier relationship between the medical community and the pharmaceutical industry was the genesis for this cultural...
Laird M. Ozmon, President of Ozmon Law
Attorney Laird M. Ozmon discusses his firm and experience in the areas of personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death and birth-related injuries in Chicago and Joliet, Illinois.
GRAB YOUR LIFEJACKET, THERE ARE WAVES IN THE JURY POOL
The prospective jurors who are wading into the jury pool today are not like jurors from the early days of my career as a plaintiff’s attorney. The speed of the cultural changes and shifting attitudes has accelerated precipitously with the advent of...
Facing Fear Pays Off for Plaintiffs
Around this time last year I was preparing for a trip to Australia and New Zealand looking forward to checking a few things off of my Bucket List, including Bungy Jumping at the world’s oldest commercial site in New Zealand, Kawarau Bridge. Notably, New...
Even Plaintiff’s Lawyer’s Hearts Get Broken
As Valentine’s Day comes and goes, I’m reminded of the biggest heartbreak I’ve suffered in recent years. It involved a wife and her two young children who lost a beloved 32-year-old husband and father to medical negligence. We knew it was an uphill battle as we...
The Awesome Truth About Trial Lawyers . . . Notorious RBG Was One of Us
I like that the indomitable Ruth Bader Ginsberg and I have something in common. She started out as a trial lawyer, just like me. Not the much-maligned caricature of a greedy, unscrupulous individual; but the kind of person who puts her time, money and effort into...
Tenacious LMO, How a Reputation for Tenacity Serves Plaintiffs
I’ve had a lot of cases over the years, mostly good and some that turned out not so good. When I take a case I am committed 100% and ready, willing and able to take it to trial—and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle know it. Having built a reputation for...
The Value of Experts in Personal Injury Litigation
Litigation is expensive. Speaking from the plaintiff’s perspective, costs related to a personal injury claim are steep. Plaintiff’s attorneys do not relish spending money; but the fact of the matter is that in order to prove (or disprove) a case, the parties must hire...
Who Wins When Punitive Damages Are Awarded?
Recently a huge punitive damage award made the news. A groundskeeper sued Monsanto alleging its well-known weed killer Roundup caused his terminal cancer. The jury attributed $250 million of its $289 million award for the plaintiff to punitive damages...
STUDY GIVES SKEWED VIEW OF THE U.S. TORT SYSTEM
Beware of a recent study conducted by the biased U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform claiming the costs and compensation paid for the U.S. tort system totaled $429 billion for 2016. In an effort to incite public outcry it implies it is scandalous that plaintiffs...
MAKING OF A GOOD WITNESS
Recent news events have highlighted the importance of being a compelling witness on your own behalf. The quality of witness’s presentation both superficially and substantively directly impacts one’s ability to make a case. In the context of a personal injury claim, if...
Recent Changes to Illinois Tort Immunity and How it Affects You
Tort immunity is a concept created by lawmakers to balance the interests of a public entity funded by taxpayers against the interests of individual taxpayers in obtaining compensation for an injury caused by the wrongful conduct of a public entity or...
The Survival Instinct is on Life Support, Let’s Come to Our Senses
My blogs this summer have touched on a recurring theme, how a plaintiff’s contributory negligence can diminish or defeat her case. As the best time of year to be in Chicago comes to a close, I have to bring this discussion full circle with one final observation I see...
3 Things To Do If You’re the Victim of a Construction Accident
Construction accidents typically occur due to someone’s negligent actions. Negligence occurs when something is done that a reasonably careful person wouldn’t do, or when something isn’t done that should have been. Damages to the person affected may include pain,...
Contributory Negligence: Winning the Blame Game on Behalf of Plaintiff’s
In my last blog I touched on the concept of a plaintiff’s negligent conduct that can often derail his case and deflate expectations of a recovery. This is called contributory or comparative negligence, and, in the worse case scenario, it can be fatal to a...
As Summer Heats Up Laird Ozmon Guides Riders on the Rules of the Road
It’s a jungle out there. In the spirit of environmental consciousness our highways and byways are filled with bikes and scooters, E-bikes and motorized scooters, mopeds or skateboards, all in a state of frenetic locomotion. In my practice I have found these...
UNDERSTANDING PERSONAL INJURY DAMAGES
Often when people are injured they have difficulty articulating their injuries. It's usually a case of underreporting (failing to mention the MRI you had) or over reporting (trying to blame every ache and pain on the injury). My decades-long career as a plaintiff's...
Plaintiff’s attorneys ensure clients are taken care of long after the case is over
When a person recovers money rightfully owed to him or her as a result of a personal injury settlement or award, it’s important to take proper steps to avoid being victimized after the case is over. In April 2018, a woman was shot and killed during a Zion home...
KEEPING PERSONAL INJURY CLIENTS OUT OF PERIL POST-SETTLEMENT OR TRIAL
You may have heard about the recent murder of a Zion, Illinois resident in a bold attempt to steal the proceeds of the settlement of a lawsuit. Read the story at Chicago Tribune. This scenario is more common, although not often as violent, as you might think. When a...
Motorcycle accidents on the rise: What you should do before and after a serious injury
If you ride, the first thing should be obvious to you - always pay attention to all traffic around you and I suggest that you assume they all might do something stupid! The warmer weather means drivers must again be alert to share the road with motorcyclists. The...
NOT “AS SEEN ON TV”: MANAGING THE PLAINTIFF’S EXPECTATIONS
Expectations drive human behavior. Few people outside of the legal profession have any understanding of the judicial process or the time horizon involved to enable them to form reasonable expectations about it. Instead, the public relies on the fantastical depiction...
FIVE THINGS YOUR ATTORNEY WANTS YOU TO KNOW ABOUT WRONGFUL DEATH
If someone’s death is the result of negligence or misconduct of another, the surviving family members may sue for "wrongful death." Laird Ozmon has a proven track record of obtaining high dollar value settlements and jury verdicts involving wrongful death cases. Click...
PROS AND CONS OF THIRD PARTY LITIGATION FUNDING
Third party litigation funding services are trending. They have been around in some form for many years, but now they are taking on a new prominence as litigation becomes ever more prevalent, sophisticated and accessible to the masses. Civil lawsuits are expensive....
MAKING ATTORNEY REFERRAL NETWORKS WORK FOR YOU
Believe it or not, lawyers have friends. Those of us who have been in the trenches for a long time have worked with other lawyers as collaborators, adversaries or strategic partners. Unlike many professional colleagues, we often see each other in action, in court, at...
AATD commonly misdiagnosed as chronic asthma
Antitrypsin Deficiency, known as AATD, is an inherited condition passed from parents to their children through their genes. The deficiency will result in serious lung disease in adults and, at times, can also cause lung disease in young adults. AATD is commonly...
Plaintiff’s Attorneys Unite! Illinois’ Top Court Calls for Amendment of Contribution Act
The Illinois Supreme Court has issued a call to action to the legislature regarding the fair and equitable apportionment of the damages between defendants in a personal injury lawsuit. On February 16, 2018, in Antonicelli v. Rodriguez, the court issued an...
Stranger Things: Plaintiffs Multi-Million Dollar Medical Malpractice Verdicts Survive Appeal
As I mentioned in my last blog, medical malpractice cases are steep uphill battles. Nearly 80% of trials end in a defense verdict despite medical error being the nation’s third leading cause of death. The appellate court is an equally unfriendly place for...
3 Things to Know about Birth Injury
The arrival of a baby should be a happy and joyous occasion, but sadly, birth injuries occur all too often around the country. A birth injury is a health problem that an infant is born with that, in most cases, is completely preventable. These injuries may...
How to Recognize Medical Malpractice
Medical error is the No. 3 leading cause of death in the U.S., according to a 2016 Johns Hopkins University Study. While cancer and heart disease gain a lot of media attention, medical malpractice claims are not as widely reported. Ozman Law believes is in...
A Primer for Potential Victims of Medical Negligence: How to Recognize Malpractice
Medical error is the No. 3 leading cause of death in the U.S. according to a 2016 Johns Hopkins University Study. What does this mean? It means the hue and cry claiming medical malpractice claims are spurious and the stuff of an overly litigious population...
Beating Grief with Gratitude: Finding Happiness After a Loss
“Happiness is not about what the world gives you, it’s about what you think about what the world gives you.” Google executive, Mo Gawdat, made this keen observation in a video about his equation for finding happiness in the face of tragedy. View video....
Medical Malpractice Attorneys Ignore Pleading Hospital’s Institutional Negligence at Their Peril
Medical malpractice cases are no picnic. Of course, they are most taxing for the injured patients and their loved ones. As advocates for them, plaintiff’s attorneys willingly bear the burden of putting on the most powerful, effective case for plaintiffs....
Embracing Technology as a Friend to the Physician-Patient Relationship
Technological advances are poised to work wonders in improving our health care system, decreasing medical mistakes and optimizing patient outcomes. However, there is a constant tension between marshaling our resources to serve this virtuous end and...
Ozmon Continues to Fight for Victims of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, known as A1AD or AATD, is a genetic disorder that is commonly misdiagnosed as chronic asthma or COPD. Its early detection and non-invasive treatment allows patients to lead a normal life. On the other hand, the failure to...
There is Honor in the Legal Profession, But That’s Not News
The narrative about lawyers in the past few decades has certainly not been a fairytale or the stuff of fictional heroes like Perry Mason or Atticus Finch. Many attorneys think we have the O.J. Simpson defense team to thank for the abysmal reputation of our...
Fighting for a Plaintiff’s Right to a Jury Trial
You may not have noticed it with all of the other bad news these days, but your right to a jury trial in a civil action is being eroded. Between the Federal Arbitration Act that allows the inclusion of arbitration agreements in a number of consumer contracts and the...
Medical Malpractice Defendants Game the System by Pointing the Finger at Victims
The National Center for Health Statistics reported in 2016 that medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the United States. This brings into full relief the reality of how many injured malpractice victims are never compensated. To compound the...
A Glimmer of Hope for Plaintiffs on Health Care Liens
Healthcare liens can trip up plaintiffs and their counsel as well as derail reasonable settlements. Since the Illinois legislature “clarified” the obligations of the parties in the Health Care Services Lien Act, 770 ILCS 23/1 et seq., injured victims have generally...
Sharing Safety Strategies for Shared Vehicles
Looking out over the newly unveiled Chicago Riverwalk the city has never looked more vibrant. It’s alive with boats of every size and shape sharing the waterways, and bikes, Segways and pedestrians sharing the roads, sidewalks and paths. The City of Big Shoulders has...
Can Civil Damages Right the Wrong of Police Misconduct?
This month our country was stunned by another jury verdict exonerating a police officer for criminal conduct in shooting an innocent black person. Police officer Jeronimo Yanez of St. Anthony Minnesota shot Philando Castile five times during a routine traffic stop in...
Product Recalls Plague Consumers
Product recalls are constantly in the news these days. Last month four car companies, Toyota, BMW, Subaru and Mazda, settled a class action covering nearly 16 million vehicles that plaintiffs claimed contained defective Takata airbags. The settlement didn’t even...
Supreme Court Narrows Injured Plaintiff’s Access to Sue Corporate Defendants
The Supreme Court is at it again, sacrificing the rights of plaintiffs for the benefit of the almighty corporation. In its latest turn of the knife, the nation’s highest court has limited the locations where injured personal injury victims may sue corporations. This...
Illinois Appellate Court Lets Stand Plaintiff’s More Than $1.7 Million Win in Medical Malpractice Case
It’s about time plaintiffs get a complete and unequivocal win at trial and on appeal in a medical malpractice case. In Gapinski v Gujrati the jury returned a verdict of $1.727 million for the plaintiff in a case alleging medical negligence against a physician...
The United Overbooking Debacle: How it Became A Success Story for Our Working Democracy
The incident with the United Airlines customer being dragged off an overbooked plane is firmly emblazoned in our minds by now. The viral video is unimpeachable evidence of the infliction of personal injury on a victim as the result of negligent and willful conduct by...
Renewed Cry for Tort Reform Will Hurt Victims and Not Stem Healthcare Costs
Congress is aiming to resurrect tort reform as part of its overhaul of the Affordable Care Act (ACA); and we can’t let them get away with it. See nytimes.com. Seemingly undeterred by President Trump’s failed attempts to wipe the ACA off of the books, the recent...
The Contorted Law of Governmental Tort Immunity in Illinois
When you hear on the news someone had a terrible motor vehicle accident due to a pothole in the road, drown on a Lake Michigan beach where there were no lifeguards, got hurt during a school activity or was the victim of excessive force at the hands of a police...
Illinois Appellate Court Curbs Defendant’s Appetite for Plaintiff’s Computer Data
Handing a win to plaintiffs and their lawyers, the Second District Appellate Court vacated an order compelling the plaintiff to allow forensic imagining of personal computers used by him. In Carlson v. Jerousek, 2016 IL App (2d) 151248, the plaintiff brought a...