Earlier this year, we spent some time discussing the haggling back and forth in the Illinois General Assembly about what to do about a provision in the Nursing Home Care Act that mandated increased staffing levels for skilled nursing personnel, but held off setting the threshold levels for a later date. Late this past spring, there was much hand-wringing from patients' rights advocates about what's generally been Read More
Chicago Trial Attorney: Personal Injury and Business Litigation: Nursing Home Abuse
Two nursing assistants were fired from an Oklahoma Nursing Home for abusing a 96-year old dementia patient. In the disturbing article found here, apparently relatives of the injured patient -- again who suffers from dementia -- placed a hidden video camera in their loved one's room after becoming suspicious that someone was stealing the resident's belongings. The camera caught footage that allegedly shows the two Read More
Chicago Trial Attorney: Personal Injury and Business Litigation: The Power of Subpoenas
The fact finding process in civil cases is known as "discovery" -- that is, where you can ask the other side to turn over any document or other piece of evidence/information in their possession that might have some bearing on your case (provided that you ask for it in fairly descriptive terms). Many litigants make the mistake of stopping their focus after obtaining discovery -- once they've gathered everything they Read More
Chicago Trial Attorney: Personal Injury and Business Litigation: Attorney-Client Privilege
Conversations and communications between you and your attorney are covered by what is known as the attorney-client privilege. Privilege attaches to such conversations and communications so that you and your lawyer can freely discuss your matters without being judged and without hesitation, amongst other reasons. To be entitled to the protection of the attorney-client privilege, a claimant must show that: (1) a Read More
Chicago Trial Attorney: Personal Injury and Business Litigation: Discovery Truths and Process
Parties to a lawsuit (usually with the assistance of their attorneys) are under a duty to answer everythingtruthfully, but that doesn't mean that it's always easy to get a "straight" answer out of someone. This is one of those areas that distinguishes attorneys -- recognizing the difference between a party giving an affirmative yes or no answer, and half-measures such as "I think" or "I believe that is correct." A Read More
Chicago Trial Attorney: Personal Injury and Business Litigation: Privacy and Your Medical Records
One of the most sensitive parts of filing a lawsuit after you've been the victim of an injury is the extent to which your private medical issues must come to light. It is unfortunate that you have to give complete strangers access to your most private records, and it is an unfortunate side effect of pursuing your rights. Steep barriers prevent most people from having access to your medical information -- even your Read More
Chicago Trial Attorney: Personal Injury and Business Litigation: Technology & Changing Trends in Discovery Process
One of the most important components of the litigation process leading up to trial is the discovery deposition. Deposition is a fancy legal word for a process by which a person sits down in front of a court reporter and gives testimony under oath that is transcribed by that court reporter. A deposition may end up being the only time that a person is allowed to tell their "story" in their own words while being asked Read More
Chicago Trial Attorney: Personal Injury and Business Litigation: The Importance of Completeness
The Importance of Completeness In every case, there is a "discovery process" where parties exchange information and begin to weed out the issues of a case. Many attorneys make the mistake, however, of assuming that just because materials (be they interrogatories (a fancy word for "questions" in writing), requests to produce documents, requests to admit facts, amongst others) have been sent to the opposing counsel, Read More
Chicago Trial Attorney: Personal Injury and Business Litigation: Trial Aspects of a Case
A case often develops and "takes on a life of its own" due to the strategies attempted to be employed by defense attorneys. Essentially, a trial strategy can often draw a striking contrast between the way an incident seemed at the time of its occurrence, and how things are actually presented at trial. A good trial attorney must keep the Judge and Jury focused on the truth at all times - and with the utmost Read More
Chicago Trial Attorney: Personal Injury and Business Litigation: Nursing Home Care Act-No Punitive Damages
In a 6-0 decision, late last week March 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in the case of Thomas Vincent v. Alden-Park Strathmoor, Inc. that punitive damages are not allowed under the Nursing Home Care Act in death cases. This is an unfortunate decision that seems to give nursing homes less incentive to care for the most vulnerable people in our society--the elderly who need care. While defense attorneys in the Read More
