Prominent Verdicts & Settlements

Chicago-area mom, expecting her first child, was admitted to a suburban Chicago hospital. During labor, the doctor ordered Pitocin, which is a drug used to stimulate contractions in order to move the labor process along. Excessive amounts of Pitocin, administered contrary to the hospital’s own policies, were administered by the nurses. It was alleged that the doctor failed to monitor the amount of Pitocin given to the mother. The baby was born brain damaged and requires lifelong 24-hour care. Shortly after filing the lawsuit, the hospital and doctor offered $12 million to settle the case. This money will be used to take care of the child and give her as full a life as possible under the circumstances.

First-time mom was ecstatic to learn she was having twins. A routine ultrasound taken just prior to her due date showed that the twins were in fetal distress and emergency procedures needed to be undertaken. The radiologist misread the ultrasound noting it was normal. One of the infants was stillborn at birth and the other infant suffered profound brain damage until the time of his death at the age of 7. The hospital and doctor settled the case for $10 million.

A 46-year-old woman with a stomach ache goes to the emergency room. The doctor ordered Pepcid, which is a common drug prescribed to relieve minor stomach ailments. Instead, the nurse on duty gave the woman one of the three drugs previously used in Illinois for lethal injection. This drug, which is a paralytic agent, caused the woman to stop breathing. She went into cardiac arrest and although she was rescued by the emergency room doctor, she suffered brain damage.

An apprentice plumber fell through the floor of Trump Tower landing on the concrete below. He sustained injuries to his back, shoulder and ankle. He was able to return to work following the accident.

A 52-year old woman was injured in a car accident with a broken leg. She developed blood clots. The radiologist claimed he reported to the patient’s treating doctors that the blood clot was in danger of moving to her lungs, resulting in high risk of death. Doctors claim they never received the report. The parties settled after a jury was picked.

In 2012, Trapp & Geller settled a case against the general contractor and others in the amount of $3.5 million for negligence in allowing a support beam to fall and strike a laborer’s head. The laborer suffered herniated discs in the neck.

A truck driver was standing on a roadway waiting for assistance when his truck broke down. A passing truck struck him resulting in his death.

A 26-year-old woman, while waiting in the drive-through line at a fast food restaurant, was struck from behind injuring her shoulder. The injury developed into a rare nerve disorder called reflex sympathetic dystrophy or complex regional pain syndrome. She was unable to continue working as a result of her injuries. Jamie M. Trapp recovered $2.4 million at trial.

A 55-year old man, who was hospitalized due to complications arising from organ failure, had an intravenous line administered while in the intensive care unit. The intravenous line came out of the vein but the IV solution continued to infuse the medication into the surrounding tissue. As a result, the patient underwent several surgeries and lost much of the use of his arm.

A 55-year old bricklayer fell through a concealed hole in a roof of a car dealership suffering injuries to his elbow, shoulder and knee. Although he returned to work five months later, a Cook County jury awarded him $2,000,000.

An 18-year-old man, on his first day working as a laborer for a construction company, was struck by a train while cleaning debris from an overhead construction project on an interstate which stands over the railroad tracks. The railway complained to the construction company of the debris falling on the tracks and ordered the construction company to clean the debris on a daily basis. Despite the fact that the railroad knew there were workers in the vicinity, it issued no warnings to its conductors to slow down or to take precautions when approaching the vicinity. The case settled for $2 million.

A carpenter was injured during construction of a local hospital when a chain attached to a crane fell, striking a carpenter as he was cleaning his worksite. The man received a herniated disc to his neck and $2 million in settlement of his case.

A 47-year old man fell while working on a scaffold. He was unaware that the scaffold was defective in that it was not capable to support his weight. Other employees erected the scaffold. He suffered a close head injury with partial loss of taste and smell.

There were no eye witnesses to the fight, but Trapp & Geller were able to prove that venue was negligent in their failure to provide adequate security for the event.

$1,300,000 – WRONGFUL DEATH SETTLEMENT FOR CAR ACCIDENT

Client was an 80 year old grandmother who was driving from New Jersey to Illinois for her granddaughters graduation. The crash occurred in Indiana. Client’s vehicle was struck by a traveling nurse that worked in Illinois and Indiana for a large health provider. Client suffered a subdural hematoma and required brain surgery at Loyola Hospital but never recovered from her injuries and died in the hospital. Trapp & Geller were able to establish that Illinois applied to the case overcome the harsh effect of Indiana caps on personal injury cases.

$1,240,000 – SETTLEMENT FOR CONSTRUCTION WORK ROOFER INJURED BY FALLING DRYWALL

37 year old client was injured at a Power Construction jobsite when materials fell of a Laddervator Hoist. The client suffered a fractured vertebrae in his neck and a fractured ankle and required surgery. Trapp & Geller filed a lawsuit against Power Construction and against the manufacturer of the hoist and the company that rented the hoist. After numerous depositions and tireless investigations, the case was mediated and settled for a total amount of $1,240,000 and a waiver of the worker’s compensation lien. The client was back to work 6 months after the accident.

25 year old driver in vehicle suffered head injury and 22 year old passenger in vehicle suffered lumber herniated disc and required fusion surgery. Clients had previous attorney that recommended a significantly lower amount to settle case, and then Trapp & Geller took over and secured a 7 figure settlement for clients and their family.

A family of a youth killed by a train filed suit against the railroad for failing to take precautions when the railroad knew the children frequently played on the tracks in the area. In fact, the railroad tracks were adjacent to a park where a big hole had been cut into a fence which the children would use to cut across the railroad tracks. On the day of the occurrence, other trains had warned the dispatcher of the presence of youngsters in the vicinity of the railroad tracks. The dispatcher failed to alert the trains and two children were killed. Jamie M. Trapp represented the estate of one of the children and received $1.2 million.

$1,122,487 –VERDICT FOR ROTATOR CUFF INJURY

Jeremy Geller received this verdict on behalf of his 54 year old client who was injured when another driver crossed over the center line and struck the client head on. Client had shoulder pain but waited 12 days to seek any medical treatment. Client ultimately was diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum and had arthroscopic surgery. Client had $72,000.00 in medical bills. Jeremy made a “Bad Faith Demand” to the insurance company to tender their policy limits, which were only $20,000.00, but the insurance company failed to make an offer. Jeremy filed a lawsuit and prosecuted the case all the way to verdict. At trial, the defendant’s lawyer recommended a verdict of $5,000.00, but the jury found in the client’s favor for a tremendous verdict of $1,122,487.48. This verdict was on the front page of the Cook County Law Bulletin for the extraordinary result.

Suit was filed against masonry company and general contractor and case settled for $1,100,000 a month before trial.

A school bus driver, with an impeccable safety record, was injured when a boom of a crane on the back of a truck swung, striking the front of the bus and causing head and brain injuries to the bus driver. This case settled at trial for $1 million.

A Metra carman was pulling a heavy tarp at work and the tarp snagged on a bent and dangerous piece of railroad track which caused the worker to suffer a herniated disc and annular tear in the L5-S1 disc in his lower back. The worker required a disc replacement surgery but was returned back to work. Metra and its supervisors denied any wrongdoing and denied that the worker’s injuries were related to the incident and made no offers to settle the case. Jeremy Geller from Trapp & Geller prepared the case for trial and four days before trial was set to begin, Metra offered $1 million to settle the case.

Trapp & Geller successfully represented a man who was tackled as he attempted to leave a big box hardware store in Chicago, Illinois. An employee of the hardware store, a security trainee, suspected that the man had stolen a fuse. Upon leaving the hardware store, the man was tackled by the security guard. During the attempted apprehension, the man suffered a torn rotator cuff. Police were later summoned to the hardware store and found a used fuse in the man’s pocket, which the man was using to compare with fuses in the store. The security guard trainee assumed that the man was stealing a fuse, when in fact he was putting the used fuse back into his pocket. This case settled for a confidential amount.

76-year old patient suffering from manic depression was prescribed lithium by her physicians. They failed to monitor her lithium levels, which was required. She suffered lithium toxicity which occurred due to a doctor prescribing other drugs.

Chicago police captain presented to hospital where he admitted due to low back pain. He was unable to urinate and complained to the nurses who advised the doctor. He suffered a compression of his spinal cord resulting in a $1,000,000 settlement.

A janitor working for the city of Chicago was injured when a Chicago police officer operating her patrol car in the wrong direction on a busy Chicago street collided head on with the janitor’s vehicle resulting in a herniated disc. The city of Chicago refused to make an offer on the case. A jury found in favor of the janitor in the amount of $980,000.

While at derailment site he fell 3 feet onto a metal rod and was impaled. 27 year old client suffered serious internal injuries but returned to work with no restrictions within a year.

Client was a mason and was doing stone work at a new construction site. Trapp & Geller were able to prove that the ground that ladder was on was uneven and unsafe and that General Contractor on site was responsible for safety and should have provided flat surface to work upon. Client suffered a neck injury and required a cervical fusion surgery.

A woman on her way to church tripped over a parking barrier, which had been pushed onto the sidewalk by vehicles using a nearby parking lot. The parking lot had been cited on previous occasions for obstructing traffic on the sidewalk. Despite the fact that the property owner had received numerous complaints, warnings and citations regarding these parking barriers, nothing was done to prevent the parking barriers from being moved. The woman suffered injuries to both shoulders and her neck. Just before trial, the woman received $800,000.

A young mother was shopping for her child at a Chicago-area toy store where youngsters, in the adjacent aisle, were shooting baskets when an errant shot attempt struck her in the head causing a herniated disc. This case settled for $750,000.

A woman suffered burns to her shoulders when a pressure cooker she was using to can beans exploded resulting in burns to her shoulders.

Client required arthroscopic surgery for biceps tenodesis and torn rotator cuff. Insurance company made multiple offers before trial, but offers were rejected and Trapp & Geller got more than double the final offer.

Client suffered neck injury and required a laminectomy but returned to work 2 months later. Case settled at mediation without any depositions.

Client suffered a torn meniscus and fractured patella and required surgery.

A civil engineer riding his bicycle to work was “clotheslined” by a rope in a shopping mall which was not flagged or otherwise marked. The bicyclist did not see the rope, which had been placed by mall employees so that they would have choice parking spots at the mall. The engineer suffered a herniated disc to his neck. He recovered $525,000.

A 44-year-old woman was on her way to go shopping with her sister in December when she slipped on black ice on her sister’s driveway. The woman suffered a fracture to her tibia and fibula and required surgery for her injuries. Although it had snowed and rained for days before the fall, Jeremy Geller from Trapp & Geller was able to demonstrate that the ice was an “unnatural accumulation” which developed as a result of a faulty downspout on the house property. The insurance company tendered their policy limits to settle the case for $500,000.

A Chicago fireman responding to a fire in the Chicago area was seriously injured as he was climbing the rear porch of a multi-unit building when it collapsed, fracturing his ankle. The fireman was a captain for the Chicago Fire Department. The fireman recovered $500,000 for his injuries.

A neighborhood Fourth of July party ended badly when various adults at the party lit dangerous fireworks. One of the fireworks exploded and injured an 8-year old girl 100 feet away. The child received $500,000 for her injuries.

While shopping at a local big box retailer, a 26-year-old man suffered serious injuries to his back when part of a display fell on to him, which required back surgery. Investigation of the case showed that the display was set up contrary to the manufacturer’s recommendations. The client received $475,000.

Client slipped off ladder and fell 20 feet and suffered concussion. There was no treatment or complaints for 8 months and then no treatment for an additional 16 months, and then client had neck fusion surgery. Trapp & Geller defeated numerous motions to dismiss the case, and the case settled a month before trial.

Client had previous problems with her neck and was already seeing a chiropractor for neck problems, but accident made her neck worse and Trapp & Geller were able to prove that client’s surgery was caused by the car accident.

Nursing home initially denied liability, but Trapp & Geller filed suit to ensure recovery for the Estate.

$450,000 – 88 YEAR OLD NURSING HOME RESIDENT CHOKED & DIED ON FOOD

The nursing home staff failed to properly cut up the food and failed to provide client with a proper liquid diet.

Landlord’s insurance never made offer and Trapp & Geller secured significant verdict for client and her family.

Trapp & Geller filed suit immediately to secure video that showed the accident and proved that CTA Bus driver was negligent. Client suffered a torn rotator cuff and had surgery.

A 54-year-old woman stepped into a concealed hole in front of defendant’s medical center and injuring her knee, which required surgery. The offer at trial was $8,000. A jury awarded $350,000.

Client suffered shoulder injury and had surgery. Defendants insurance company never offered a penny to settle and proceeded to trial. After a 1 week trial, Trapp & Geller secured a verdict in excess of $100,000 insurance policy limits. After trial, State Farm paid the entire verdict.

Client had a great recovery and was released from treatment within 6 months. Case settled without filing a lawsuit.

Drunk driver made a turn and was struck by an oncoming semi-truck. Trapp & Geller were able to prove that semi was driving too fast for conditions and secured recovery from commercial insurance policy.

Client did not receive treatment for 18 months and then had surgery. Trapp & Geller were able to prove that the injury and surgery for an ulnar neuropathy were related to the accident to secure settlement.

A part-time employee of a vending machine company was filling the candy machine at a rest area. An employee working at the rest area allegedly became insane for no reason and beat the 62-year old, 5’4″, 150-pound man into unconsciousness. Although the toll-way employee was found criminally insane at the time of the hearing, there were sufficient warnings to his employer that the toll-way employee was delusional and violent. The case settled for $230,000.