Our client, Jason*, was riding as a passenger one morning on his way to work. He was a 19-year-old young man who worked long hours each day as a landscaper. On one particular morning as the driver of the car that Jason was in attempted to travel under a viaduct, Metra and a garbage dump company left a freight-train-size dumpster in the middle of the street. Unfortunately for our client, because the driver never saw the dumpster, he drove right into it, leaving our client a quadriplegic. When the police arrived they, too, almost drove into the dumpster. Apparently, because of the brightness of the sun, the shadow and darkness under the viaduct made the dumpster invisible. After we canvassed the neighborhood and spoke with the neighbors, we unearthed letters and statements sent to the city and to Metra that this dumpster was dangerous and needed to be removed as soon as possible, but those pleas were not heeded in time to avoid disaster. We assisted Jason's family with securing a funding source for his needed care while the case was pending. We were able to get his workers compensation benefits started and social security, as well. We assisted with Jason's caregivers and doctors throughout the case. Sadly, after 2 years suffering as a quadriplegic, Jason died. The family was understandably devastated. We accelerated the case to be tried one year earlier, but the insurance company for the defendants were able to have the case continued repeatedly despite the case having been marked final for trial. We were able to secure a settlement of $5.6 million. Once again the team approach seemed to put the needed pressure on the insurance company to maximize this incredible result for a low wage earner with only one dependant.

*Name changed to protect client's identity.