Chicago Partners Timothy J. Young and Michael H. Carter were recently asked to assume the defense on a pending down-state Illinois multi-vehicle double wrongful death case that occurred in 2002 and had been in litigation since 2009. The case had been set for an April 27, 2020 trial date.
The insured driver was traveling late at night eastbound on Interstate 74 near Springfield when she violently collided with the rear of a large SUV, causing the SUV to roll over multiple times and come to rest in the median between east and west bound traffic. One of the three young male adults in the SUV was thrown out of the vehicle and died instantly. The driver survived. The front seat passenger made his way out of the SUV and apparently either began searching for the passenger who was thrown from the vehicle, or was attempting to cross the opposite lanes of the interstate, when he was struck by a westbound vehicle, resulting in his immediate death.
The insured female driver had a sordid past, had not slept for 36 hours due to a domestic issue with her partner, tested positive for traces of cocaine, and was held in jail for two years due to her inability to post bond. She was unable to provide any meaningful testimony other than that the last thing she saw were "red lights."
Police investigation suggested that the insured's vehicle was speeding and struck the SUV that was traveling at the speed limit of 65 mph. The defense accident reconstruction expert assessed that the insured was traveling 11 miles over the speed limit, but that the SUV was traveling at a mere 28 mph. That opinion was countered by the police investigation.
Prior to our involvement, the client settled with the estate of the passenger who died from the impact with the insured's vehicle. There was another settlement with the driver of the SUV who sustained minimal injuries. At the time that we took over the case, there was limited insurance money to resolve the second wrongful death and a myriad of arguments as to causation as well as contributory negligence.
While we only had the case less than 6 months, we were able to locate the insured (who had been "lost") to determine for our client how she would appear at trial and to prepare her for trial testimony, finalize the expert's opinions and present him for deposition, and begin deposing damage witnesses as to "grief and sorrow," a newer damage element of an Illinois wrongful death case. After doing so, we were ready for mediation, which did not resolve the case. However, after two weeks of post-mediation efforts and with adding just over 10% more of our client's money, along with getting the co-defendant who fatally struck the plaintiff to more than double what he had offered at mediation, the case resolved. The final resolution number for our client was well under the remaining amount on their two policies (primary and umbrella).
Originally published by Lewis Brisbois, on June 2020
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