For many experts and many of us living in hard-hit tornado states, the high number of storms and growing death toll hold familiar echoes to last year—the fourth deadliest year in the U.S. for tornadoes in recorded history, according to National Weather Service statistics.

The memory of this year’s deadly Harrisburg tornado isn’t far off for most of us in Illinois. That storm killed six, destroyed more than 300 homes and dozens of businesses. In the wake of all the worry and focus on this year’s storms, it’s only natural for people to think about protecting themselves, their families and their property as much as possible. We’ve talked before about preparing yourself for high winds—making sure your family and property are secure. But recently we’ve seen a press release by an online insurance company making the rounds on a few business and finance websites. We’ve also been watching articles in the Insurance Journal, a news source for the property/casualty (or P/C) insurance industry—which is the category that virtually all home and auto insurance policies fall into.

And in all this, we’ve noticed a few trends. First, drivers may not know how to tell if their vehicle insurance policies will cover them, their autos, their passengers or others if they are in an accident that also involves high winds or tornado conditions. As the insurance press release points out, the only policies that cover high wind or tornado damages are policies that include “comprehensive” coverage—which is often more expensive than more limited, liability-based policies. In many states (including Illinois), drivers are only required to have liability insurance, which deals with a more limited kind of damage coverage. Drivers can check with their insurance company for details about their policy, and they can also check out Illinois regulations through the Illinois Department of Insurance.

We’ve also noticed that coverage for your home and other property might become much more expensive, even if you don’t live in a tornado-prone area. After the active 2011 season, many insurance companies reported lower earnings because of payouts to insured homeowners, businesses and other customers. Other experts think that insurance payouts this year may already top $1 billion from tornadoes that occurred in February and March. With insurance costs likely to rise, some insureds may be tempted to cut back on the kind of insurance they choose for their homes or vehicles.

Before you make a decision to scale back your coverage, you should find out from your insurance company (and, in some cases, your auto lender) what reducing your coverage in the middle of an active tornado year might mean for you later on. If you are worried about your rates (and whether they reflect a fair amount for the coverage you’ll receive) you can look up your insurance company’s rating with the Better Business Bureau as well as getting more information about several types of insurance from the Illinois Department of Insurance (where you can also file complaints). Drivers can also check out some tips about auto insurance from the Better Business Bureau.

Contact Our Chicago Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Accident Lawyers Today

If you’ve been in a car crash because of another driver who is not sufficiently covered by insurance, turn to the Chicago law firm with a record of success and a team of skilled lawyers who knows how to get results.

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C., has recovered more than $620 million on behalf of clients across Illinois in personal injury and wrongful death cases, including 175 multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements. We have the experience you need for your UM/UIM claim.

We offer free, no-obligation evaluations. You will not pay for our legal services unless we obtain compensation for you and your family. To speak with our Chicago uninsured/underinsured motorist lawyers, call us today toll free at 877-899-3747 or use our online form.

H.R. 5 is dishonestly called “Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Heathcare Act.” The acronym is HEALTH Act. The only health this law is promoting is the health of insurance companies’ wallet size. Quite literally, the only effect of this bill is to reduce the amount that a jury determines to be fair compensation for a victim of negligence in a medical malpractice case.

Imagine this: your loved one has a medical malpractice case. After your very hard-working lawyer has worked on your case for several years, puts on evidence for 3 weeks of a trial and spends over $100,000 of his own money in trying to win your case, the jury finds the defendant hospital guilty of negligence. The fact finder determines that your loved one has been injured by the negligence of the hospital. Because the injury involves a tremendous amount of life-long pain and disability, the jury awards $3,000,000 in “non-economic damages.” Non-economic damages aren’t the dollars awarded for past medical expenses (money already paid to health care providers) or future medical expenses (money that will be paid to health care providers). Rather, non-economic damages are for the most important losses. The human loss. Not being able to walk. Not being able to talk. Living with chronic pain.

After all this, the Judge then informs you that because there was a bill passed called the “HEALTH Act,” she has to reduce your non-economic damages award to $250,000. Apparently, Congress knows better than a jury made of members of the community who have heard the evidence. Congress wants to make medical malpractice one size fits all – and the size is the one the insurance companies want. Not patients.

There is very little evidence that caps on damages lower malpractice insurance premiums for hospitals and doctors. In fact, the congressional budget office has done studies that indicate litigation makes up less than 1% of all health care costs. In other words, if we did away with medical malpractice cases altogether, people would save less than one percent. Arguments that jury awards are out of control are not based in fact, but rather, are based entirely on large awards seen in the media that can be characterized as nothing but outliers. The fact is, even in Cook County, Illinois, considered a place to be plaintiff- friendly for malpractice plaintiffs, has a plaintiff win-rate of around 20-30% over the last decade in medical malpractice cases. This is because the strong plaintiff’s cases mostly settle. And for every “runaway jury” that awarded a large amount, there is a jury that let negligent health care professionals off the hook. No one ever hears about the latter.

This law does one thing: helps insurance companies, protects negligent doctors and hospitals, and puts salt in the wounds of victims of negligence. Remember, this proposed cap on damages only comes into play when the plaintiff wins. So, after the jury finds for the plaintiff and provides a damages amount, this law requires that the negligent party pay less than what the jury determined to be fair amount based on the evidence. And, the victim receives less than what the jury has determined to be fair compensation. This law protects the negligent party and punishes the victim. How does that make any sense?

In 2010 and 2011, the Department of Justice recovered over $3 billion dollars through cases filed under the False Claims Act, and, it does not appear that False Claims Act cases will be slowing down in 2012.  Just this week the Chicago Tribune reported about a federal criminal investigation into how the Community and Economic Development Association (CEDA) of Cook County has fraudulently spent government money and performed dangerous and substandard work. 

From 2007 to 2009, CEDA received more than $500 million from taxpayers with $91 million coming from stimulus funds.  CEDA was to weatherize low-income homes.  However, what government audits and the Tribune report uncovered was quite different. 

An audit by the Department of Energy revealed that the Illinois weatherization program was in peril because of “substandard performance in weatherization workmanship, initial home assessments, and contractor billing.”  There were numerous examples of poor work and wasteful spending.  For example, an assessor ordered attic insulation even though sizeable leaks in the roof would have rendered such an improvement ineffective.  Moreover, several CEDA contractors have been sued in state and federal for shoddy work, defaulting on loans, and refusing to pay employees and subcontractors. 

CEDA has relieved or suspended some higher ups while the DOJ investigation continues. 

Whistleblowers help shine a light on potential government fraud.  If you think you know of such a matter, please give us a call at 312-372-1227. 

About Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. is a leading Illinois personal injury law firm with offices in Chicago and Waukegan. In addition to representing clients in catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, aviation and product liability cases, the firm focuses on car and truck accidents, airplane and train accidents, construction injuries, birth injuries, brain injuries, unsafe properties and animal attacks. The firm has obtained more than $620 million on behalf of its clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases, including 175 multi-million dollar verdicts or settlements. For more information, call (312) 372-1227 or use the firm’s online contact form.

Ms. Heffernan received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and Child Development from Arizona State University and earned her Juris Doctor along with a Masters of Law in Taxation from The John Marshall Law School.

About Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard is a leading personal injury law firm in Illinois representing clients in catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death cases.  The firm has obtained more than $620 million on behalf of its clients including 175 multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements.  For more information, visit http://www.salvilaw.com/or contact Christina Solomon at csolomon@salvilaw.com.

The Illinois Statute regarding gift certificates (815 ILCS 505/2SS) defines a “gift certificate” as most items that we would think of as a gift card/certificate, including a store issued gift card.  However, this definition does not include: prepaid internet disks, prepaid calling cards and, most importantly, does not include bank-issued gift cards or pre-paid debit cards.  

With the growing popularity of bank-issued gift cards or pre-paid debit cards, it is important to know that these two types of cards that you received over the holidays are not covered under the Illinois law.  

It is also important to know that the Illinois statute applies to any gift card or gift certificate that was issued on or after January 1, 2008.

The Illinois statue provides two major protections:

1. No expiration date earlier than 5 years after the date of issuance.  Meaning, any store-issued gift card issued on or after January 1, 2008 may only expire five years or more after the date is was issued.
2. No post-sale fee.  Meaning, the recipient of the gift card cannot be penalized for not using the gift card (inactivity fees) if the card was issued on or after January 1, 2008.

However, this Illinois law does not provide that a customer can get cash back for small amounts left on the card.  

The Federal law has similar protections under The Credit Card Act which was passed by Congress in 2009.  The Act, which deals with protecting credit card holders, also protects holders of gift cards. 

The Credit Card Act of 2009 is very similar to the provisions of the Illinois Law in which it also enforces the inability of a gift card to expire prior to 5 years of issuance.  A slight difference from the Illinois law is that post-sale fees are allowed after one year of inactivity only if the fees are clearly displayed on the card’s packaging.  

The main difference between the Illinois law and the Federal law is that The Credit Card Act goes one step further and protects bank-issued gift cards (but not prepaid debit cards which are not intended for gifting).  

With this important information, you can now use your gift cards with confidence and with a new found appreciation for the legislative process.  As always, you should always read the fine print carefully.  However, no matter what the fine print says, you have these basic protections provided under the Illinois statute 815 ILCS 505/2SS and The Credit Card Act.

About Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard is a leading Illinois personal injury law firm with offices in Chicago and Waukegan. The firm’s personal injury attorneys focus on car and truck accidents, as well as medical malpractice, airplane and train accidents, construction injuries, birth injuries, brain injuries, unsafe products and animal attacks.  The firm has obtained more than $585 million on behalf of its clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases, including 160 multi-million dollar verdicts or settlements.

For more information, call (312) 372-1227 or use the firm’s online contact form.

Without question, 2011 was a good year for employees that “blew the whistle” on companies who knowingly violated the law, abused authority, wasted funds, or posed a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.

According to Reuters today, whistleblowers earned more than $532 million through lawsuits alleging fraud against the U.S. government, a record for such payouts. Private parties suing on the behalf of the government collected $140 million more than they did the previous year, even as the Justice Department’s total civil fraud sanctions remained consistent.

There are many different whistleblower laws that protect different employees in different situations.  Some federal laws include: The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, The Civil Rights Act, The Clean Air Act, The Fair Labor Standards Act, The False Claims Act, The Labor Management Relations Act and The Sarbanes Oxley Act.  Many more statutes provide specific protections to specific groups of employees.  For more information, visit http://www.whistleblowers.gov.

The law does provide for whistleblowers to earn up to 30 percent of any recovery and in recent years such tipsters – referred to as “relators” in False Claims parlance – have helped bring an increasing number of the government’s cases.  The 2011 numbers – based on the government’s fiscal year from October through September – are helped by one of the largest payouts ever, to a former GlaxoSmithKline Plc employee.  In October 2010, a GSK quality manager won $96 million for exposing manufacturing defects at a plant in Puerto Rico. The company paid $750 million to settle the charges.

Whistleblowers are protected by law against a broad range of retaliatory actions, including demotion, termination, denial of benefits, failure to hire, failure to promote, intimidation, reassignment, and any other discriminatory action that would negatively impact the terms and conditions of the whistleblower’s employment or would dissuade a reasonable person from engaging in further protected conduct.

At Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, we realize that whistleblowers are usually ordinary people, often longstanding employees and experts in their field, who take huge professional and personal risks to blow the whistle on corporate and governmental wrongdoing. They are often a lesser-known but vitally important part of government and industry regulatory and advisory systems. They are generally harassed, vilified, and fired or forced to resign.

We urge you to be bold and report improprieties against public officials and organizations to the appropriate authorities for investigations, and to call us at 312-372-1227 for immediate help in protecting your legal rights.

Salvi, an experienced litigator of reckless driving cases, was among several individuals interviewed by ABC 7 Chicago about the proposal, which would make it illegal to eat, drink, apply makeup and talk on the phone while driving in Oak Park.

Salvi told the news station that he supports a properly drawn eating-while-driving ban.
“I don’t think that it would be contemplated that, let’s say someone is on a three-hour drive, that it would be a violation of the law if they got hungry and wanted to take a bite out of an energy bar,” Salvi told the reporter.

The ABC 7 Chicago story referred to a Lake Zurich woman who died in 2009 when she was struck on her motorcycle by a driver who was painting her fingernails. The dead woman’s son, Greg Zaffke, leads a group pushing for tougher measures to stop distracted driving, the story said.

According to the report, federal studies suggest that eating and drinking while driving may cause more car accidents than drunk driving, cell phone use or texting while driving.

Salvi said in a separate interview that distracted driving of all types represents a serious hazard on Cook County and Lake County-area roads.

“Cell phones and texting come to mind immediately, but distracted driving includes anything that takes a driver’s eyes off of the road, their hands off the wheel or their mind off of what they are doing,” Salvi said. “Eating, applying makeup, fiddling with an iPod, anything but conscientiously operating the motor vehicle represents a risk for causing a crash and serious personal injury or death.

“At our law firm, we support thoroughly considered ordinances that address this problem and provide strict penalties for violations,” Salvi continued. “Banning cell phone use and texting while driving is a logical first step, and a ban on eating behind the wheel should be studied.”

Oak Park leaders said they expect the Chicago suburb’s proposed ordinance to come to a vote in January, ABC 7 said. If adopted, it would be the first of its kind in Illinois and the U.S.

Salvi, an adjunct law professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School and a former president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, founded Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard in Waukegan in 1982. He and his team of 10 attorneys have won more than 175 multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements on behalf of clients in personal injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuits.

Salvi said anyone, including pedestrians, injured in a collision involving a car or truck, or the loved ones of anyone killed in such an incident, should protect their right to recover compensation for their losses by consulting with an experienced personal injury attorney.

“If a driver harms another person because they were not paying attention to what they were doing, that is not an accident,” Salvi said. “Distracted driving is negligence, and those who destroy others’ lives, property and well-being through their negligence should be held accountable.”

About Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C. is a leading Illinois personal injury law firm with offices in Chicago and Waukegan. In addition to representing clients in catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, aviation and product liability cases, the firm focuses on car and truck accidents, airplane and train accidents, construction injuries, birth injuries, brain injuries, unsafe properties and animal attacks. The firm has obtained more than $620 million on behalf of its clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases, including 175 multi-million dollar verdicts or settlements. For more information, call (312) 372-1227 or use the firm’s online contact form.

According to a press release from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), the National Work Zone Memorial Wall is intended to recognize the lives lost and remind travelers of the importance of paying attention while driving in road construction zones.

Illinois personal injury attorney Patrick A. Salvi called the memorial wall a “touching reminder” that underscores the need for people to be watchful in work zones.

“Speeding and driver inattention are the leading causes of work zone accidents, and both of those behaviors are entirely preventable,” said Salvi, who handles injury and wrongful death lawsuits that arise from Illinois car accidents, including work-zone collisions, in Chicago, Cook County and Lake County.

“Perhaps the memorial wall will make people pause for a moment to consider how their own driving behaviors put others at risk,” said Salvi, the managing equity partner of the Illinois accident and injury law firm of Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, P.C.

IDOT statistics show that there are more than 7,000 crashes in Illinois work zones each year. In 2010, 32 people died in work zones, the highest number of deaths on record since 2006. The majority of those killed were the drivers or passengers of the vehicles. However, three workers and one pedestrian also died.

Road construction zones can be particularly dangerous to motorists and workers because signs, heavy equipment and a backlog of traffic can obstruct views, putting road crews and vehicle occupants in harm’s way, Salvi said. Changing road or weather conditions are other contributing factors.

Salvi said that Illinois has made great strides in its effort to increase awareness about highway safety in recent years.

“IDOT should be praised for its concerted commitment to improving safety conditions and saving lives,” the Chicago lawyer said. “Their ‘See Orange, Slow Down, Save Lives’ campaign is an important reminder that road safety is everybody’s responsibility.”

IDOT’s “See Orange” campaign began last year after Illinois lawmakers passed two new distracted driving laws in the state, one making it illegal for drivers to text or surf the Internet while driving and another prohibiting the use of cell phones in highway work zones.

“As an attorney, it’s encouraging to see our Illinois legislators taking the issue of distracted driving seriously,” said Salvi. “Stronger laws mean stronger penalties for the people who behave irresponsibly on the roads. It also means that attorneys will make even stronger cases for their injured clients in court.”

Personal injury lawsuits that arise from work zone accidents may help Illinois victims recover compensation to cover their medical bills, rehabilitation, lost current and future wages and other damages such as pain and suffering.

“Obviously that money will never replace someone who is killed or heal someone who is suffering from life-changing injuries following a work zone crash, but it can help them use the justice system to help rebuild their lives,” Salvi said.

For now, fatalities on Illinois highways appear to be declining. The IDOT news release said that in 2009 and 2010, less than 1,000 people died on state roadways – a historic low dating back to 1921.

Salvi noted that it remains to be seen how motorists will fare in 2011. As of Aug. 23, 563 people have already been killed in Illinois car accidents, IDOT reports.

Chicago Accident Lawyers

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard is a leading Illinois car accident law firm with offices in Chicago and Waukegan. The firm’s vehicle accident attorneys focus on car and truck accidents, as well as medical malpractice, airplane and train accidents, construction injuries, birth injuries, brain injuries, unsafe properties and animal attacks.  The firm has obtained more than $585 million on behalf of its clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases, including 160 multi-million dollar verdicts or settlements.

For more information, call (312) 372-1227 or use the firm’s online contact form.

When I hear comments criticizing a jury, I wonder to myself: “how much of the trial did the critic actually watch?” If it is anything less than 100%, the critic must readily admit that he or she is not in any position to criticize the jury, who sat through and heard all the evidence. Additionally, in a case that potentially involved the death penalty, it is a lot easier to disregard important, fundamental law – such as the prosecution having to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt – when one is sitting on the sidelines as opposed to being in the jury deliberations room faced with such an important decision.

Be that as it may, the Casey Anthony fallout reminded me a great deal of how individuals react to media headlines that arise out of the civil justice system. People hear of the occasional big verdict and often jump to conclusions without knowing anything about the evidence. Furthermore, media figures know that by playing on the heart strings of the American public, they can get better ratings, sell more newspapers, and attract more sponsors. That a jury verdict is “outrageous” sells better than a jury verdict was “fair” or “just.” The perfect example was Corporate America’s masterful spin on the McDonalds hot coffee case. Before I briefly describe the case in a light most people have never heard, I urge people to watch the HBO documentary “Hot Coffee” for a wonderful inside look at tort reform through this case and others.

The verdict rendered in the McDonald’s case was initially an attempt by a jury to do the right thing under the circumstances. After hearing all of the evidence, the jury rendered a verdict of approximately $160,000 in “compensatory damages,” which was the total that represented the amount of harm to the Plaintiff. Additionally, the jury awarded $2.7 million in “punitive damages,” which was the amount meant to punish the Defendant, McDonald’s, in an effort to change its behavior. In the documentary, pictures of the Plaintiff’s burns are seen. Her inner things were scalded with 3rd degree burns requiring skin grafts where the doctors took skin from the outside of her thigh to put on the inside of her thigh near her groin area. Anyone who has ever suffered a minor burn can only imagine the pain of the burns seen in the pictures.

Further, the jury reduced the award by 20%, because they found the Plaintiff to be partially at fault. Finally, a store manual revealed that the coffee at McDonald’s was to be brewed at 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a temperature at which skin will be burned very deeply if exposed to the liquid for more than a few moments. There had been hundreds of complaints regarding the temperature of McDonald’s coffee prior to this case. So, because McDonald’s is such a mega-corporation, the jury determined that an appropriate amount for punishment was an amount equal to McDonald’s revenue for two days of coffee sales. The Judge later reduced the punitive portion of the award to $480,000, and the Plaintiff settled with McDonald’s for an undisclosed amount while the case was on appeal.

Whether it be civil or criminal trials, we should hesitate in jumping to conclusions based on newspaper headlines or commentary by TV show talking heads. Behind the headlines, there is evidence. The jury hears all of the evidence. They deserve at least some deference. 

About Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard is a leading Illinois personal injury law firm with offices in Chicago and Waukegan. In addition to representing clients in medical malpractice cases, the firm’s personal injury lawyers focus on car and truck accidents, airplane and train accidents, construction injuries, birth injuries, brain injuries, unsafe properties and animal attacks. The firm has obtained more than $585 million on behalf of its clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases, including 160 multi-million dollar verdicts or settlements.

For more information, call (312) 372-1227 or use the firm’s online contact form.

While the Yahoo article did not give specific reasons for this negative trend, legal experts have recently contended the decline is due to the fact that most law firms have simply downsized during the recession—become more frugal in their hiring practices as they lose clients.

Thankfully, Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard has been the exception to this trend.  Over the last few years the firm has actually grown—due to the incredible trust placed in us by those we represent—adding thousands of square feet of new office space and hiring five new, talented associates.

We are very proud of their contributions and their bright legal futures (Sarah Ferrill, Aaron Boeder, and Colin Jones).

About Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard is a leading Illinois personal injury law firm with offices in Chicago and Waukegan. The firm’s personal injury attorneys focus on car and truck accidents, as well as medical malpractice, airplane and train accidents, construction injuries, birth injuries, brain injuries, unsafe products and animal attacks.  The firm has obtained more than $585 million on behalf of its clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases, including 160 multi-million dollar verdicts or settlements.

For more information, call (312) 372-1227 or use the firm’s online contact form.