The Third Dist. IL Appellate court decision, Armstead v. National Freight, Inc.(2020 IL App (3d) 170777), may have significant ramifications for Workers' Compensation (WC)practitioners (and Pro Se claimants) because the court held that plaintiff’s personal injury (3rd party) claim was barred by collateral estoppel based on the description of the injuries in the Pennsylvania WC settlement contract. Here, the plaintiff agreed that his injury was a “right knee strain” and did not list all other claimed injuries that he may claim in the Personal Injury case. To my ...

Sexual violence is the most violent crime a person can survive. The key word here – is survive. These acts of violence are terrifyingly present in our society. One out of five women and one out of ten men will experience rape or attempted rape in their lives.1 Rates of sexual violence are even higher among lesbian women, gay men, and bisexual women.2 Despite these immense numbers, survivors who take the daunting but brave step to come forward and hold their perpetrator accountable, often face a criminal system that fails them.  

Less than half a ...

Romanucci & Blandin is proud to share the firm was ranked among the top ten law firms in the state of Illinois, settling cases totaling $38,850,000 between July 2019 and June 2020. The news was published in Chicago Lawyer Magazine’s 2020 Settlement Report which shares the results from the Jury Verdict Reporter’s annual analysis.

This year’s report features 118 firms with settlements of $500,000 or more between July 2019 and June 2020. According to Chicago Lawyer, thanks to COVID-19 closing the courts – the number of settlements in the 2020 Jury Verdict Reporter Settlement ...

So much has changed since March 2020 – the world around us, our neighborhoods, gathering spaces, our jobs, our schools, and homes. Life in the midst of COVID-19 has sparked fear, frustration, and anxiety, as well as an onslaught of litigation.

One notable area litigation related to the COVID-19 pandemic is disputes about whether commercial insurance policies cover business interruption losses.  Businesses across the country have sued their insurance companies arguing that their insurance policies should cover losses incurred as a result of the presence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 ...

You have suffered an unjustified wrong and after doing some research you find: “I’m not the only one.” Immediately, the phrase “class action” comes to mind. But that is not the only legal path to justice, and in some cases a class action does not make sense, a mass tort does, instead. So what is a class action and why do some cases get filed as class actions while others do not?

A class action is a type of lawsuit where one person or group of people (the class representative(s)) represent the rights of others (the class members) who were victims of a similar wrong and suffered similar ...

More than 250,000 people die every year in the United States due to medical mistakes, according to a recent study by Johns Hopkins, making those mistakes the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer. For patients who are victims of a medical mistake, there are strict time limits in each state in which a lawsuit must be filed. These are known as statutes of limitation and statutes of repose. If a lawsuit is not filed within these time limits, the lawsuit can be dismissed, even if it is an otherwise valid claim. The specific statute of limitations, in any case, will depend on ...

With everyone staying closer to home this summer, it’s important to be aware of the dangers on playgrounds and in other common places that could cause injuries to children.  Stay safe this summer by following our proposed safety guidelines below:

Adult Supervision

• Adult Supervision is a MUST. Young children are not always able to measure distances and have difficulty foreseeing dangerous situations.
• Playground Design Safety: The most important factors in evaluating the safety of any playground are proper surface, design and spacing, and equipment inspection and maintenance.

The team at Romanucci & Blandin, like all of our law firm peers, has been navigating this incredible time by adapting to work from home, continuing to advocate for our clients and keep our staff connected.

With the Governor of Illinois now moving us into the next stage of recovery, we are all trying to plan for the re-opening of our offices while keeping people distanced and healthy yet productive.  At R&B, we have created a Return to Office model that we feel accomplishes all of those goals by using a staff rotation, allowing some team members to continue to work fully remote and installing ...

The economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic is cratering the restaurant and retail sectors, where the necessary government shutdown for non-essential businesses has quickly crippled thousands of companies. Unlike many other businesses that have a robust online component, restaurants, of course, are an in-person experience and are all about sharing: sharing a physical space, being served by a wait staff that handles your plates and beverages, and eating food prepared by other people. The social distancing guidelines have made all of that impossible, and even those ...

In these unprecedented times, many people are struggling with both the loneliness of the stay-at-home order as well as with the fear of an uncertain world and an unknown health threat.  In these challenging days, many wellness experts or other gurus offer their views on how to get through dark times. However, the some truly inspiring perspective comes from someone who has known even greater isolation and fear - during more than twenty years in solitary confinement in prison.

Anthony Gay was released in 2018 after more than two decades in a cell the size of a parking spot with nearly complete ...