I have proudly recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for my clients and their families. A summary of some of the results I have obtained on behalf of my clients in their important cases, both large and small, is provided for your consideration:

Confidential. Kane County, Illinois. Strict Products Liability, negligence, breach of warranty. A settlement was reached on behalf of a paralyzed woman who suffered serious injuries when her handicapped-equipped van's automatic wheelchair lift suddenly failed, allowing her wheelchair to fall from the lift onto the ground below. The woman suffered a broken leg, along with other injuries. The lawsuit filed by attorney, John J. Malm, alleged that the lift had a design defect that allowed the lift to be operated without its safety gate in place.

Confidential. Cook County, Illinois. Strict Products Liability. A settlement was reached on behalf of a client who suffered severe liquid burn juries due to a defective product. The claim brought by Attorney John J. Malm, alleged a breach of warranty after the product, when used as intended, suddenly failed.

Confidential. DuPage County, Illinois. Automobile accident. Settlement was reached on behalf of a passenger who was injured in a single-car, multiple rollover automobile accident. The Naperville man suffered blunt chest trauma with a closed head injury, concussion, loss of consciousness, partial memory loss, pulmonary contusion, internal bleeding, lacerations to his head, arms and feet, broken and separated clavicle as well as cervical, shoulder and back strain. The driver of the vehicle admitted that he fell asleep and lost control of the vehicle at a speed in excess of 75 mph. The lawsuit, filed by Naperville car accident attorney, John J. Malm, sought damages for the serious injuries suffered by the young man.

Confidential. Kane County, Illinois. IPL Laser Treatment Injuries, Burn injuries, Negligence, Battery and Willful & Wanton. A settlement was reached by Kane County personal injury attorney, John J. Malm, on behalf of a client who suffered 237 individual second degree burn injuries on her legs as a result of an IPL hair removal procedure.

Confidential. Cook County, Illinois. Products liability. A fire at a suburban Chicago home was alleged to have started inside a CRT-type projection television. The fire caused significant property damage and other losses. The complaint filed by products liability attorney, John J. Malm, alleged damages under strict products liability and breach of warranty theories against the manufacturer of the television.

$1,520,000. Will County, Illinois. Wrongful death, car accident/truck accident, negligence, governmental tort immunity. A settlement totaling $1,520,000 was reached by attorney John J. Malm in a wrongful death  lawsuit filed by the family of a 7-year-old girl who died as a result of injuries she suffered in a traffic accident at an uncontrolled intersection in suburban Will County. The lawsuit was settled shortly before jury selection was to set to begin in the trial against a suburban township in Will County and a propane company. The young girl was a passenger in a car was heading to a soccer game northbound on 88th Avenue near the intersection of Steunkel Road in Frankfort, Illinois when the car was struck in an intersection by a westbound propane truck. At the center of the lawsuit were allegations of the township’s voluntary undertaking to inspect sight lines at the intersection, which were dangerously obstructed, according too the complaint. The township had argued it had no duty to install traffic control devices at the uncontrolled intersection, and was not obligated to address sight-line issues. The court denied the township’s numerous motions to dismiss the complaint, allowing the case to go to trial.

$1,500,000. Cook County, Illinois. Wrongful death, car accident. A settlement totaling $1,500,000 was reached by attorney John J. Malm and others in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of two individuals who died as a result of injuries suffered in a single-car traffic accident on Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago, Illinois.

$1,500,000. Cook County, Illinois. First party insurance coverage, property damage. Settlement was reached on behalf of a large commercial building owner after a roof failure, following a hail event. Issues of fact litigated in the lawsuit included the advanced age of the membrane roof structure and whether the hail reported in the area had actually damaged the structure; the hail event occurred over a weekend, when the building was unoccupied. The insurance company argued that the roof was in disrepair due to the effects of aging or what is known as “migration” of plasticizers, a progressive weakness that occurs in plastic membrane-type roofing systems over time. (For a scientific discussion on migrating plasticizers, see this page). But evidence from key witness depositions tended to show that damage sustained was consistent with hail, and that coverage was, therefore, owed under the specific terms of the policy, regardless of the roof’s overall age or alleged state of repair.

$1,362,000. Louisville, Kentucky. Wrongful death, birth injuries, medical malpractice. A verdict totaling nearly $1.4 million was returned by a Louisville, Kentucky jury for a young mother who tragically witnessed the sudden decapitation of her baby during premature delivery. The woman suffered emotional injuries, including PTSD, as a result of the terrifying occurrence. The evidence introduced at trial tended to show that a cerclage (a suture or string used to partially close an incompetent cervix during pregnancy to prevent pre-term labor) had been left in place by the woman's doctor during delivery, contributing to the fatal injury suffered by the infant.

$810,000. Scott County, Iowa. Negligence, fire damage. A combined settlement was reached with multiple defendants in a complex litigation on behalf of two separate commercial tenants of an industrial warehouse complex, for damage and resulting business losses sustained as a result of a devastating fire. A lawsuit alleged that warehousemen and others, who were responsible for the safety and security of the warehouse and its contents, including its fire suppression system, were negligent in failing to prevent the spread of the fire inside the building. The exact cause of the fire was undetermined.

$737,500. Cook County, Illinois. Automobile accident. Settlement obtained for a client who suffered a shoulder injury with a rotator cuff tear as a result of a rear-end collision with heavy impact. The insurance carrier’s original offer to our client was $190,000. The client had initially retained another law firm, filed a lawsuit, and presented their case before a mediator. A “final” offer of settlement was made at mediation. The client’s original attorney urged the client to accept the offer of settlement. Instead, the clients rejected the offer, fired their former counsel and requested a second opinion from attorney John J. Malm, who agreed to take over the handling of their important case. Mr. Malm put together an aggressive litigation strategy that included depositions of key eye witnesses, who testified concerning the severity of the impact from the collision. He retained a vocational rehabilitation specialist and a forensic economist who offered opinion evidence supporting the client’s claims for future lost income, which resulted from his disabling injury. After vigorous cross-examination of the insurance carrier’s experts, including a prominent orthopedic surgeon and nationally renowned forensic economist, the insurance carrier agreed to pay Mr. Malm’s client $737,500 to settle the case just before trial.

$735,755. Berrien County, Michigan. Wrongful death, truck accident. A settlement was reached by attorney John J. Malm on behalf of the family a of a semi-truck driver who was killed in St. Joseph, Michigan after the 18-wheeler he was driving rolled over on southbound I-94. A wrongful death lawsuit was settled following mandatory arbitration. The suit alleged that two municipal vehicles suddenly entered the expressway from the shoulder, causing the truck to make an evasive maneuver and accidentally roll over. The suit alleged that the municipal vehicles had entered onto the highway unexpectedly after driving over an off-ramp, and then merging suddenly into traffic.

$285,000. Kane County, Illinois. Dog attack, negligence. Settlement was reached with property owner’s insurance carrier after two pit bulls, which had been kept on the property, attacked a woman causing in a fall down a set of stairs. In addition to suffering numerous bite injuries, my client suffered two ruptured cervical vertebrae and underwent fusion surgery.

$250,000. Cook County, Illinois. Slip and Fall/Premises Liability. Settlement obtained by Naperville personal injury lawyer, John Malm, for a client who suffered a ruptured tendon and ankle fracture as a result of a fall down on an icy sidewalk in front of a funeral home in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Evidence showed that the accumulation of ice was unnatural; ice had formed near the bottom of a sloped wheelchair ramp due to melting snow that had been cleared and piled nearby. Additional ice accumulation from improperly directed downspouts could not be eliminated. Insufficient salting of the affected area contributed the the formation of a patch "black ice", which was not observable to the plaintiff. The plaintiff required podiatric surgery, with additional surgery of the tendon recommended.

$250,000. Kane County, Illinois. Automobile accident, uninsured motorist, insurance disputes. A policy-limits settlement was reached in an uninsured motorist claim on behalf of a passenger involved in an intersection collision.

$250,000. Kane County, Illinois. Laceration injury, scarring and disfigurement, municipal liability. A settlement for has been reached by attorney John J. Malm on behalf of a 10-year old girl who suffered an avulsion flap laceration in an accident with a municipal vehicle. The injured girl suffered hyper-pigmentation and disfigurement due to scarring.

$250,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Automobile accident. Settlement was reached on behalf of a 17-year-old, who suffered severe fractures in her right arm when she was a passenger in a rear-end-type automobile accident. The young woman required emergency surgery to perform an open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of the right radius and ulnar bone, and a closed reduction internal fixation (CRIF) of the right distal radius. The driver of the car was at fault in causing the rear-end accident.

$250,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Automobile accident, uninsured motorist, wrongful death. Pre-arbitration, policy-limits settlement was reached in an uninsured motorist claim on behalf of the survivors of a woman who was killed in a head-on (across the center line) collision.

$222,500. Cook County, Illinois. Motorcycle accident, intersection accident with a car in suburban Chicago. Laceration injury to forearm, laceration injury to knee, hand and shoulder injuries. Settlement was reached in an motorcycle accident involving a left-turning automobile, which struck the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff, a 30 year old man, was struck and thrown approximately 35 feet from his motorcycle. He underwent surgery and physical therapy.

$180,000. Cook County, Illinois. Slip and Fall/Premises Liability. Settlement obtained for a client who suffered a lumbar disk herniation as a result of a fall down. A bag of salt had been left on a front step, causing the woman to lose her balance and fall backwards down the concrete steps. She underwent a right lumbar laminectomy and diskectomy.

$140,000. Kane County, Illinois. Lead Poisoning, Injuries to Minors & Children, Premises Liability. Settlement was reached on behalf of three minor children who suffered lead poisoning after exposure to lead-based paint in a rented home in Aurora, Illinois. Evidence obtained through discovery revealed that the home had been under investigation by authorities from Kane County after a previous ordinance violation; settlement was obtained by Naperville attorney, John Malm, before trial.

$125,000. Cook County, Illinois. Automobile accident, Truck accident, emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder ("PTSD"). Settlement obtained for a client who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, but no physical injury, as a result of an automobile/truck accident on northbound I-294. The accident occurred when the truck's tire suddenly blew out, and the truck lost control in the northbound lanes. Although there was contact between the truck and the plaintiff's vehicle, the plaintiff suffered no physical injuries. Medical and psychological testimony established that the plaintiff suffered PTSD as a result of the accident, with recurrent symptoms confirmed by the DSM-IV. Service records obtained in discovery revealed that the truck's tires were worn. Chicago Truck Accident attorney, John Malm, presented evidence showing that the tire failure likely occurred due to inadequate inspection and maintenance of the truck's tires. The settlement is believed to be among the highest reported in Cook County for PTSD with no concomitant physical injury.

$125,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Automobile accident, negligence, neck and back injury. Settlement was reached in a rear-end automobile accident case involving head injury and injury to cervical vertebrae that required surgery. The Plaintiff, a man, was driving a work van equipped with carpentry tools. He was struck in the head by a tool inside the van, which became loose from the force of impact when the van was hit from behind at a high rate of speed. The man underwent a cervical laminectomy and extensive physical therapy.

$100,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Slip & Fall. Settlement for $100,000 was reached at mediation for a premises liability claim against grocery store on behalf of a client who fell on a wet floor in a Wheaton, Illinois grocery store. The woman was walking in the frozen food aisle and slipped on a puddle of water that had accumulated from a leaking freezer. Maintenance records obtained through discovery revealed that the freezer had leaked on several previous occasions, and testimony in the case showed that other people had slipped and fallen there. The woman suffered hip and leg injuries, including injury to her saphenous nerve. No surgery was performed. Mediation was conducted before trial.

$100,000. Cook County, Illinois. pedestrian accident, car accident. A policy-limits settlement was reached on behalf of an elderly woman who suffered serious injuries, including shoulder injuries, when she was struck by a car while crossing a Chicago street. The woman was crossing at a pedestrian crosswalk. Despite the appearance of safety, most Chicago area accidents involving pedestrians occur inside crosswalks, according to a recent traffic study.

$100,000. Cook County, Illinois. pedestrian accident, car accident. A policy-limits settlement was reached on behalf of an man who suffered numerous severe injuries and broken bones, including a fracture to his leg, when he was struck by a car while crossing a Cook County street. The man's injuries were compounded when he was dragged by the striking car from the pedestrian crosswalk. It may be surprising to note that nearly all (approximately 80%) pedestrians accidents in the Chicago area occur inside a painted crosswalk, based on the findings of a recent traffic study.

$100,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Wrongful death, bicycle accident, pedestrian accident, car accident. A policy-limits settlement was reached on behalf of a the family of a young man who suffered fatal injuries when he was tragically struck by a car while riding his bicycle in DuPage County. The young man was crossing at a pedestrian crosswalk. Bicyclists are entitled to the right-of-way in the same manner as pedestrians under 625 ILCS 5/11-1512. Despite warnings, traffic accident reports from the Chicago area collected over the past five years reveal that nearly 8 out of 10 car accidents that cause injuries to a pedestrian occur inside a painted crosswalk, according to a recent study.

$100,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Strict Products Liability. A settlement was reached on behalf of a woman who suffered hand laceration injuries, resulting in nerve and tendon damage and residual scarring, when a rectangular-shaped, clear glass vase suddenly fractured. The woman suffered injuries to her hand, necessitating surgery to repair a severed tendon. A review of the glass vase by an expert revealed that it was a defective product; the expert testified that the glass used in the vase was thinner than an ordinary light bulb and was dangerously susceptible to failure. The 12" Chinese-made vase, which had been purchased at Michael's Stores, Inc., was recalled. The lawsuit against distributor, Grande Impressions, and retailer, Michael's Stores, Inc., was filed by Illinois product liability lawyer, John J. Malm of Naperville. The suit alleged a breach of warranty after the product, when used as intended, suddenly failed in the woman's hands. The settlement was reached before a jury trial.

$100,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Automobile accident, uninsured motorist. A policy-limits uninsured motorist settlement was reached on behalf of a 15-year-old boy who suffered severe head injuries when he, along with a friend, attempted to skateboard behind a moving automobile. The driver of the vehicle, 19 years old, testified that he and others inside the car knew the boys were holding onto the car when he started the car’s engine and drove away. Some witnesses estimated that the vehicle had reached a speed in excess of 40 mph when the boy could no longer hold onto the car. The boy fell to the pavement, striking his head.

$100,000. Kendall County, Illinois. Automobile accident. Settlement was reached on behalf of a young man who was injured in an angled head-on (across the center line) automobile accident. The client had suffered punctured lung and other injuries as a result of blunt chest trauma.

$100,000. Kane County, Illinois. Truck accident, uninsured motorist, hit and run. (No lawsuit filed). Settlement was reached in an uninsured motorist claim (UM) on behalf of a man who was suffered shoulder injuries when a semi-tractor trailer struck his vehicle and fled the scene. A lawsuit was initially filed against a trucking company; however, the lawsuit was later dismissed because no evidence could be obtained by law enforcement to confirm identification of the truck or its driver. An uninsured motorist claim was brought against the client’s automobile insurance carrier seeking UM coverage; a settlement for $100,000 was obtained before arbitration.

$100,000. Kane County, Illinois. Pedestrian Accident. Settlement totaling $100,000 was reached in underinsured motorist claim  on behalf of a client who was struck by an automobile as he crossed a city street in Aurora, Illinois. The young man was walking within the cross walk and had nearly reached the other side of the street when he was struck by a car traveling at a high rate of speed, according to witness testimony. The man suffered a comminuted fracture of the tibia and fibula, which required surgery. He underwent a right leg 4 compartment fasciotomy with open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of the right tibia. The man has suffered permanent muscle and nerve damage to his leg and foot. A previous policy limits settlement was reached with the at-fault motorist’s insurance company for $20,000.

$90,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Fraud, Common Law Fraud. A settlement was reached by Naperville trial attorney, John J. Malm, in a fraud case brought against a notary public. The lawsuit against the notary was filed in a DuPage County Law Division Court after a successful trial in a DuPage County Chancery Court, overturning two fraudulently executed deeds that had surfaced in a Probate Estate. The notary testified that she witnessed the signing of the deeds and then placed her seal on the instruments. But clear and convincing evidence offered by attorney Malm disproved the elaborate story given by the notary and others surrounding the ceremony of execution, including questions surrounding the decedent's whereabouts and the fact that the notary seal used on one of the deeds had not been issued at the time the deeds were purportedly signed. The lawsuit sought the recovery of damages, including attorney's fees, incurred by Mr. Malm's clients, who were to receive the decedent's Palm Desert, California property through a Last Will & Testament. The settlement was reached in the civil case after the notary was tried and found guilty of perjury in a DuPage County Criminal Court.

$90,000. Kane County, Illinois. Automobile accident, negligence. A settlement reached in a rear-end automobile accident. The Plaintiff, a woman, suffered an entrapped ulnar nerve in her arm, requiring surgery, which left her with a disfiguring scar on her arm. The insurance company for the at-fault motorist paid $25,000; the woman’s own underinsured motorist coverage  paid an arbitration award of an additional $65,000 after a hearing on the evidence.

$83,500. Kane County, Illinois. Tavern-keeper liability, premises liability, battery. Settlement was reached before trial in a multi-count complaint against a local tavern. My client, who operated a family-owned floor cleaning service, suffered a knee injury and fractured pelvis. An intoxicated bar patron initiated a physical altercation at closing time, from which a scuffle ensued, causing someone to fall onto the man, injuring him. Based on evidence obtained through depositions, including testimony from the owners of the bar, it was alleged that bar personnel were careless in contributing to the ongoing altercation. The tavern owner and bar tender denied liability.

$75,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Strict Products Liability. A settlement was reached on behalf of a man who suffered hand laceration injuries, resulting in nerve and tendon damage to his hand when an ornamental glass “ship in a bottle” suddenly broke in his hand. The man ‘s injuries to his hand necessitated surgery to repair a severed tendon and restore function. The Chinese-made bottle contained a design defect, making the product unreasonably dangerous to consumers. The settlement with a national retailer and distributor was reached without filing a lawsuit.

$75,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Car Accident, Personal Injury. Settlement obtained for a client who suffered neck and back injuries as a result of an intersection collision. Naperville car accident lawyer John Malm filed a lawsuit on behalf of the client. The case was settled shortly following a settlement mediation.

$75,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Slip and Fall/Premises Liability. Settlement obtained on behalf of a client who suffered a broken ankle necessitating surgery as a result of a fall down on an icy sidewalk at a retail mall. A defective hose bib located nearby had been leaking, resulting in a large plume of ice across the sidewalk and onto the parking lot. The commercial property owner quickly removed the leaking hose bib and replaced it after Attorney John J. Malm filed a lawsuit on behalf of his client. The physical evidence was reportedly discarded by the property owner before any inspection could be completed.

$50,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Slip and Fall/Premises Liability. Settlement obtained on behalf of a client who suffered a broken wrist (distal radial fracture) as a result of a fall down at a retail facility.

$48,500. Grundy County, Illinois. Car Accident, Personal Injury. Settlement obtained for a client who suffered shoulder injuries necessitating extensive physical therapy as a result of an intersection collision. Naperville car accident lawyer John Malm was able to obtain settlement for the client without filing a lawsuit.

$42,500. DuPage County, Illinois. Automobile accident. Settlement was reached with driver’s insurance carrier on behalf of a female passenger who suffered broken teeth in a single car accident at an Illinois toll booth.

$40,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Automobile accident, negligence, intersection collision. A settlement was reached for a client in a side impact, intersection collision that occurred at Washington Street and Diehl Road in Naperville, Illinois. The accident was caused when the the driver of the striking vehicle failed to stop at a red light, charging through the intersection and hitting the front end of the client's vehicle. The client suffered neck, back and shoulder injuries as a result of the collision.

Confidential. Will County, Illinois. Settlement on behalf of a young woman was reached with the owner and operator of a tanning salon after the heavy top of the tanning bed suddenly fell upon the young woman, pinning her inside the tanning bed. The woman suffered ligament injuries to her arm and shoulder as she struggled in vain to free herself from the tanning bed. An investigation revealed that a safety mechanism failed, allowing the heavy top of the bed to suddenly close.

$23,000. DuPage County, Illinois. Pedestrian accident, negligence. Settlement was reached on behalf of an injured pedestrian.

$21,672. Will County, Illinois. Automobile accident. Settlement was reached on behalf of a female passenger who suffered soft tissue-type injuries in a rear-end automobile accident.