In a breathtaking conclusion to a five-year ordeal, last week a Cook County jury returned a $25 million verdict in favor of a local resident who was seriously injured in a violent 2004 automobile accident in Schaumburg, Ill.
The case, Chraca v. Miles. (04 L 9461), was tried before Judge William Haddad in Cook County. It stemmed from an incident that occurred on April 19, 2004, in which Andrzej Chraca - the son of Polish immigrants living in Chicago - was driving southbound on Wright Blvd. near the intersection of South Frontage Road in Schaumburg. As Chraca's vehicle entered the intersection, it was struck by a vehicle being driven by Steve Miles, an Illinois Department of Transportation employee.
As a result of the accident, Chraca suffered serious injuries that have rendered him an incomplete paraplegic. He is unable to walk without leg braces and the use of canes or a walker, and generally uses a wheelchair to move around.
Both drivers claimed they had green lights when they entered the intersection and subsequently they sued each other, with Chraca retaining Martin Healy, Jr., founding partner of The Healy Law Firm and a highly regarded transportation and product liability attorney in Chicago. Schaumburg police officers investigated the case and reconstructed the accident, but could not determine which driver was at fault.
At the trial, Healy and his co-counsel, David Huber of The Healy Law Firm, called six eyewitnesses to the stand, one of whom testified that the stoplight for Miles was red at the time of the accident.
"The large verdict is justified by the injuries that were incurred by Andrzej, terrible injuries," Healy said. "He is going to suffer every day of his life."
The Chraca verdict is the highest verdict for a paraplegic in Cook County. The second highest paraplegic verdict in Cook County, $24 million, was also obtained by the Healy Law Firm, in 2002. The Chraca verdict is also the second plaintiff award in excess of $20 million that Healy's firm has secured for a client this year. In March, the firm helped secure a $23.7 million for three plaintiffs who sought compensation for two deaths and one injury that resulted from a vehicle accident near Plainfield, Ill.
For more information about The Healy Law Firm, please go to www.healylawfirm.com.
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