blog | Lane Brown, LLC

For victims of childhood sexual abuse, the experience can oftentimes be one that lasts for an extended amount of time. From the time that initial contact is made between an unsuspecting victim and the adult perpetrator, to the time that a victim can finally, and openly, admit that the abuse happened—life can change dramatically.

For those wrestling in the grips of such abuse, the feeling can be terrifying and unfathomable. If you are watching someone as they are living this out, the process could be unbearable to witness.

As personal injury attorneys here in Chicago, we serve victims who suffer a wide variety of injuries, most commonly physical, through a wide range of accidents. However, in the case of child sexual abuse, the injuries extend far past the physical. While many sexual abuse victims do experience physical trauma through these events, psychological trauma and emotional trauma can also result. These impact a victim’s whole life, whether it be through a change in family and social relationships, or even personal interests and hobbies. And so, the Downward Spiral Effect begins.

How Can Life Change After Sexual Abuse?

Problems at school – Your straight-A student may suddenly begin failing their classes, skipping school, or developing problems with teachers and peers. If your child is not given the right counseling or support needed to properly deal with sexual abuse trauma—like PTSD—this can progress to long term consequences. Your child’s plummeting grades and behavior could affect prospective college opportunities, or even his/her ability to graduate.
Social relationships suffer – Some of the side effects of PTSD are anxiety, aggressiveness, or irritability. These can affect every relationship your child has. If your child withdraws from his/her social circle of friends, or suddenly eliminates hobbies, sports, or activities of interest from his/her life, depression could result. Feelings of loneliness, lack of purpose, and a lack of self-worth are often major factors as to why young adolescents attempt, or succeed at, suicide.
Breakdown of communication at home – This can become a significant problem, because you, as a parent, can often be left powerless and without knowledge of the hurt and suffering your child is experiencing. In many cases, as adolescents plummet further down into a spiral of despair, anger, fear, or angst, their behavior at home can reflect that emotional trauma. Your child may become more destructive with property, may withdraw from normal family life, and become more defiant at home.

If you suspect that your child has been sexually abused, don’t give up hope. Your child may not talk about it right away. But, in time, through a relationship of trust, open communication, patience, and love, your loved one should eventually open up. Through your support and affirmation, your child or teen can gather the strength and courage to speak truthfully about the abuse and begin the healing process as he/she works to restore life to a “new normal.”

If you would like answers to some of the legal questions surrounding childhood sexual abuse, we may be able to help. Contact us today to schedule a no-cost, confidential, case evaluation.

One would think that a city struggling through financial hardship would take every precautionary measure possible to reduce unnecessary spending. In some cases, simple changes to policy can save a city thousands of dollars that could be put to use to help improve the community.

However, in Chicago’s case, one lack of policy will end up costing the city more than $16 million due to one man’s dangerous choice to drive a city sanitation truck while intoxicated.

On Monday, January 13, the City Council’s Finance Committee agreed to a multi-million dollar settlement to Jennifer Anton, one of three victims seriously injured in the May 2011 drunk driving accident caused by 61-year-old city worker Dwight Washington. The other two victims have already received their settlements awarded from jury verdicts. The combined total of all three awards topped the $16 million mark.

Why was a city worker picking up garbage allowed to drive a city truck while intoxicated?

Well, at the time of the accident, random alcohol and drug testing was only required for those city employees who held commercial driver’s licenses. But, since Street and Sanitation workers who are assigned to collect garbage and debris did not fall under this criterion, they were exempt from undergoing such testing. Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has since pushed for policy changes to be made in order to prevent such accidents from happening again.

Due to the new policy changes in place, Street and Sanitation Department drivers now must undergo the same random alcohol and drug testing as other positions within the city.

Apparently, this was not Washington’s first offense, either. About one year before the 2011 crash occurred, Washington was involved in another job-related accident that caused property damage. After that incident, he was apparently drug tested, and results came back negative. Washington was given an “oral reprimand” as a result.

Because of one man’s negligence, and a city’s insufficient safety policies for its workers, Jennifer Anton was critically injured while walking down the street with the 20-month-old child she was caring for. Fortunately, she was able to push the toddler out of the way in time. However, she was not so lucky. As a result, Anton suffered severe injuries below her waist. Virtually every bone on the lower half of her body was shattered, along with a fractured pelvis and hips. The skin tissue on her legs was also torn off due to the accident.

In all, seven individuals were injured to some degree on that fateful day. Hopefully, this costly choice will teach Washington, and the city of Chicago a valuable lesson about the roles they play in public safety. Policy and accountability matter!

If you have questions or comments about this case, or other drunk driving-related injuries, please contact us today to arrange a free, no obligation consultation. We want to hear from you!

Car crashes happen every day. Some are serious, some are minor. No matter the severity, every crash leaves us, as drivers, a little shaken up, more acutely aware of the roadways afterwards, and in some cases, severely injured. But did you know that in many cases, those accident-related injuries are not directly caused by the crashes themselves? Many times these injuries are caused by the airbags designed to keep us safe.

During the first 10 months of 2013, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that more than six million cars were recalled because of potential dangers related to defective airbags. This is a significant problem, since airbags have been known to fail in a variety of ways. They can: fail to deploy during and accident, deploy while motorists are safely driving behind the wheel, or even cover passengers with dangerous chemicals, gases, or metal shrapnel when they explode. All of these defective airbag cases can, and have, caused serious injury or death.

Through mid-October, car manufacturers have issued 29 separate airbag recalls, a record-setting number for our nation. One of these most recent recalls came in October when Toyota recalled more than 800,000 vehicles because of electrical problems that prevented the airbags from opening during a crash.

As science and technology improve, why are more and more defective airbag recalls happening?

Airbag systems are more complex. Some manufactures put as many as 10 airbags in each car they assemble. This means that there are more electrical components, sensors, and mechanisms to fail during a crash. If performance isn’t calculated perfectly, people can die.
A few airbag manufacturers supply products to multiple companies for numerous vehicle models. When one airbag company announces that their airbags have a problem, numerous auto manufacturers are affected. In these cases, there may be four or five car models per company that have to be pulled to correct the problem. In 2013, more than half of the 23 defective airbag recalls that have happened stemmed from only two airbag manufacturers.

This news is extremely important to you as a motorist, because, if you are ever involved in a high-speed car accident on a Chicago toll way or interstate, or even in a low-impact crash through one of Chicago’s residential neighborhoods, the airbags designed to keep you safe could be the very cause of your injuries.

So, as you drive around Cook County’s highways-and-byways, just remember that 2013 is not over yet. The airbags in your car could be next on the list.

If you have legal questions concerning your car accident and related injuries, please contact us today to schedule your free consultation. You can also request a free copy of the guidebook The 8 Steps to Follow After Your Illinois Car Accident.

Boston US Attorney Carmen Ortiz is joining Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette in announcing new developments in a state and federal investigation of New England Compounding Center’s role in nationwide outbreaks of fungal meningitis. The company sold steroid injection materials that have been linked to hundreds of meningitis and other infections around the country.

Meningitis, an inflammation of the lining surrounding the brain and spinal cord, can be a crippling, and even deadly infection that affects the central nervous system. Meningitis can be caused by bacterial infections, fungal infections, or viruses. Meningitis can be fatal within hours, so it’s important to know the symptoms. The first symptoms are usually fever, vomiting, headache and feeling generally unwell. Other symptoms of meningitis may include rash (anywhere on the body), sensitivity to bright light, lethargy or unusual sleepiness (difficulty waking), confusion and seizure activity.

Because a person suffering from meningitis can become seriously ill very quickly, if you suspect any of the above symptoms, you should trust your instincts and get the person to medical help as quickly as possible. Oftentimes, if detected early enough, meningitis can be treated successfully. On the other hand, if not treated promptly enough, meningitis can case severe neurological injuries, brain damage and even death. The victims of poorly managed meningitis often suffer life-changing losses… crippling physical and economic damages and emotional tolls.

If you or a loved one has been injured by meningitis, we may be able to help you to take action. Please contact the attorneys of Lane Brown, LLC, or call us at 312-332-1400 to speak with us about your options. We can help.

Staff shortages and overextended shifts for nurses are a nationwide issue, according to National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union representing registered nurses, with nearly 185,000 members throughout the country. “Chronic understaffing is rampant throughout hospitals around the country,” said Bonnie Castillo, the union’s government relations director. “It is probably the single biggest issue facing nurses nowadays, and it’s not only affecting nurses, but patient health as well.”

Hospitals choosing to understaff and overwork their nursing staffs risk the health of nurses and patients alike. Recently, the husband of an Ohio nurse who was killed in a car accident while driving home after a 12-hour shift, filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging that from 2011 to the time of her death, his wife’s unit at the Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati was “regularly understaffed,” causing some nurses, including his wife, to work through breaks and pick up additional shifts.

While the nurses themselves may be exercising a choice to work longer and harder hours, patients do not enjoy the choice of who their nurses are, or what their state of readiness or exhaustion may be. Nursing understaffing and exhaustion is dangerous, especially to patients!

If you or a loved one has been injured during a Chicago hospital stay, you may be able to take action. Please contact the attorneys of Lane Brown, LLC, or call us at 312-332-1400 to speak with us about your options. We can help.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (11/12, Barrett, 798K), “Harley-Davidson Inc. has issued another safety recall on its 2014 Project Rushmore motorcycles, this one for a defect that could result in the loss of brake fluid.” The Journal Sentinel notes that the recall of 436 cycles is for 3-wheeled motorcycles, “trikes”, manufactured from July 24 through Sept. 2, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Journal Sentinel explains that “due to an incorrectly machined part, the trike may have an excessive steering angle that allows the inner fairing to come into contact with a brake fluid reservoir, resulting in a loss of fluid.”

Motorcycle “safety” has always been questioned, and some refer to them generally as “donorcycles”. It’s true that motorcycles offer less protection to riders than other, enclosed vehicles, but it’s for that very reason that motorcycle manufacturers must use the highest diligence in their manufacture and design quality controls and pre-sale safety inspections. Brake failures in any vehicle are dangerous. Brake failures with motorcycles are often catastrophic. Too often, blame is unfairly placed on motorcycle riders, who are often more highly trained, experienced and careful in the operation of their vehicles than many automobile drivers. Those conscientious motorcycle riders cannot control other drivers. They can control and conform their driving to some road, weather and traffic conditions. When their motorcycle is defective, life and death tragedy that is beyond their control may be just around the next bend in the road.

If you or a loved one has suffered serious personal injuries as a result of a motorcycle accident, you may be able to take action. Please contact the attorneys of Lane Brown, LLC, or call us at 312-332-1400 to speak with us about your options. We can help. To learn more about Lane Brown, please visit our website at lanebrownlaw.com.