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Levinson and Stefani

Announcing the release of the 2016-2017 edition of ‘Litigating Major Automobile Injury and Death Cases’

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Ken Levinson

The 2016-2017 edition of Litigating Major Automobile Injury and Death Cases, co-authored by Levinson and Stefani founding partner Ken Levinson, has been published by AAJ Press/Thomson Reuters.

The two-volume litigation series provides attorneys with expert legal and scientific/medical advice for preparing and litigating serious motor vehicle collision cases, the goal of which is to achieve maximum damage awards for severely injured clients. The series features written discovery, depositions, medical and other expert witness testimony, and aspects of automobile jury trials, as well as the necessary forms needed to handle a case from beginning to end. Updates to the 2016-2017 edition include:

  • A revised chapter related to Voir Dire and preliminary examination tactics and best practices;
  • Chapter 37, Forms for Litigating Successful Wrongful Death/Survivor Claims in MAID Cases, with practice commentary from the author;
  • A revised chapter that provides updates to two high-profile cases — the litigation involving Takata airbags and the General Motors ignition switch.

Along with Levinson, the series is co-authored by Thomas D’Amore, Karen Koehler, and Michael D. Freeman.

Wrongful death case leads to $6.25 million settlement for Levinson and Stefani

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Founding Partner Ken Levinson

Levinson and Stefani has settled the wrongful death case of the Estate of Carlos Garcia for $6.25 million. The settlement amount, overseen by founding partner Ken Levinson and partner Jay Stefani, was approved today by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The Garcia case stems from a lawsuit filed by Nayeli Delgado-Gutierrez (Plaintiff), Garcia’s partner and the mother of his children. On the morning of March 15, 2015, Garcia was driving northbound on I-294 near mile marker 44 when the wheel from a southbound van—owned and operated by Professional Transportation, Inc.—disengaged from its axle, crossed the median and struck his vehicle. Garcia died almost immediately from his injuries. He is survived by five children, all of whom are minors. They are the only heirs entitled to receive the net proceeds of the settlement amount.

“Obviously, this was a challenging time for the Garcia family,” said Levinson and Stefani founding partner and lead counsel Ken Levinson. “We can’t bring Carlos back, but we hope Nayeli and her kids feel some small measure of relief knowing their future is financially secure. Helping them find a degree of closure was our goal coming into this situation.”

Through discovery, attorneys detailed a series of events that constituted negligence. Defendants in the case included Professional Transportation, Inc., United Leasing, LLC, JB Seeboth, LLC, and Randall L. Burrell.

Download a PDF copy of coverage in the Chicago Law Bulletin

Download a PDF version of the release by clicking here

A new report puts the spotlight on older teen driving behavior

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Drivers ages 18 to 20 are 1.6 times more likely to be involved in a fatal car crash than their 15 to 17-year-old counterparts, according to new statistics published by the Governor’s Highway Safety Association. The study comes in the midst of Teen Driver Safety Week, a national awareness campaign that promotes safe driving among teenage drivers.

The study from the GHSA, titled Mission Not Accomplished: Teen Safe Driving, the Next Chapter, points to teen-involved crash deaths that spiked by 10 percent in 2015, prompting the association to call on State Highway Safety Offices to monitor the patterns of teen-driving crashes more closely, especially among older teens.

The numbers for this year’s analysis, covering a decade-long range between 2005-2014, is primarily culled from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, a process that records all vehicle crashes that occur in the U.S. that result in a fatality.

Among the recommendations to curb teen driving-related fatalities, as provided by the study’s authors, is a more focused approach to the Graduated Drivers Licensing (GDL) program, a three-stage process that has been noted for its ability to reduce teen crash risk by as much as 30 percent.

The GDL program is currently employed by all 50 states, but teens age out of GDL requirements once they turn 18. One in 3 teens are not licensed by then, meaning they are eligible to receive a license without going through the requisite training of those who wish to obtain one before then.

“Policy makers need to understand that reaching age 18 doesn’t necessarily equate to mental maturity — which is critical for safe driving,” said Pam Fischer, a transportation safety expert and one of the authors of the new study, in a statement.

The GHSA is hoping to expand GDL requirements to include all drivers ages 21 and under, and includes 11 policies and best practices for all states to implement. Suggestions included opportunities to provide more training for older teen drivers, high visibility enforcement, continued parental involvement, and safe driving programs at colleges.

It’s Teen Driver Safety Week

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Your kids are getting older and that means more freedom. There’s one perk that figures to be a prominent point of contention: driving.

Parents, here’s your opportunity to ease the anxiety. Through Saturday, educators are taking part in National Teen Driver Safety Week, an advocacy campaign designed to raise awareness among teen drivers about operating vehicles responsibly. The annual program began back in 2007 after a series of crashes in Pennsylvania prompted aggressive action by Congress to curb future accidents.

Since then, advocacy programs have taken a long-term approach to tackling poor habits by encouraging community-based support systems rather than using scared-straight tactics to prevent would-be drivers from making bad decisions. For years, conventional wisdom held that showing kids pictures and videos of mangled cars was a good way to prevent that.

Not so much. Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for 15–19 year olds in the U.S. There were 2,679 passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2014 alone, and an estimated 123,000 teens were injured because of things like texting while driving, which accounts for thousands of preventable traffic-related fatalities each year.

Teen Driver Safety Week continues to receive a swell of support from influential figures, including endorsements from celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Jesse McCartney. Federal and local groups have also been eager to trot out new approaches to driver education by giving parents and teens alike an opportunity to ask questions or voice concerns from within a safe space.

Driver safety should be an ongoing conversation, but at the very least, you’ve got a full week when everyone is on the same page. Take advantage while you can.

Traffic fatalities spike in first half of 2016

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a slew of new data that shows a significant jump in the number of traffic-related fatalities during the first half of 2016.

More than 17,000 road deaths were recorded between the months of January and June, marking a 10 percent increase compared to the same period last year; it’s the biggest full-year percentage surge since 1966.

One of the reasons for such a steep increase, according to the report, is the steady uptick in the number of drivers who have since returned to the road in the years following the recession—more work equals more miles. Drivers traveled roughly 50 billion miles more between January and June of 2016 than they did during the same time frame last year.

Experts continue to speculate as to the cause of such drastic figures, though cell phones remain at the top of many people’s list. As an example, a recent study found that more than 11,000 daily incidents of distracted driving occur because of people playing the popular mobile app Pokémon Go, an interactive game that asks players to use their mobile device to seek out Pokémon characters.

While the Pokémon phenomenon may be somewhat of an anomaly, it’s an indication to safety experts that games, mobile apps, and texting are only adding to the frustrations of those trying to prevent distracted driving. What’s worse, they say, is that for all the injuries and deaths happening on the road, most if not all are preventable.

The NHTSA has dedicated more money to combat that trend, though it remains to be seen if Congress will act further to allow more studies. Speed limits have risen in recent years, and any money dedicated to federal transportation has been relegated to road infrastructure as opposed to behavioral studies.

To sum up the regional numbers: Fatalities increased by 20 percent in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington; 10 percent in the states that comprise New England; and 9 percent in the Mid-Atlantic states. The only decrease in fatalities (just one percent) occurred in a group covering Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Mississippi, and Louisiana.