Levinson and Stefani

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Distracted Driving Is About More Than Just Cell Phones

Man texting while driving.

Distracted driving is a problem. Excellent organizations, like EndDD.org, are working hard to raise awareness, including sending people to high school driver’e education classes to tell new teen drivers about the dangers of using their cell phones while driving. I’ve been fortunate enough to speak to several high school classes, and I can say it has been a rewarding and eye-opening experience. I came away impressed by the overwhelming recognition that using a cell phone while driving is dangerous — and many of these teenagers see their own parents doing it on a regular basis. But one significant distraction is being ignored: passengers.

Maureen Salamon recently wrote a great article, “Help distracted teens keep focused on the road,” that shines a light on the top distraction for teen drivers. According to a 2016 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study, passengers, not cell phones, were the top distraction for teen drivers. Being a chauffeur-parent, it might be difficult to remember, but there was a time when it was exciting to be able to drive your friends around town. I have many great memories of shuttling friends to movies, games, each other’s houses, all the while laughing and discussing the “important” issues of the day. But an honest recollection of those days also involves moments of near misses due to focus on friends as opposed to the roads and traffic. In fact, many states (including Illinois) limit the number of passengers a teenaged driver can have in the car.

I’ve been helping victims of car crashes for over a dozen years now, and I’ve taken the depositions of over one hundred drivers who injured my clients. In every one of those depositions, I ask if there were passengers in the car. It’s not always a sign of careless driving, sure, but as the studies show, it might be. When we take our cars out on the roads, be sure to focus on avoiding all the potential distractions. This isn’t to say don’t drive with passengers. Be cognizant that your friends or family can pull your attention from the task at hand. And please be sure to monitor any young drivers in your household. Make sure they understand when they are driving, driving safely is the focus.

Lawsuit Anatomy: Filing the Lawsuit

Litigation excerpt from dictionary

So far, we’ve covered hiring an attorney, investigation of your claim, getting treatment, and pre-suit negotiations. The next stage in your lawsuit is, well, the lawsuit.

There are multiple reasons your attorney may decide to proceed with a lawsuit. It may be that the at-fault driver’s insurance company is denying the claim, or refusing to compensate you properly for your injuries, or it may be that the statute of limitations is about to expire and your attorney needs to preserve your claim.

So, what is a “lawsuit”? In its most basic form, a lawsuit is a document that lists the people or companies involved in the dispute, the basic facts of the dispute, the legal reason why the other side is to blame, and a request for compensation. Sometimes, this can be accomplished in just a few pages, other lawsuits are quite lengthy.

Once the lawsuit is prepared, it is generally filed in the county where the injury occurred. There is almost always a fee for filing the lawsuit with the Courts. The Clerk of the Court then assigns the lawsuit a case number, and a Judge to oversee the proceedings for the lawsuit. The Clerk of the Court will give the lawsuit an initial court date, and create the summons. A summons is a notification of the lawsuit given to the at-fault party.

The next step is to get the summons delivered to the at-fault party. In many counties, the local sheriff is used to accomplish this, but in special instances, a private investigator or specially assigned person can be used. There are very specific requirements on how the summons must be delivered to the at-fault party to comply with the law.

The last step in getting your lawsuit on file is for the at-fault party to file an ‘Answer’. This document states all the reasons why the at-fault party believes they are not responsible for your injuries, or presents facts that may change who is responsible. With all these moving parts, this process usually takes 90 to 120 days from start to finish.

Negotiating the intricacies of a lawsuit can be difficult. Have a legal question about your case? Call our offices, one of our attorneys will be glad to speak with you.

Don’t Do That! Chicago Bar Association Solo & Small Firm Committee Highlights

Ethics on chalkboard

Committee Chair Ken Levinson moderated the presentation by Ari Telisman, Senior Litigation Counsel for the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. This month’s topic was Ethical Considerations for the Solo and Small Firm Practitioner. They covered four main areas: Records Retention, Negotiations, Confidentiality and PMBR.

Here are some notes and highlights:

Records Retention

Illinois State Bar Association Professional Conduct Advisory Opinion No. 17-02 provides some specific guidance on how to dispose of those filed after seven years. In order to keep up with changing technology, there is a proposal to amend rule 769 allowing attorneys to “use industry standard technology” for file storage.

Not ordinarily a statement of material fact: Estimate of price or value Party’s intention as to acceptable settlement

DON’T DO THIS:

In employment discrimination claim, using expert’s report premised on plaintiff’s continued unemployment, when plaintiff just accepted a high-paying job. In re Filosa, 976 F. Supp. 2d 460 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).

Leading opposing party to believe your deceased client is still alive. In re Feofanov, M.R. 28675, 17PR9 (2017).

Negotiations

Ever wonder if your negotiating strategy might be going a little too far? RPC 4.1 covers the not making of false statements of material facts.

Confidentiality

Recently Ty Cobb, a member of the White House’s internal legal team was talking a bit too loud at lunch. IRPC 1.6(e) states “A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to information relating to the representation of a client.” This include lunches!

DON’T DO THIS:

PMBR
Beginning with registration for 2018, any lawyer who discloses that he or she does not have malpractice insurance (a practice we absolutely discourage) will be required to complete a 4-hour interactive, online self-assessment. The assessment is free, counts as CLE credit, and can be done in stages. Failure to complete the assessment by the end of the reporting year will prevent the attorney from having access to registration for the following year.

For a copy of the presentation, feel free to contact Ken.

Have questions? Feel free to comment below.

Chicago Distracted Walking Ordinance?

People walking while looking at cell phones.

$500 fine for “distracted walking?” That’s what Chicago pedestrians could be facing if a new proposed ordinance becomes law. The ordinance, as reported by Dick Johnson at NBC Chicago, says:

No person shall cross a street or highway while using a mobile electronic device in a manner that averts their visual attention to that device or that device’s activity

This may strike some as ridiculous. However, there’s little doubt that distracted walking in Chicago is a real problem. You don’t have to be a safety researcher to recognize that people have their faces buried in their screens.

As reported by the National Safety Council:

Distracted walking incidents are on the rise, and everyone with a cell phone is at risk. According to federal data on highway fatalities, there were 5,987 pedestrian fatalities in 2016 – the highest number since 1990. This represents an increase of 9% over the 2015 totals.

In fact, Honolulu, HI has already implemented a distracted walking ordinance. As reported by NPR, in Honolulu:

Fines start at $15 and go as high as $99 for a third-time offense in the same year.

As advocates for injury survivors, we regularly see the consequences of distractions.

It seems that, as a society, we’re really just beginning to understand the impact of smartphones on safety. We already know that distracted driving is big problem that is only getting worse. While collisions resulting from distracted walking seem like they’d be much less severe, the data on injuries from distracted walking are limited.

According to Safety.com, citing data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):

Nearly 5,000 pedestrians were killed and an estimated 76,000 injured in traffic collisions in the United States in 2012. That’s one death every 2 hours and an injury every 7 minutes. While it’s not clear how many of these are a direct result of distracted walking, the total rate of pedestrian fatalities compared to overall road deaths is getting worse each year.

While it’s not clear how many of these are a direct result of distracted walking, the total rate of pedestrian fatalities compared to overall road deaths is getting worse each year.

Would an ordinance actually deter distracted walking? I suppose the first answers will come out of Hawaii. With respect to Chicago, it seems that such an ordinance might create an enforcement nightmare. While that’s not necessarily are reason not to have the ordinance, it certainly should give us all pause. Do we want valuable Chicago resources directed toward stopping people from distracted walking?

So, what do you think Chicago? Is a distracted walking ordinance a good idea?

Lawsuit Anatomy: Pre-Suit Negotiation

http://levinsonstefani.com/lawsuit-anatomy-treating/

This is Part Four of our Anatomy of a Lawsuit series. So far, we have covered hiring an attorney, investigation of your claim and getting treatment. The next stage in your lawsuit is pre-suit negotiation, often called “making a demand.”

In most personal injury cases, your attorney has two years from the date of the collision to file a lawsuit against the other driver. Often however, your attorney will try to settle your case before a lawsuit is ever filed. This happens for many different reasons; it’s more cost effective to you, it resolves your case quicker and it doesn’t unnecessarily clog up the courthouse.

A pre-suit “demand” is a letter written by your attorney to the insurance adjuster for the at-fault driver making a demand for payment. Once you have finished your medical treatment, your attorney will order copies of your medical records and bills, and then send the letter. Other documents that might be included with the demand are the police report, photographs of your injuries or your vehicle, statements from your employer about wages lost, statements from your doctors regarding the permanency of your condition, etc. The goal of this demand letter is to show the extent of your injuries, the cost of your medical treatment and any other damages you may have incurred.

Once the demand has been sent, it is customary to allow the insurance adjuster thirty days to review all the information. After a thorough review, the insurance adjuster will make an “offer” – that is, the amount of money they believe your case is worth. From here, your attorney and the insurance adjuster will negotiate a dollar amount somewhere between the demand and the offer that both parties can agree on. It’s much like buying a house or a car; there is usually a number in the middle that satisfies both sides.

In some cases, the two parties cannot agree on a number before the two years expires, or the client has such extensive injuries it takes longer than two years to finish medical treatment. In those cases, your attorney will be forced to file a lawsuit. This certainly doesn’t mean you have a bad case, or you are going to lose. Sometimes, one or both sides simply needs additional information before they can agree on a number.

It has been estimated that 99% of lawsuits, or potential lawsuits, end in settlement. Given the odds, it makes sense that your attorney would try to settle your case without filing a lawsuit. Have a legal question about your case? Call our offices, one of our attorneys will be glad to speak with you.

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