!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!

(Contains references to Letters to Santa.)

‘Tis the season for giving, and we were grateful the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) coordinated with Direct Effect Charities’ Letters to Santa Program. We got 17 amazing hand-decorated envelopes, each one of which contained a child’s letter to Santa asking for a specific gift.

Our team had a wonderful time checking off items for the second- and third-grade boys and girls — all of whom made the “Nice List.”

After wrapping each and every gift with the same care Santa’s elves would give, Ben and Sandra delivered them to the northwest-side elementary school. We look forward to making this a firm holiday tradition. If you would like to support the wonderful projects run by Direct Effect Charities, please consider donating!

From everyone here at Levinson & Stefani Injury Lawyers, we wish you and yours a very happy and safe holiday season!

A Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) is required if a person is operating 1) a vehicle or combination of vehicles with a gross weight over 10,000 lbs.; or 2) a vehicle designed to transport 16 or more people. Trucking companies or transportation companies (motor carriers) employing such drivers must make sure their drivers are qualified. And that makes sense, right? We want large vehicles (tractor-trailers often weigh up to 80,000 lbs.) and buses to be operated safely on our roadways. But beyond making sure their drivers have valid CDLs, should motor carriers be doing anything else?

Ken recently spoke to a group of fellow trucking safety lawyers on just that topic: Motor Carrier Duties to Train Drivers.

Beyond ensuring its drivers have valid CDLs, a motor carrier must show “it has adequate safety management controls in place” to reduce the risks associated with “Improper use and driving of motor vehicles,” “Unsafe vehicles operating on the highways,” and other dangers to the public.

The key to those safety rules, though, is “adequate.” Does that make you feel safe knowing all those trucks and buses on the highways and streets are “adequate” in terms of being safe? Those regulations are merely a baseline for safety — the bare minimum a motor carrier needs to meet to put massive vehicles out on the public way.

Thankfully, there are many trucking companies that meet those requirements and then exceed them by instituting rigorous driver training programs. Smart, safe, responsible motor carriers provide their professional drivers the education and tools needed to reduce the risk and number of crashes. Moreover, they create and enforce their own additional rules — often contained in a company driver manual — and systematically check whether their drivers are following the rules.

Speaking from experience, Ken discussed the numerous small, “mom-and-pop” motor carriers that ignore the “extra” safety measures because they believe meeting the bare minimum requirements is enough. He and Jay have taken the deposition of numerous motor carrier Safety Directors over the years. Some of those people discuss the importance of doing more than what’s required, while others are content to just squeak by. Which motor carriers do you think are less likely to have trucks and drivers causing crashes?

This week, Levinson and Stefani is proud to celebrate Dan as it marks his first year as an associate at the firm. Dan has been an integral part since the day he arrived. Anyone who meets Dan will agree that he’s incredibly hard-working and brilliant at what he does. Dan also has a special talent for making everyone in the office laugh with many of his hilarious quips.  

 As founding partner Ken Levinson has said, “Having Dan join the team was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.” Ken has actually known Dan for almost a decade, with their first meeting happening back in 2010, when Ken was a speaker at a continuing legal education, or CLE, seminar for newly admitted attorneys. That day, Dan came up to introduce himself after Ken’s presentation. Ken and Dan had kept in touch ever since. When the opportunity arose, Dan was the first person Ken thought of who would be a perfection addition to the firm.            

We can think of no other person who would fit in as well as Dan has with the Levinson and Stefani team. This past year has been such a joy thanks to Dan. His tireless efforts to help our clients’ cases is something that is truly admirable. We look forward to celebrating many more years of appreciating Dan.