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.