News

The Law Offices of Parente & Norem, P.C. settled a Cook County construction case for $13,000,000 shortly before trial. 

On July 12, 2018, a carpenter’s helper, then 30 years old, was working for a rough carpentry crew, BXH Construction, performing work on a townhome project in Countryside, Illinois.  The coworkers were raising and putting in place a 40-foot-long party wall which had been pre-sheeted with drywall.  While they were moving the wall into place with a sledgehammer, it fell over, landing on top of him as he was working on the other side of the wall.  He sustained an L2 burst fracture and underwent emergency fusion surgery from T12 to L3 at Loyola Hospital. He was initially confined to a wheelchair and suffered from bowel and bladder dysfunction. After several years of rehabilitation, he is able to walk long distances with ankle braces and a cane.  

Parente & Norem sued the general contractor, CCH, and the project owner, HPVG.  Discovery revealed that no one at BXH had any OSHA training, and CCH’s superintendent admitted he was not an OSHA competent person.  It was argued that although HPVG knew that CCH was not fulfilling its contractual obligations of providing daily site supervision and accident prevention, it did nothing to enforce its contract.  HPVG maintained that it did nothing wrong and was not contractually obligated to police safety, claiming that CCH was an experienced general contractor and it could and did rely on them.  

Although no one was present from CCH or HPVG at the time of the injury, it was argued that BXH had followed the same faulty bracing and movement procedures multiple times before the incident.  The Defendants contended there was nothing wrong with the bracing procedure and this was a fluke occurrence that could not have been foreseen.  All witnesses agreed that he did nothing wrong.  

The case was set to proceed to trial on April 10, 2024.

The settlement included an assignment of CCH and HPVG’s contribution claims against BXH.  Plaintiff now intends to try the contribution case on April 10, 2024 against his employer, BXH, to eliminate the approximately $1.5 million workers’ compensation lien.   

The case was mediated by retired Judge William Gomolinski. 

The plaintiff was represented by Dennis M. Lynch, Joseph D. Parente, and Christopher M. Norem of Parente & Norem.

CCH was represented by Michael Carter of Lewis Brisbois

HPVG was represented by Dan Boho of Hinshaw and Culbertson, Susan Chae Corcoran of Leahy Eisenberg and Andrew Elbogen of Kopka Pinkus.

BXH was represented by Kasia Nowak of Foley and Mansfield.

If you or someone you know has been injured due to negligence, call/text The Law Offices of Parente and Norem, P.C. at 312.641.5926 or fill out a contact form here on the website. 

The Law Offices of Parente & Norem, P.C. would like to congratulate Chris Norem and Dennis Lynch, who were honored last Wednesday at the 2023 JVR Awards for Trial Lawyer Excellence in the category of Highest Reported Work Injury Verdict or Settlement. They were recognized for their record-setting $7 million settlement in the case of the death of a 22-year-old hostler driver, which they obtained in June of this year.

This is the second record setting verdict for Norem and Lynch, who also obtained the highest ever amount awarded by a jury in Winnebago County this month. When it comes to Experience, Dedication, and Proven Results, look no further than The Law Offices of Parente & Norem, P.C. We Win Big Cases!  

We are thrilled to share some outstanding news from The Law Offices of Parente & Norem!  Our exceptional trial team of Christopher M. Norem and Cole H. Munvez has achieved the HIGHEST case settlement in their category for May 2023!

Our experience, dedication, and unwavering commitment to our clients is what sets The Law Offices of Parente & Norem apart with our unwavering pursuit of justice and tireless advocacy for our clients that have yielded proven results.

We would also like to express our gratitude to our clients for placing their trust in us. It is through their courage, cooperation, and support that we were able to pursue justice and attain this remarkable settlement. 

At The Law Offices of Parente & Norem, we are committed to providing unparalleled legal representation and fighting tirelessly for the rights of our clients. This achievement further solidifies our reputation as a leader in personal injury, and we are proud to have such incredible attorneys as part of our team. If you or a loved one have been injured call/text us today at 312.641.5926 or fill out a contact sheet here on our website.

The Law Offices of Parente & Norem, P.C. is proud to congratulate Christopher M. Norem, Dennis M. Lynch, and Joseph D. Parente for achieving the highest settlement in the $11M category as published in the December 2022 edition of Jury Verdict Reporter. Way to go, team! 

 $6.785M settlement (plus the complete waiver of a $269K worker’s comp. lien) in the matter of Juan Hernandez Aguilar v. Kinzie Builders, LLC, et al. (2018 L 010486) pending in Cook County, IL before the Honorable Judge Jerry A. Esrig.

This matter settled late Friday afternoon (10/28) following motions in limine,  which occurred earlier in the week.  Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday, 10/31/22.

Juan Hernandez Aguilar is a 41 year-old bricklayer foreman working for Third-Party Defendant, Hill Masonry, Inc. in Lake County, Illinois on a large town home and apartment project known as “Deer Park Crossing.” The General Contractor on the project was Kinzie Builders, LLC and the Carpentry Subcontractor on the project was Horizon Carpentry, Inc.

On January 26, 2018, Juan and his crew were assigned to work on  a building that was in need of a masonry repair in the garage area on the ground floor.  While he and his crew were working on the repair, a 70lb sheet of plywood fell out of a second story window of the building striking him on the top of his head and fracturing his C6 vertebrae requiring a C5-C7 double level fusion surgery with plates.  After 10 months of rehabilitation Juan returned to his position as a foreman bricklayer for Hill Masonry in a “Medium” job capacity.  His employer accommodates his permanent restrictions.

The plywood was brought onto the job site by the Carpentry Subcontractor, Horizon Carpentry, and left sticking out of the second story window for several days prior to the event.  The General Contractor, Kinzie recognized the unsafe condition presented by the plywood the day before the event and ordered the carpenters to remove it but they did not do so prior to high winds displacing one of the sheets causing it to fall onto Juan.

On October 1, 2021, Judge Esrig granted plaintiff’s motion for leave to plead punitive damages against Defendant Horizon Carpentry based on their reckless disregard for safety on the job site.  That order is attached.

Plaintiff did not seek medical bills or wage loss as part of his damages in this case.

The $6.785M settlement was apportioned $4,642,500.00 on behalf of Horizon Carpentry and $2,142,500.00 on behalf of Kinzie Builders.

The plaintiff was represented by:

1. Christopher M. Norem
2. Dennis Lynch
3. Joseph D. Parente, all of The Law Offices of Parente & Norem, PC

Parente & Norem trial attorney, Dennis Lynch, has been published in this month’s Illinois State Bar Association Tort Trends newsletter. The article, ‘Confusing Duty and Breach of Duty in Motion Practice’ highlights differences between the two and how they are often conflated and confused in practice. 

Congratulations to Dennis on his publication! To learn more about Dennis Lynch and to contact him for a free case evaluation click here.

$6,000,000 settlement for carpenter after offer is increased by $2,000,000 

following opening statements

A Cook County construction negligence case has settled for $6,000,000 mid-trial.

Joshua Rominski was a Local 13 Union Carpenter when he was injured on the job on February 9, 2016.  Rominski was working for Service Drywall and Decorating doing rough carpentry during construction of an addition to the Mather Place retirement home in Wilmette, Illinois.  W.E. O’Neill was the general contractor for the project.  

As part of the project, a temporary scaffold staircase was constructed to allow each worker to access the site.  Rominski alleged that on the morning of February 9, 2016, after using the stairs several times, he slipped on snow and ice and fell down several steps, injuring his back.  Weather reports showed there was minimal snow that morning – .04 of an inch – and Rominski’s foreman and coworkers could not recall there being snow or ice on the stairs.  Accident reports filled out later that day indicated there was ice and snow.  

Plaintiff claimed that any ice or snow on the stairs violated OSHA’s scaffolding rules.  They further claimed that W.E. O’Neill was short staffed on the day of the accident – its site safety supervisor has left W.E. O’Neill and had not been replaced, the labor foreman was sent to another jobsite that day, and the project manager did not come to work until later in the day.   One W.E. O’Neil laborer testified that he would have gotten to work early and cleared any snow and ice from the stairs before any subcontractors started working. 

As a result of his fall, Rominski had an L5-S1 fusion and was unable to return to work as a union carpenter.  However, W.E. O’Neil claimed Rominski was able to work at the medium demand level, which was all that Service Drywall’s job description required.  Rominski’s father and grandfather were union carpenters, and his inability to return to that job had a profound impact on him.    

The case was twice mediated before Judge William Gomolinski of ADR Systems.  Prior to opening statements, W.E. O’Neill offered $4,000,000.  After opening statements, W.E. O’Neil offered $6,000,000, which was accepted by Rominski.  Additionally, Service Drywall agreed to reduce its workers’ compensation lien by half.  Judge Israel Desierto presided over the trial.

Rominski was represented by Matthew Coleman, Dennis Lynch and Taylor Matichak of Parente & Norem.  

Attorney Matt Coleman also represented Rominski in his workers’ compensation case.  In that case, the Workers’ Compensation Commission Arbitrator denied the claim – finding that Rominski only suffered a back strain and could return to work.  The Workers’ Compensation Commission reversed the arbitrator and awarded benefits.  This decision was recently affirmed by the Appellate Court.  Service Drywall and Decorating v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, 2022 IL App (1st) 210965WC-U (4/22/22).  As a result of the Arbitrator’s ruling denying the claim, Rominski went without pay or medical benefits for over 5 years.  

W.E. O’Neil was represented by Katherine Crouch and Howard Trafman of Lindsey, Picket and Postel.

Service Drywall and Decorating was represented by Brad Smith of Keefe, Campbell, Biery.