Posted on April 20, 2025 in Car Accidents

After a serious car accident, navigating a lawsuit for compensation can be overwhelming. However, with the guidance of experienced Illinois car accident attorneys at Tomasik Kotin Kasserman, LLC, you can be assured that you have a team of experienced, aggressive attorneys who take your case seriously and have the professional tools and resources to pursue the compensation you deserve for both economic and noneconomic damages.

Determining Car Accident Fault 

In Illinois, fault in a car accident is a critical factor in determining liability for damages. Fault is established by proving negligence in a series of steps: 

• Duty of care: Another party had a duty of care to you. For example, a car driver has a duty of care to drive at a legal speed and stop at red lights and stop signs.

• Breach: That driver breached the duty of care by, for instance, running a red light and rear-ending your car.

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 Posted on March 13, 2025 in Medical Malpractice

Anesthesia is a crucial part of medicine, allowing patients to undergo surgeries and medical procedures without pain. However, when anesthesiologists make critical errors, the consequences can be severe — even life-threatening. If you or a loved one suffered an anesthesia-related injury due to medical negligence, you may have legal options to seek compensation for your losses.

At Tomasik Kotin Kasserman, LLC, our Illinois personal injury lawyers have a proven track record of winning outstanding settlements and verdicts for our clients. If you have a strong case, we will fight for your rights and ensure you receive maximum compensation.

What Are Common Anesthesia Errors?

Administering anesthesia is a complex process that requires careful monitoring of a patient’s vital signs, dosage levels, and overall condition. Even a small mistake can lead to catastrophic injuries. Some of the most serious anesthesiology errors include:

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 Posted on February 13, 2025 in Car Accidents

Rideshare services like Uber and Lyft offer riders an easy way to move around Chicago. However, when these vehicles are involved in serious accidents, passengers can suffer devastating injuries.

Major crashes on expressways such as the Dan Ryan, Kennedy, or Eisenhower, or at dangerous intersections like Milwaukee, Damen, and North, can lead to life-changing consequences. If your Uber or cab driver crashes and you suffer serious injuries, you may have legal options to pursue compensation.

An experienced Illinois personal injury attorney can help you understand your rights and seek the financial recovery you deserve.

Is the Uber Driver Responsible in an Uber Crash?

In a serious accident involving a rideshare or taxi, multiple parties could be responsible, including:

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 Posted on January 15, 2025 in Medical Malpractice

The birth of a child should be one of the happiest times in a person’s life, but when something goes wrong during labor and delivery, the results can be devastating. Birth injuries can have long-term effects on a baby’s health and development, as well as a family’s emotional and financial well-being. 

Understanding the causes of serious birth injuries can help parents recognize when medical mistakes may have played a role. If you believe your child’s birth injury could have been prevented, a Chicago, IL birth injury lawyer can help you explore your legal options and seek compensation for your family.

Prolonged or Delayed Labor

Prolonged or delayed labor occurs when the process of childbirth takes too long, putting unnecessary stress on the baby and the mother. When labor stalls, doctors and nurses must monitor the baby closely for signs of distress and take appropriate action. Failing to intervene when labor has gone on for too long can lead to complications such as oxygen deprivation, brain damage, or physical trauma to the baby.

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 Posted on December 19, 2024 in Personal Injury

Public transportation is a vital part of daily life for many Chicago residents, but accidents can and do happen on systems like the Metra and CTA’s L trains. If you have been injured on public transit in Chicago or elsewhere in Illinois, you might wonder if you can sue the government for your injuries and suffering.

Filing a lawsuit against a government entity is more difficult than suing a private party, but it is possible under specific circumstances. An experienced Chicago, IL personal injury attorney can help you go through the process and fight for the compensation you deserve.

Can I Sue the CTA or Metra for My Injury?

Yes, you can sue the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) or Metra for injuries sustained on their trains, buses, or stations if negligence contributed to your injury. The CTA operates L trains and buses throughout the city, while Metra manages commuter rail lines across the greater Chicago area and northern Illinois. These government agencies have a duty to maintain safe vehicles, tracks, and stations. If they fail in this duty, they can be held liable under the Illinois Tort Immunity Act.

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 Posted on November 25, 2024 in General

Artificial Intelligence ("AI") is no longer science fiction. In the past few years, AI technology has infiltrated TV screens and cell phones, gradually making its way into the workplace. The possibility of having an always-available research assistant has sparked interest in the legal community, but it has also raised considerable ethical questions about how the technology would be integrated into legal practice. Federal courts have since made it clear that AI technology can be used as a tool, not a replacement for research.

In 2023, Two New York lawyers, Steven Schwartz and Peter LoDuca, filed a legal document citing six non-existent cases in Federal Court; the lawyers only realized the cases were fake when representatives from the other side of the case informed the court of their inability to locate the cited sources. When both parties appeared before the court, Schwartz admitted to using ChatGPT and unknowingly including false citations. U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel found that the lawyers acted in bad faith and made misleading statements to the court. He ordered the lawyers to pay a $5,000 fine.

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 Posted on December 06, 2023 in Personal Injury

By Daniel M. Kotin

In October 2005, Stephen Colbert essentially invented the word truthiness on his TV show. Since then, his made-up word has earned an official place in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

truth-i-ness (noun): A truthful or seemingly truthful quality that is claimed for something not because of supporting facts or evidence but because of the feeling that it is true or the desire for it to be true.

Also, in the 18 years since that satirical Colbert Report aired, several studies and articles in peer-reviewed journals have drilled down on this concept and identified a phenomenon known as the "truthiness effect." Research shows that if any claim is accompanied by a neutral, generic photograph of the subject of that claim, most unknowing people will be biased into believing that claim is true. This is a bit scary.

Let’s look at a couple of examples. Psychologists Eryn J. Newman and Lynn Zhang wrote about research subjects being presented with this statement and asked if it is true or false:

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 Posted on December 04, 2023 in Car Accidents

People who are injured in car accidents typically have options for addressing their damages, including the cost of medical treatment, property damage, lost income, and more. An injury victim can file an insurance claim under the policy of the driver who was at fault and receive compensation for their expenses and financial losses. However, people who are injured in hit-and-run accidents may struggle to receive the proper compensation. Fortunately, coverage may be available under a person's own auto insurance policy. While there are some cases where injury victims may struggle to receive the proper insurance coverage, a recent decision by the Illinois Supreme Court ensures that uninsured motorist coverage will be available to people injured in hit-and-run accidents.

In 2020, a teenage boy in Chicago was injured in a hit-and-run accident while riding a bicycle. His father filed a claim under his auto insurance policy seeking uninsured motorist coverage for an accident in which the at-fault driver could not be identified. The insurance company denied the claim, stating that because the boy was not in the father's vehicle at the time of the accident, coverage did not apply. The father took legal action to address this denial, and while a trial court initially dismissed the claim, an appellate court reversed this ruling. The Illinois Supreme Court reviewed the case and determined that uninsured motorist coverage should have applied in this situation. In its decision, the court stated that the purpose of uninsured motorist coverage is to put a person in the same position as they would have been in had the at-fault party had liability insurance. In cases where a driver strikes a person on a bicycle, their liability insurance policy would provide coverage, so uninsured motorist coverage will be available to victims in these situations. This ruling ensures that Illinois residents will be able to receive the proper insurance coverage, even if they are not in a vehicle at the time of an accident.

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 Posted on June 29, 2023 in Car Accidents

By Daniel M. Kotin

The Governors Highway Safety Association recently released data showing that deaths in pedestrian and bicycle accidents in the United States are at the highest they have been in forty years. The group attributes some of the increase to the rising popularity of trucks and SUVs. But another factor is undoubtedly the increase of essentially silent electric vehicles on our roadways.

I have been driving an electric car for about six weeks now. I have not struck anyone, but I have already experienced a handful of occasions wherein pedestrians have simply walked into my path. It has become enough of a concern that I felt compelled to do some research.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, electric cars are 37% more likely to collide with pedestrians than cars with internal combustion engines. These collisions usually occur at lower speeds when the sound of the combustion engine is primarily responsible for alerting pedestrians to an approaching vehicle. At higher speeds, the sound of tires on the roadway and wind caused by the vehicle suffice to alert pedestrians to a moving vehicle. But those other noises do not occur at lower speeds.

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 Posted on May 08, 2023 in Personal Injury

By Daniel M. Kotin

I recently returned from a Chicago Bar Association trip to Dublin, Ireland hosted by my partner and CBA President Tim Tomasik.

While there, I participated on a panel with Judge Maryam Ahmed and Barrister Remy Farrell, comparing the jury trial system in the U.S. to that in Ireland. We learned that in jury selection, like in America, Irish barristers are given a number of “preemptory challenges” through which they can exclude potential jurors for no stated reason.

At this point, our moderator, Hon. Tom Mulroy (Ret.) asked the Barrister how they handle Batson issues in Ireland. (Batson v. Kentucky was the first in a line of U.S. Supreme Court cases holding it unconstitutional for a lawyer to remove jurors from a case on the basis of their race, religion, or ethnic background.) This is a complicated issue in American courts, and it was a good question to ask of our Irish counterpart.

Barrister Farrell gave an answer that was refreshingly honest. “We’re a pretty homogeneous lot over here,” he said. “There isn’t really that type of discrimination to be had.” His blunt answer drew a laugh from the audience of American lawyers and judges. Only afterward did its simplicity cause me to think.

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