$417,175 Verdict in Crash That Injured Several in Loop Fast Food Restaurant
Press Release, 03/09/2010A jury returned a verdict late yesterday (Wed., March 3, 2010) on behalf of two men who were injured when a car crashed through the window of a Loop fast food restaurant.
Robert Walsh, partner at Clifford Law Offices, obtained a $393,209 verdict on behalf of Timothy Kelleher of Wheaton who was sent to Mt. Sinai Hospital with a fractured ankle and required surgery for other injuries. He had been eating a sandwich at the window counter at Gold Coast Dogs.
Craig Squillace, associate at Clifford Law Offices, represented David Duggan, 54, of Chicago’s north side, who also was among the seven injured in the December 1, 2005 crash. Duggan, an attorney in the Loop, was walking in front a parking garage at the corner of Randolph and Wabash when a car driven by personal injury attorney Sheldon Aberman came out of a nearby parking garage, crashing through a pedestrian gate and smashing into the front window of the restaurant. The five-man-six-woman jury also rendered a $23,966 verdict for Duggan during its two hours of deliberation.
The two-week trial was before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Patricia Banks.
The driver, 36-year-old Aberman denied liability at trial, calling it “an act of God” since he claimed fainting immediately before the crash.
