CLO is proud to announce that Wendell Clancy and Michael Clancy were again selected as Illinois Super Lawyers for 2008 by Chicago Magazine. This is the third consecutive year both have been selected.  Only 5% of Illinois attorneys were selected for this honor by peer nominations, a blue ribbon review process, and independent research. Look for Wendell and Michael in the February, 2008 issue of Chicago Magazine.

Mr. Clancy will teach two courses every month during 2007 for TRT, Inc., a Virginia based national continuing education provider. Once course will focus on the selection of cases and the other will focus on preparing your client for deposition.

In November of 2006 CLO negotiated a settlement in Klinck v. Meijer in the amount of $650,000.00. In a complaint filed in in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Ms. Klinck alleged that she was injured when a hammock set up for display in a St. Charles Meijer store collapsed when she sat on it. Her injuries included multiple disc herniations requiring surgery. 

In October, 2006, CLO convinced Jewel to settle the claims of Lorraine Dunteman. In a case filed in Cook County, Ms. Dunteman asserted that she suffered compression fractures of both arms when her foot got caught under a metal railing which Jewel had installed in a store to prevent shopping carts from running into the glass freezer case. Following several depositions and extended negotiations, Jewel agreed to pay Ms. Dunteman $470,000.

In January of 2007, insurers for MLP Transport and Big Horn Imports agreed to pay CLO clients the Valete family a total of $224,335.00 for injuries which five family members sustained when their car was struck by a tractor trailer on I-90. After filing suit in Cook County, Illinois and taking approximately eight depositions, defendants elected to settle the case to avoid trial. Plaintiffs' injuries included multiple fractures of the spine and other soft tissue neck and back injuries.

In May of 2006 CLO negotiated a confidential settlement in  Estate of Wang v. Lee, et al. In a complaint filed in DeKalb County, Illinois, Mr. Wang's estate alleged that Dr. Lee and his employer DeKalb Clinic failed to notify Mr. Wang the results of a CT scan taken of Mr. Wang's chest which showed a tumor in his lung. Mr. Wang was diagnosed with lung cancer thirteen months later and passed away in July of 2005. The case settled two days before plaintiff's expert deposition testimony was scheduled to begin.

In May of 2006 Michael Clancy completed mediation training offered by the Center for Claims Resolution ("CCR") in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Clancy mediates for CCR in Chicago, Illinois at least twice per month. He will also continue to mediate all types of cases throughout the state privately.

In January of 2006, a chapter on which Michael Clancy and Edwardsville attorney Richard Hunsaker collaborated appeared in the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education's 2006 publication of Medical Malpractice . Messrs. Clancy and Hunsaker wrote on the issue of claim evaluation and Michael lectured on the topic in Chicago and Springfield later in 2006.

In December of 2005, CLO settled Smith v. Kan just prior to trial for a confidential seven figure amount. The settlement, recorded as one of largest in Will County in 2005, resulted from one defendant's failure to recognize the signs of a developing aortic dissection in 49 year old Joseph Smith while he was treated at Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital in Dixon, Illinois. Mr. Smith died shortly thereafter during surgery to repair the dissection. Using experts in cardiology, radiology, cardiothoracic surgery, and economics, CLO convinced defendant to settle rather than risk a trial.

Also in December of 2005, CLO reached an agreement in principal to settle the claims of Dianna Coffie against the United States government. Ms. Coffie, a Tennessee resident, was injured when the car in which she was riding was struck by a rural route mail carrier in DeKalb County, Illinois. Ms. Coffie suffered a fracture to her left ankle and an intertrochanteric, four part fracture of her right hip and femur which resulted in two surgeries and physical therapy. As plaintiff was preparing to file suit, the government offered $240,000 to settle Ms. Coffie's claims to avoid a trial.

In September of 2005, Wendell Clancy became a certified mediator after attending mediation training offered by DePaul University. Mr. Clancy has already been asked to mediate more than a dozen personal injury cases and is an approved mediator for the Court-supervised mediation programs in Cook, DuPage and Kane Counties. Mr. Clancy will mediate all types of cases throughout the state.

In August of 2005, CLO settled the case of Fernando and Maria Martinez v. Designed Stairs, Inc., Paul Amore, and Amore Homes, Inc. Fernando Martinez was a 50 year old painter asked to do touch-up painting on a single family home which was closing later that day in St. Charles, Illinois. Balancing on a stair banister installed and designed by Designed Stairs, Inc. in a home which had been built by Amore Builders, Mr. Martinez slipped and fell into the stairwell, breaking his neck. He was rendered a quadriplegic. The Martinez family initially consulted Nolan Law Group in Chicago who agreed to represent them. After several months, Albert E. Durkin, who was handling the case, asked CLO's Wendell Clancy to serve as co-counsel. Working together, Durkin and CLO were able to convince insurers to pay Mr. Martinez and his family a total of $3.27 million dollars without a trial, despite the fact that the insurers initially took the position that they would make no payment at all. Experts in physical medicine and rehabilitation, life care planning, wood products, construction standards, and others were retained and presented in this construction injury case. The result will permit Mr. Martinez and his family to concentrate on maximizing their time together following this tragic accident.

In August of 2005, CLO settled the Estate of Patricia Cowan v. United States of America for a confidential amount. In this Federal Tort Claims Act case, CLO alleged that physicians working for a clinic funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services failed to adequately treat Patricia Cowan, a 55 year old woman who presented to SwedishAmerican Hospital in Rockford, Illinois complaining of shoulder pain. Ms. Cowan died in the hospital approximately three weeks later. Following depositions of the physicians who had provided care to Ms. Cowan but prior to the taking of any expert depositions, the United States conceded that it was responsible for Ms. Cowan's death. Following a settlement conference conducted by a United States Magistrate, the case settled. Settlement proceeds were divided between Ms. Cowan's two adult children.

In June of 2005, CLO successfully negotiated a $305,000 settlement in the Kane County auto accident case of Pontanini v. Rankin. The complaint alleged that Mrs. Rankin was at fault for attempting a left turn directly in front of the Pontanini vehicle in Geneva, Illinois causing a collision. Mrs. Pontanini suffered a fracture of her right ankle which required surgical repair and plating. Her medical bills totaled approximately $25,000.

In April of 2005, CLO settled a medical malpractice case for a substantial but confidential amount. In general, CLO's client alleged that a physician had failed to adequately care for her when she developed complications around the 32nd week of her pregnancy. CLO alleged that these complications resulted in the death of the woman's fetus. After filing suit and taking the parties' depositions, CLO utilized the services of a mediator and was able to settle the case without a trial and in a manner that will provide the client with a substantial income for the rest of her life.

In March of 2005, CLO settled the Estate of Joseph Edwards v. Kathryn Chezem, Muriel Kleinwachter and R.C. Wegman Inc. on the eve of trial. Mr. Edwards, a 50 year old factory worker, was riding his bicycle along the side of Sullivan Street in Aurora, Illinois on the morning of November 6, 1999 when he was struck and killed by a vehicle driven by Kathryn Chezem. Although an autopsy revealed that Mr. Edwards had been drinking, CLO was able to convince defendants and their insurers to pay Mr. Edwards' family $150,000 to avoid a trial.

In February of 2005, CLO filed suit in Valentine v. Provena St. Joseph Hospital. Shortly after the filing of the complaint, Provena St. Joseph's insurer agreed to settle the case for a confidential sum. The complaint charged that the nursing staff at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, Illinois failed to properly care for William Valentine after he broke his hip and was hospitalized there in 2003. As a result of this negligent nursing care, CLO contended that Mr. Valentine developed terrible bed sores, known a decubitus ulcers, which became infected and required plastic surgery. Mr. Valentine died several months later.

In January of 2005, Wendell Clancy became the President of the Illinois Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Membership in the organization is limited to lawyers who have demonstrated excellence in trial practice and is by invitation only. The organization promotes the right to a jury trial in Illinois and nationwide. His term will last two years. More information can be found at www.abota.org .

In January of 2005, Wendell Clancy was asked to address a gathering of lawyers for the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education. Mr. Clancy spoke on the topics of Spoliation and Civil Damages to two separate groups of lawyers in Springfield and Chicago.

The Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) has asked Michael Clancy to contribute a chapter to its upcoming 2005 edition of Medical Malpractice. Mr. Clancy will collaborate with Richard Hunsaker, a medical malpractice defense lawyer, to produce a chapter on medical malpractice claim evaluation and intake.

In December of 2004, CLO filed the Cook County case of B.R. v. Samir Jaglan, M.D. B.R., a resident of McHenry County, Illinois is alleged to have been the victim of unnecessary and poorly performed hip surgery. Among other things, the complaint alleges that Samir Jaglan, M.D., a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who practices primarily at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, mistakenly placed a screw into B.R.'s hip joint during the surgery and then failed to recognize his mistake. The complaint alleges that B.R. required further surgery, including a hip replacement.

In January of 2004, CLO brought suit in Cook County against drug manufacturer Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and others on behalf of Judy Schutter. The complaint alleges that Wyeth's hormone replacement therapy drug, Prempro, was unreasonably dangerous and fraudulently marketed. Ms. Schutter suffers now from a particular type of breast cancer (infiltrating ductal carcinoma which is hormone receptor positive) which the complaint alleges was caused and/or made worse by her extended consumption of Prempro. Wyeth has removed the case to federal court and it is anticipated that it will be joined with other Prempro cases which are currently pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

In January of 2004, CLO settled a case involving an inmate suicide in a central Illinois County jail. The amount of the settlement is confidential. CLO convinced the defendant's insurer to compensate the family of the inmate despite the fact that it appeared that the defendant would spend considerable time in jail. The case was pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois.

CLO agreed to represent Dianna Coffie of Greenville, Tennessee in her claims against the United States. Ms. Coffie was badly hurt when a car in which she was a passenger was struck by a U.S. Postal Service vehicle. CLO has prepared the claim notice documents required by the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA") and is waiting for the required time to pass before filing suit. CLO has handled a number of FTCA cases in recent years.

In July of 2004, CLO filed the case of Lin Huo, Executor of the Estate of Xiaoshan Wang v. William Lee, M.D. and DeKalb Clinic Chartered. The complaint alleges that physicians at the DeKalb Clinic in DeKalb, Illinois failed to inform Mr. Wang, a 43 year old professor at Northern Illinois University, that a CT scan taken of his chest showed a suspicious spot. Mr. Wang went 13 months before symptoms took him back to the doctor at which time he was diagnosed with lung cancer. The complaint asserts that the delay in treating Mr. Wang's cancer allowed it to grow and spread to his brain. Sadly, Mr. Wang lost his battle with cancer just days after the complaint was filed, but the lawsuit will continue on behalf of his wife and 15 year old son.

In April of 2004, the Second District Appellate Court upheld the verdict CLO obtained for the surviving relatives of Ethel Hare. The case settled for $267,500, an amount which is approximately equal to the amount of the juries' verdict plus interest, shortly thereafter.

In January of 2004, CLO successfully negotiated a $500,000 settlement in the Cook County case of Maria Kryvenko, Special Administrator of the Estate of Walter Kryvenko v. Greenwood Care, Inc. and S.I.R. Management, Inc. CLO, representing Walter's Estate with Ronald Wittmeyer, claimed that Walter received negligent treatment at Greenwood Care, a psychiatric nursing home, in Evanston, Illinois. Walter either fell or jumped from the Church Street overpass above I-94 in March of 2000 and was killed after having been at Greenwood for about 14 days. After consulting experts in psychiatry and nursing home management and training and taking nearly twenty depositions, CLO was able to convince defendants to settle the case despite the fact that Walter had never worked outside the home significantly and that he had battled mental illness for years. The settlement will be divided amongst Walter's parents and two sisters.

Also in January of 2004, CLO prevailed when defendant's motions for a new trial and to reduce the verdict were denied in the Cook County case of Krueger v. Galanis. The case settled shortly thereafter for $150,000. In October, CLO obtained a net verdict of $178,831 after a three day jury trial. Mr. Krueger, who was struck by a car as he attempted to cross Route 64 in St. Charles, Illinois on foot, was awarded a total of $275,000, which was reduced by 35% for Mr. Krueger's comparative negligence. Mr. Krueger injured his shoulder and suffered a leg fracture. The pretrial offer was $60,000 and the pretrial demand was $92,500, just less than the defendant's $100,000 policy limits. Plaintiff's demand was withdrawn on the third day of the five day trial. Defendant is deciding whether to appeal.

B.L., mother and next friend of A.L. v. Kenneth Kavanaugh, D.O. and Sandwich Family Practice settled on the eve of trial in the third week of October, 2003. Using experts in family practice medicine and pediatric cardiology, CLO convinced defendants' insurers to pay a young girl a confidential amount because the defendants failed to timely diagnose A.L.'s strep throat. Her throat infection progressed to rheumatic fever, which attacked and injured her heart. A.L. spent several days in the hospital and is left with a mild mitral valve regurgitation and a risk for mitral valve stenosis (narrowing) in the future. With the settlement proceeds, A.L.'s parents purchased an annuity which will pay more than $800,000 over her lifetime.

In July of 2003, CLO negotiated a $1.45 million settlement in Gary and Karen Hart v. Brian P. Daniel, M.D. and Sterling Rock Falls Clinic, d/b/a The Dixon Clinic, a failure to timely diagnose rectal cancer case filed in Lee County, Illinois. Gary, a 37 year old Lee County deputy sheriff, went to his primary care doctor complaining of blood in his stool. After an exam, the doctor told him that there was nothing to worry about. Although the doctor's notes suggest that he wanted to follow up with Gary in three months, Gary was not told and no follow up was scheduled. Rectal cancer which had metastasized to Gary's liver was discovered a little more than eight months later. Gary is currently cancer free and working. He lives with his wife Karen and his two small children.

A brief look at some of CLO's current cases:

Ginger Landmeier and Guy Landmeier v. Provena Hospitals, d/b/a Provena St. Joseph Hospital, Docket No. 06 LK 218 (Kane County, Illinois).

Following the 2005 birth of her son by cesarean section at St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, Illinois, Ginger Landmeier did not get better as her doctors expected. An x-ray eventually showed the cause - a sponge which was left behind in her abdomen during her c-section. CLO filed suit on behalf of the Landmeiers, alleging that the nurses failed to properly count the sponges used during the surgery. Mrs. Landmeier required another surgery to remove the sponge and endured a lengthy and difficult recuperation. Trial is set for February, 2009.

Estate of Elsie Link v. Syed Zahir, M.D., Chilakamarri Yeshwant, M.D., Fox Valley Hematology & Oncology, Ltd. and Provena Hospitals, d/b/a Provena St. Joseph Hospital, Docket No. 05 L 457 (Kane County, Illinois).

Elsie Link died at Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, Illinois on September 21, 2003. Ms. Link suffered an acute cerebral vascular accident after her physicians incorrectly diagnosed the type of thrombocytopenia she was suffering from and prescribed the wrong treatment causing her death. Discovery is underway.

State Bank of Geneva, Guardian of the Estate of W. S. v. Kevin Hussey, M.D., DuPage Obstetrics & Gynecology, S.C., Maureen O'Loughlin, M.D., Danada Family Medicine, and Central DuPage Hosp ital, Docket No. 2002 L 001362 (DuPage County, Illinois).

CLO's complaint alleges that Drs. O'Loughlin and Hussey and Central DuPage Hospital were negligent in the delivery of W.S. The complaint alleges that Dr. O'Loughlin's medical error in permitting labor to proceed too long before calling an obstetrician to deliver W. S. and Dr. Hussey's mismanagement the delivery. The child sustained multiple skull fractures during the delivery, a severe hypoxic and traumatic brain injury, and now suffers from delayed cognitive and motor skill development.

CLO is currently investigating the following cases:

Breast cancer - delayed diagnosis. CLO is investigating three cases involving the delayed diagnosis of breast cancer, one in Cook County, one in DuPage County and one in Kane County. In each instance, physicians failed to order the proper testing after the patient brought a breast lump to their attention.

Radiology - delayed diagnosis of a stroke. CLO is looking into claims that a radiologist and a Kane County hospital failed to recognize the symptoms of a developing stroke in a patient who spent more than four hours in the emergency department.

Suicide - improper care.  CLO is investigating the attempted suicide of a 14 year old girl in the custody of Illinois Youth Center.  The child is in a persistent vegetative state and is allegedly one of a number of females to have attempted or completed suicide at the facility recently.