Chicago Injury Lawyer Blog

Published on: May 21, 2014

Over 70 Arrested in Child Porn Ring

Authorities are calling it one of the largest local round-ups of internet child pornography traffickers. Among those arrested were a Rabbi, a little league coach, police officers, and nurses and the victims ranged in ages from newborn to 17. The investigation that led to the arrests was conducted by a joint team from the Department of Homeland Security as well as the NYPD.

To contact attorney Joseph Klest, please, click here, or dial 866-264-7639 to reach the Klest Injury Law Firm.

Published on: May 13, 2014

Is the new Illinois “hands free” cell phone law lowering traffic fatalities?

by Joseph G. Klest

Effective January 1, 2014, a new law came in to effect in Illinois. Drivers must now use a hands-free device to talk on a cell phone while driving. Prior to the law taking effect, one troubling statistic facing Illinois drivers showed that traffic deaths in the state rose for the second straight year in 2013.

As police hand out more and more tickets for illegal cell phone use on Illinois roadways, the hope is that drivers decide to put away their cell phones when they get behind the wheel and by the end of the year, perhaps there will be fewer families dealing with what could have been an avoidable tragedy.

To contact Joseph Klest about this topic, please, click here, or dial 866-264-7639 to reach the Klest Injury Law Firm.

Published on: May 6, 2014

Parents Driving Drunk With Kids in the Car: An Alarming National Trend

by Joseph G. Klest

It’s no surprise that drunk driving causes fatal car accidents. But many people may be shocked to learn that according to results of a study recently published on the matter, 65 percent of children who are killed in drunk driving accidents were actually passengers in the car of the impaired driver as opposed to passengers in a car hit by a drunk driver.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of this heart breaking statistic is that it’s entirely avoidable.

If you or someone you love has been hurt or killed by a drunk driver you should contact an experience injury attorney right away to assure your rights are preserved.

Published on: April 29, 2014

SUV Hits a Bus in Chicago Hurting 15 People

by Joseph G. Klest

According to witnesses, at around 10 o’clock, Monday morning, an SUV crossed the center line of a street striking a Chicago Transit Authority bus on the city’s South Side. The crashed caused 15 people to be injured with at least one person seriously injured.

Car accidents sometimes seem like a common occurrence on Chicago streets. Often times people are injured in car accidents through no fault of their own. If someone negligently causes a wreck, that driver’s insurance company should compensate the victims. Nevertheless, insurance companies may not offer an accident victim fair compensation for their case.

An experienced, aggressive Chicago accident attorney may be the difference between receiving fair value for a case and being left with outstanding medical costs.

Published on: April 24, 2014

Child Porn Victims Can Still Recover From Defendants Convicted of Downloading Images

by Joseph G. Klest

In a 5 to 4 decision yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Paroline v. United States, ruled that defendants convicted of possessing child porn may be held liable to the victims depicted in the images for restitution.

The main issue before the Court was whether a single defendant could be held liable for all of the victim’s damages. Here is where the Court drew the line, with Justice Kennedy writing that a victim should receive, “restitution in an amount that comports with the defendant’s relative role.”

The Paroline case involved a victim known as “Amy,” whose uncle sexually abused her as a child and posted pictures of the abuse on the internet. The defendant, Paroline, pleaded guilty to possessing the victim’s images in Federal Court and “Amy’s” attorneys sought $3.4 million dollars in restitution from the defendant pursuant to the Violence Against Women Act, that provides restitution penalties for child pornography.

Published on: April 11, 2014

FedEx Truck Crashes Into Bus Carrying Over 40 High School Students in California, At Least 10 Dead

by Joseph G. Klest

Both vehicles were engulfed in flames after the truck accident. Some students escaped form the bus wreckage by breaking windows. This after a FedEx truck veered across a California highway slamming into a bus carrying high school students on a college visit. The Crash happened before 6:00 p.m. near Orland, California, a town approximately 100 miles outside of Sacramento.

With lives lost and many injured, it is incredibly important that the rights of the victims and their families are properly protected. Attorney, Joseph Klest, of the Klest Injury Law Firm has over 30 years of experience fighting for victim’s rights, including prosecuting truck negligence cases, also involving FedEx.

Published on: March 11, 2014

Is a Landlord Liable for a Tenant’s Dog Attack?

by Joseph G. Klest

Under the Illinois Animal Control Act, anyone who owns, keeps, or harbors an animal that injures a person without provocation, who is acting peacefully in a place where that person has a legal right to be, can be held liable for damages arising out of the occurrence.

This statute does not apply to landowners where a dog is present and attacks a person where the person who owns the property does not also own the dog. There may be a narrow exception in Illinois law, apart from the Animal Control Act, where a property owner can be held responsible, based on common law negligence, if with prior knowledge of viciousness a dog is allowed to be on the property and injures another person. But, recent Illinois decisions have pointed toward shifting responsibility for dog attacks to the actual animal owners, rather than a landlord who doesn’t have control over property that has been leased to a tenant.

The difference between cases in Illinois where the property owner is held legally responsible and those where the property owner is not has to do with the question of who controls the property. Landlords have been held not to be legally in control of certain property that is rented out to tenants. However, there may be other legal responsibilities a landowner has if he or she allows a dog the landowner knows to be vicious to roam property the property owner lives on or controls.

Published on: November 1, 2013

One Person Killed in Car, Truck Accident on I-94 in Chicago’s South Side

by Joseph G. Klest

Authorities have closed the inbound lanes of the Dan Ryan near 91st Street after a fatal crash involving a semi truck and another driver on Friday afternoon.

Crashes involving large truck can often lead to serious injuries or even death. With trucks taking up so much space on the road, sometimes other drivers can do nothing to prevent a collision with a negligent or reckless truck driver.

If you would like to speak with Joseph Klest to discuss this or other related topics, please dial 312-380-5467.

Published on: September 30, 2013

At least 11 Passengers Injured in CTA Blueline Accident

by Joseph G. Klest

According to preliminary reports at least 11 people have been injured in a collision between two Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) trains stopped near the Harlem Blueline station.

At approximately 8:00 a.m. this morning a CTA train crashed into another train that was stopped at the Harlem station on the line towards Forrest Park. Ambulances have been called to the scene and passengers are being re-routed.

In 2009, the Illinois Legislature with the Governor’s approval, repealed a law requiring people with negligence claims against the CTA that arose from injuries they sustained in public transportation accidents to provide the CTA with written notice of their claim within 6 months of the incident occurring. Although the 6-month notice requirement has been repealed, making it easier to bring a claim against the CTA for serious transit injuries, a one-year statute of limitations still remains. This means that a person who was injured due to CTA negligence has one year to file a claim, otherwise their cause of action will be forever barred and there will be no remedy for recovery.

Published on: September 11, 2013

Drunk Driver Kills 2 on the Eisenhower Expressway

by Joseph G. Klest

A man was charged with aggravated driving under the influence after a fatal car crash on the Eisenhower Expressway took the lives of two west suburban women last Saturday morning.

Let’s be straight with it, no one should every be hurt or killed by a drunk driver. There should be no easier choice for anyone than between taking a life or taking a taxi. Yet, according to some of the latest statistics published by the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, just in 2011, there were 38,704, DUI arrests state-wide.

Although thousands get arrested, not every DUI arrest leads to a conviction. People who are charged with DUI’s often hire lawyers; so should their victims.