Kate Crouch Obtains Summary Judgment in Long-Running Construction Negligence Case that Resulted in the Death of a Tradesman

Kate Crouch obtained summary judgment in a long-running construction negligence case that resulted in the death of a tradesman who was crushed between sewer piping on a project in the City of Chicago.  Our client performed water main work in the area of Plaintiff’s decedent’s eventual injury, but completed its operations six weeks prior to this incident.  Despite this fact, the parties refused to dismiss our client, arguing the theoretical possibility that it could have returned or contributed to onsite conditions at the time of injury.  Summary judgment allowed our client to avoid any further involvement in a case where Plaintiff will likely ask a jury for an eight or nine-figure judgment to compensate him for the wrongful death of his son.  Plaintiff’s decedent survived for eighteen months after this incident despite massive, debilitating injuries, and he suffered a horrible end.  Plaintiff was working alongside his son on this project on the date of his injury.  As such, a jury will hear directly from him about the accident itself, his son’s suffering thereafter, and his family’s loss as a result of his death.  Our client can now avert a long, complicated, and emotionally charged trial in Cook County.

Salgado v. Benchmark Construction Co., 20 L 4053