What Have Other Premises Accident Victims Recovered in Court?

Soon after you are injured – willfully or accidentally- on another’s premises, you will see the damages and expenses rack up. Missed work, medical bills, lost investments, sometimes even property damage are just the beginning. You might also experience changes in your lifestyle, including a reduced quality of life related to disability or disfigurement. This might also come with a lessened sense of self-worth or self-esteem.

It might not be surprising then when many victims of premises accidents look to the courts of law for help. How much do they obtain from juries and settlements? We present some information below to show you the general trends of recovery across categories of premises litigation. How much can you obtain from a jury or settlement? This is a more complicated question.

Using the numbers below, you should speak with an attorney to understand how these statistics relate to your case as well as how the laws of your state impact your chances of recovery. There are many dimensions in any lawsuit and each of them needs to be analyzed before arriving at a proper estimate of what you can obtain in a premises suit. However, past is prologue. Therefore, take a look at what some plaintiffs in Illinois and others across the country achieved in common premises lawsuit situations:

Illinois Premises Accident Awards

National Premises Accident Awards

The first two tables show you what plaintiffs across the country and in Illinois obtained in litigation for premises injuries of all varieties. Illinois actually plays host to a high number of cases relative to the national average. When looking at these numbers, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Illinois closely matches the nation in recoveries over $1 million, both average about 5%.
• Illinois typically has about 6% fewer plaintiffs that recover nothing compared to the national average.
• Illinois again ties the nation in recoveries between $100,000 and $1,000,000, each have approximately 17%.
• Consequently, plaintiffs across the country receive less than $100,000 at a lower rate than those in Illinois.

Illinois Slip And Fall Accident Awards

National Slip And Fall Accident Awards

Illinois Snow And Ice Accident Awards

National Snow And Ice Accident Awards

Illinois Fire Accident Awards

National Fire Accident Awards

Illinois Pool Accident Awards

National Pool Accident Awards

The final tables display awards from all kinds of premises accident claims. Here are some important takeaways:

• For both Illinois and the nation, slip and fall cases yielded the most amount of plaintiffs that recovered nothing: 48% of these Illinois plaintiffs received nothing and 61% of national plaintiffs received nothing.
• For both Illinois and the rest of the country, fire accident cases brought in the most awards over $1 million- 20% for Illinois and 19% for the nation.
• For both Illinois and the rest of the country, pool premises cases saw extraordinary recoveries over $5 million-7% of Illinois plaintiffs got more than that amount and 5% of national plaintiffs achieved more than that amount.

$131,600 ILLINOIS JURY AWARD.

This dispute took place at a Kmart in 2013. The case was filed in Cook County. The events took place elsewhere however. The plaintiff was a female, and 50 years old. She was patiently waiting in line. As she went to checkout, she slipped on something. It seemed to her to have a gel-like makeup. Whatever it was, it caused her to fall badly. She injured her spine and knee greatly. The knee had a torn meniscus. It required an arthroscopic procedure. In the future, doctors warned it would have to be replaced. She also had bulging discs. Those were in the lumbar region. Also, those demanded medical care as well. All in all, she spent nearly $50,000 in medical bills due to the slip. She sued the business. She argued it negligently maintained the premises. This directly led to her fall and damages. Those damages included pain, bills, and a reduced quality of life. The defense strongly objected. It claimed it acted with all proper caution. Plus, it stated that it didn’t know about the substance which caused her fall. Thus, refusing to compromise, both sides tossed their fate to a jury. It came down on the woman’s side. It said the business didn’t act with reasonable care. Further, it ruled the woman didn’t contribute more than 50% to the incident. They gave her $131,600. Here’s what that amount was for.

• $45,439 for medical bills.
• $76,161 for her changed quality of life.
• $10,000 for her pain.

$413,000 ILLINOIS JURY AWARD.

A handyman got hurt in this case. He was a little too helpful. He was contracted by a couple to paint some rooms in their home. The house was going through renovation. Lots of rooms were under construction and uninhabitable. The painting wasn’t what got him into trouble though. That came from a simple request for help. The wife asked him to help him move an anchor. It was in the bathroom on the second floor. The issue was that the floor had been removed. Only a strip of wood permitted them to walk across the area. Yet, he didn’t know this. He stepped into the room and fell right down to the floor below. The fall was about 15 feet. The space he fell onto was all concrete. It didn’t provide any sort of soft landing. He badly hurt himself. He broke his spine at different points. This led to defects and disease in that spot. All of this needed surgery and lots of rehab. He was only 52 too. That meant he would miss a lot of work and loose wages. At trial, the couple argued that the man acted without caution. Also, they disputed his medical bills. He merely argued that it acted negligently as the owner of the premises. They should have warned him to the danger or fixed it he thought. The jury believed him. Yet, they still thought he was 30% to blame. That lowered his $413,000 award to $289,000. Here’s what he recovered for.

• Medical bills.
• Lost normal life.
• Past and future pain/suffering.

$7,000,000 ILLINOIS JURY AWARD.

Events at a Chicago party turned tragic in this 2011 incident. A young woman (22) was trying to get onto the roof. She had been drinking all night and had a high BAC. As she went up the ladder to get to the roof, she fell down. The plunge took her life. She was survived by siblings and parents. They brought suit against the property owner. They argued the premises was unsafe and led to her death. In particular, they claimed the ladder was defective and constituted a dangerous condition. The defense tried to dismiss the entire case. It argued that it shouldn’t have expected her to try to climb on the roof. It denied that the ladder was to be used to climb onto the roof. Finally, it said that she was negligent and responsible for the fall. The two sides couldn’t hash it out by themselves. The matter was to go to trial. The judge ruled her BAC was not relevant. The only issue then for the jury was whether or not the ladder was defective. They found that it was. They awarded the family $7,000,000 but also assigned the victim 5% of the blame. The award came down to $6,650,000 then. Here are the damages that the family succeeded in obtaining.

• Pain and sorrow.
• Lost society.

$475,000 ILLINOIS Settlement.

This case was interesting because both parties thought they handled it themselves. Yet, events later transpired to ignite further litigation. It started when a male contractor (age 47) was working at the defendant’s premises. He worked high atop a ladder. The defendant placed carpet underneath that latter. He was trying to help. It only made things worse. That forced the ladder to slip and the man came tumbling down. He badly injured his neck. Trying to be amicable, the sides worked out a settlement for $16,000 one month later. Yet, over one year later, he realized he needed fusion treatment. That had to be done at the C5/C6 junction. He sued the owner. The owner pointed to their settlement and said the case should be dismissed. Yet, the judge ruled that that deal was unconscionable. The judge wouldn’t uphold it. Once the defendant found that out, settlement became the priority. The plaintiff got $475,000. That covered his medical bills which were expected to be several hundred thousand dollars-worth. It also applied to his lost income and pain.