A Chicago man who filed a personal injury lawsuit 18 years ago against the city’s board of education after he was severely hurt while jumping off a trampoline received a record-breaking settlement from the city.

Ryan Murray, 30, was offered a $14.7 million settlement last week to dismiss his lawsuit against both the Chicago Board of Education and a private youth center. Murray has been a quadriplegic since age 13 when he was injured doing tumbling stunts at what was then Bryn Mawr Elementary School, near Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood.

During an extracurricular activity held at Murray’s school, Murray attempted to do a flip off of a mini-trampoline onto a mat. While attempting the stunt, he struck his head and broke his neck, according to the Chicago Tribune. Murray has been paralyzed from the neck down ever since.

The trampoline itself was property of Chicago Public Schools and the class was supervised by a staff member with a private group called the Chicago Youth Centers, the Tribune reported. This settlement is considered by attorneys involved to be the largest payment offered by the city’s Board of Education for such a case.

“He’s relieved,” Attorney Susan Schwartz said to the Chicago Sun Times. “He knows that he will be cared for in the future. If something happens to his mother, he will have the resources to hire someone to take care of him.”

Schwartz, who has represented Murray since the suit was initially filed in 1992, said he needs 24 hour care for his various needs. Before going to her job selling insurance, Murray’s mother takes care of his son in the early morning, waking up at 4 a.m. every day, Schwartz said.

Murray’s attorneys have also been quoted saying that the staff member supervising the tumbling class was not adequately trained for such a responsibility, the Sun Times reported. Lawyers for the board were quoted saying that the board opted to pay the personal injury settlement because other personal injury verdicts in favor of plaintiffs have yielded even higher payouts than what was offered to Murray.

The case had bounced back and forth between various Illinois courts for over a decade and a half, before it came in front of the Illinois Supreme Court in 2006. The court originally ruled that Murray did not have the right to sue the board, but then changed that decision in 2007.

Murray and representatives of the school board did not offer comments on the decision.

A personal injury lawsuit filed against a police officer, who was considered a hero after holding off a shooting rampage in Salt Lake City, was quietly settled recently.

Natasha Child sued Ogden police officer Ken Hammond on claims that he used excessive force against both her and her husband during a May 2008 arrest.

The personal injury suit was settled without either party confirming any the terms of the settlement. U.S. District judge Tena Campbell dismissed the suit with an agreement on both sides to terms, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

The injury lawsuit came after Hammond’s role  in a Feb. 12, 2007 shootout at Trolley Square which left many people claiming him a hero.

Sulejman Talovic, 18, opened fire at the Salt Lake City-area shopping mall, killing five bystanders and wounding four others. Hammond was off duty at the mall when the shooting took place, and held Talovic off in a shoot out until other officers arrived and gunned Talovic down, according to the Utah-based Fox 13 network.

Child’s suit claimed that she suffered police brutality on May 18, 2008, as her husband was being arrested by Utah State Highway Patrol officers in the Ogden area on suspicion  of drunk driving.

Hammond was assisting patrol officers with the arrest. Child claimed Hammond kicked out her husband’s legs from under him and elbowed him, even though her husband was cooperating.

When Child told Hammond she was witness to his actions, Hammond allegedly order her to be arrested as well. The suit further claimed that while Child was handcuffed, Hammond lifted her hands over her head and her pants started falling while she struggled.

Hammond pulled her pants the rest of the way down to the ground, according to the Tribune. The suit claims Hammond then said, “Now you don’t have to worry about them.” Child also claimed Hammond slammed her to the ground during the arrest.

Child was later charged with interfering with an arrest, public intoxication, resisting an officer and disorderly conduct, although the charges were later dropped, the Tribune reported.

The suit also implicated the Ogden Police Department for failing to properly train Hammond, even though both Hammond and the police department denied all charges against them from the injury suit.

Child’s suit was not the last legal entanglement for Hammond. Hammond resigned from the Ogden Police Department in January 2009 during an investigation into charges that he had sex with a teenager.

Hammond later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in relation to the charge and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

At Total Injury, we try to present you with both sides of the story so you can weigh the pros and cons of your options. In a recent article on early settlements, we detailed why early settlements make sense from a business owner’s view. We explained that through settlements, companies can avoid the costs of expensive medical bills.

In that article, we touched on the fact that sometimes a settlement can make sense for businesses but not personal injury victims. Last week, we published an article that provides an alternative perspective on how early settlements may benefit injury victims. A recent study in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies has shown that plaintiffs who turn down settlements may end up spending even more money on the trial.

You can read about both perspectives at Study Proposes Early Settlements to Lower Business Costs - at the Expense of Injury Victims and Personal Injury Settlements Can Be a Good Decision: An Alternative Viewpoint.

The Injury Site blog appears to be very active, but in fact, nobody is really writing the Injury Site blog (injurysite dot com) at all. 

Instead, the entire contents of the Injury Site blog have been scraped from the Total Injury Blog. 

Total Injury has a staff of writers, designers, and developers, including several attorney writers and researchers.  The Injury Site apparently has no such thing, because this blogger has been unable to find a single post on the Injury Site blog that didn’t appear on the Total Injury blog first.  If you’re reading this post on the Injury Site blog, it’s a safe bet that no one at the Injury Site is even READING the blog—otherwise, they’d surely have prevented this post from appearing.

If you’re reading this post on Total Injury, thanks for visiting, and we apologize for the interruption.  We’ll have more timely personal injury news and commentary for you later today.

Employees tend to relax at company-sponsored holiday parties and some may act inappropriately.  An employee may verbally or physically harass another employee or drive drunk and cause a personal injury automobile accident.  Company owners, managers and supervisors should make sure employees know they are expected to drink alcohol in moderation at the holiday party.

It is up to company executives and supervisors to set the tone for a holiday party and prevent incidents which could lead to a personal injury lawsuit.   The company may be held liable for a personal injury incident involving employees during or even after the holiday party.  Company parties can be alcohol-free or provide transportation arrangements for employees who drink too much to safely drive home after the party.

Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels LLP reached a settlement against Ephedra manufacturer and distributor Metabolife.  The $56 million personal injury settlement will be distributed to non-insured and under-insured tort claimants. 

Metabolife now known as MII Liquidation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2005 after the FDA banned the Ephedra product in 2004.  The personal injury settlement includes a plan to liquidate Metabolife’s creditors as well as settle the numerous worldwide tort claims against the company.

Often personal injury victims have a tough time, financially, while their cases make their way through the courts or through a lengthy settlement negotiation. Medical bills can pile up, and lost work time may mean cutting corners and overusing credit. When the settlement check comes, the temptation may be strong to put those days of strict budgeting behind you. However, money management is even more important once that settlement comes in.
It’s more important because good management of a lump sum payment can generate income for you. It’s also more important because while you were waiting for the settlement, there was always money coming. Now, unless you’re receiving a structured settlement, this is it–there’s no more where it came from, and it has to cover all of those expenses you incurred during and after your injury, provide for any future medical care or associated expenses, and often cover interest charges and late fees that piled up while you were unable to work.
Even big lottery winners sometimes end up in bankruptcy. A personal injury settlement is hardly a windfall like winning the lottery, but it may be a sum of money much larger than you’re used to handling at one time, and it may look like it’s going to stretch much further than it really will.
Some tips for making sure that money provides what it was intended to provide:
1. Don’t start spending money right away–put the money into an interest bearing account and let it sit there until you’ve had time to take some of the other steps on this list and to think through your priorities.
2. Make a list, in order of priority. Include outstanding bills, any remaining medical care and supplies, expenses related to your accident, debts (especially those with high interest rates)…and THEN the things you’d like to do if there’s adequate money left over.
3. Invest. Depending upon the amount of your settlement, you might be surprised to discover how much that money can earn for you. Before you do, though, get some good advice about short and long-term investing, and make sure that you’re maximizing your returns while allowing yourself security and whatever flexibility you need to access cash.