Five Successful Dismissals Featured in DRI's The Voice

Timothy Liam Epstein, Chair of Duggan Bertsch's Sports Law & Litigation groups, was featured in "And the Defense Wins," a section of DRI's The Voice after Timothy won five dismissals in separate bodily injury or wrongful death cases.

On August 31, 2009, Judge Brewer (Cook County, Illinois) granted summary judgment in favor of the defendant developer, on both Restatement 414 and 343 grounds, finding no retained contractual, supervisory, or operational control over the means and methods of the plaintiff's ironwork (414), no actual or constructive knowledge of any allegedly dangerous condition or conduct, and no dangerous condition on the premises.

On September 10, 2009, Chief Justice Robert Sprague (Court of Claims) dismissed the decedent's action against IDOT for failure to exhaust all available remedies before bringing the action against IDOT. Decedent, Ashley Wilson, died in a vehicle accident on the Dan Ryan Expressway on January 6, 2002, during reconstruction of the highway.

On September 21, 2009, Judge Flanagan (Cook County, Illinois) granted the defendant commercial bridge painting contractor’s Motion for Summary Judgment based on Kentucky's "Up-the-Ladder" Contractor Immunity, even though the case was filed in Illinois. The decedent fell to his death from a scaffold underneath the John F. Kennedy Bridge outside of Louisville, Kentucky.

On October 19, 2009, Judge Larsen (Cook County, Illinois) granted the defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment as to any direct construction negligence liability and premises liability (Restatement 343 liability.) The plaintiff was injured while installing electrical conduit in a trench. The court ruled that the general contractor had ceded control of the trench to the subcontractor prior to the injury.

After a lengthy battle involving motions for rehearing and multiple supplemental briefings on the issue of the role of a CMa (Construction Manager as Advisor) versus a CMc (Construction Manager as Constructor, or "at risk"), on November 5, 2009, Judge Maras (Cook County, Illinois) granted the defendant CM client's motions for summary judgment as to all counts. This case involved claims of permanent injuries to an ironworker, as the result of the unspooling of commercial perimeter cable. The steel fabricator and erector had previously settled, leaving only the CM as a defendant in the case. Timothy and Dennis defended the CM.

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