GWC Injury Lawyers partners Louis C. Cairo and Lawrence T. Ruder have obtained a $6,000,000.00 settlement for a 25-year-old woman who suffers from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) because of injuries she suffered after being struck by a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus while walking home from work on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
This settlement is the largest on record in Illinois for a case involving CRPS and the third largest settlement ever paid by the Chicago Transit Authority in a case involving an injured pedestrian.
On January 29, 2014, Amy Koplin was crossing Ohio Street at Michigan Avenue when a CTA bus made a right turn from northbound Michigan Avenue onto eastbound Ohio Street. The bus driver, who has since been fired by the CTA, admitted during the litigation that she never stopped, never slowed down, and never saw Amy as she made the right turn, striking Amy in the crosswalk while the walk light was illuminated in her direction.
The bus’s right front tire crushed Amy’s feet and then ran over her. She suffered multiple serious fractures in both feet and then developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. CRPS is a nerve injury that typically results from crush injuries like Amy’s and causes severe and unrelenting pain. Amy has undergone months of neuromodulation infusion therapy since January 2014 and in April 2016 had a spinal cord stimulator implanted in her back. She will require future management by a pain doctor because, unfortunately, medical science has not developed a way to relieve the severe chronic pain Amy will suffer for the rest of her life.
“Amy is an incredibly strong young woman who has suffered more in the last three years than anyone should in a lifetime,” said Mr. Ruder. “Because she will need ongoing medical management, we were determined to ensure any settlement would pay for all medical care she will need throughout her life. The CTA recognized this and agreed to pay a record amount to take care of her.”
The case had been scheduled for trial in June 2017 but was settled during a mediation that took place on April 24, 2017 before the Hon. John Ward, retired.
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