Everyday
people are injured from defects found in single-family homes,
apartment buildings, office buildings and shopping centers
or defects found on public sidewalks and streets. The attorneys
at Lloyd & Cavanagh have prosecuted a numbers of cases
which involved noncompliance with safe building and maintenance
standards.
In
1997, Mr. Cavanagh represented the family of a young boy
who died of smoke inhalation in his family's apartment after
a fire started. The family filed a Wrongful Death lawsuit
against the building owner after an investigation revealed
that the landlord failed to provide a smoke detector in
the apartment in violation of the Chicago Building Code.
The case settled for a confidential amount.
In
l995, Mr. Lloyd represented a young child who suffered a
hot water scalding burns in the bathtub of his family’s
new apartment. The hot water cause third degree burns to
his hands and feet. After testing the hot water heating
plant and plumbing, the results proved that the water temperature
was 160 degrees, which is hot enough to cause a third degree
burn in seconds. Many building standards which have been
adopted nationally recommend settings which are not in excess
of 140 degrees. The case settled with a value in excess
of one million dollars.
In
l997, Mr. Cavanagh represented
a woman who tripped due to a sinkhole in a city crosswalk
causing a serious fracture. After diligent investigation,
partner Tim Cavanagh proved at trial that city employees
had passed over the defect on many occasions without reporting
it to the public works department for repair. Despite the
evidence, the City maintained at trial that it acted appropriately
in ignoring the defect. A jury awarded the plaintiff 310,000
dollars.
