Illinois Settlement 18 Years After Injury

The Chicago Board of Education and a youth center settled a $14.7 million lawsuit concerning a man who became a quadriplegic after hitting his head on the side of the trampoline. The injury occurred when the man was 13 years old. Underscoring how slow the wheels of justice can be, the man is not 31.

Plaintiff had what I thought was a tough case at trial because Illinois law sets a high bar for “contact” participant sports injuries, requiring willful or wanton conduct which is certainly a tougher standard than ordinary negligence.

I have always disliked this judicially created an exception to the usual “reasonable person” standard in Illinois so I’m glad to see that this incredibly sympathetic plaintiff could get a meaningful recovery.