Driscoll Law Group in the News
7 Passengers on Derailed Train Sue Amtrak, BNSF Railway
An Illinois law firm has filed lawsuits against Amtrak and BNSF Railway on behalf of seven passengers who were on an Amtrak train that derailed in Montana last month, killing three people and injuring dozens of others...
Sean Driscoll, a partner at Clifford Law Offices, said the agreement denies passengers their constitutional right to a trial by jury if they are injured on an Amtrak train and sets a maximum of $295 million in damages per incident for Amtrak...
Seven people injured when an Amtrak train derailed last month in rural Montana have filed federal lawsuits against Amtrak and BNSF Railway, alleging the companies were negligent in their duty to care for the passengers.
The derailment on September 25 near Joplin, Montana, left three people dead; at least seven others were hospitalized.
The Amtrak Empire Builder train 7/27 was headed westbound from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest when it derailed, according to Amtrak. BNSF Railway is responsible for maintaining the track where the incident occurred.
The accident claimed the lives of Don Varnadoe, 74, and his wife 72-year-old Margie as well as Zach Schneider, a 28-year-old senior software engineer who was traveling with his wife, Rebecca, to visit Portland.
The lawsuits, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Chicago, accuse Amtrak of being at "fault and (violating) the highest duty of care," adding that it had "a duty to safely operate, inspect, maintain, and repair the railcars and engines that comprised ... the train."
"We believe that Amtrak and BNSF are ultimately responsible for getting their passengers from point A to point B safely," the passengers' attorney Sean Driscoll told CNN. "We are going to be looking at any cause such as maintenance, condition of the cars, and human error."...
Seattle man among first survivors to file suit against Amtrak over Montana crash
A Seattle man is among the first survivors to file lawsuits against Amtrak for a Sept. 25 crash in Montana that left three dead and dozens injured.
Saint Matthew “Matt” Johnson, 40, was on the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle when it left the tracks near Joplin, Montana. He and the other plaintiffs who filed suit Thursday suffered physical injury as well as severe emotional and psychological trauma, according to the federal lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois.
Johnson and others who were on the train are still very shaken up, having gone through something no one should ever have to experience, said Sean Driscoll of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago....
Jury awards $17 million to 3 plaintiffs in deadly Amtrak derailment
TACOMA — Three people who sued Amtrak over the deadly 2017 derailment in Pierce County were awarded a total $17 million by a jury for their injuries and suffering...
“Madison Wilmotte was pregnant at the time her husband was crushed in his truck. She will never forget that fateful call as her husband cried out in unbearable pain and she could do nothing to help him,” said a statement by another plaintiffs’ lawyer, Sean Driscoll, of Chicago...
Company apologizes for massive dust cloud after demolition
CHICAGO (AP) - The company whose weekend demolition of a former coal plant in Little Village sent a massive cloud of dust into Chicago’s nearby neighborhood apologized for causing “anxiety and fear.” However, the apology did not prevent the company from being sued for the act....
Northbrook-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners said the developer failed to follow a plan it gave city officials that would’ve prevented the situation. They expected the implosion experts to use dust mitigation with water before, during and after the demolition...
Jury awards $16M to families in grain bin deaths
The families of two teenagers killed in a grain bin entrapment accident in Mount Carroll in 2010 were awarded $8 million Media Pool Photo/Jennifer Delgado/Chicago Tribune Pool Photo/Jennifer Delgado/Chicago Tribune Thursday, Feb. 6, by a Carroll County jury following a 2 1/2-week trial...
Jurors — nine men and three women — deliberated eight hours over two days before returning Friday afternoon, Feb. 7, with the $16 million verdict against Consolidated Grain and Barge Company...
7 injured passengers file lawsuits against Amtrak over Montana train derailment
Seven of the more than 50 passengers injured in an Amtrak train derailment in Montana last month have filed federal lawsuits accusing the rail line and the operator of the railroad tracks of negligence, saying the crash could have been prevented.
"Trains just don't derail by themselves," Sean Driscoll, a partner at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and lead counsel for the plaintiffs, told ABC News on Tuesday...
Jury awards $17M to 3 plaintiffs in deadly Amtrak derailment
Amtrak admitted liability before trial, and the jury heard evidence for two weeks on the damages and effect on the plaintiffs.
An eight-person jury in U.S. District Court in Tacoma decided Friday to award $7.75 million to Dale Skyllingstad, $7 million to Blaine Wilmotte and $2 million to his wife, Madison Wilmotte...
Jury awards $17M to 3 plaintiffs in deadly Amtrak derailment
Skyllingstad was a passenger on the train when his railcar left the tracks after the train approached a 30-mph (48-kph) curve going 78 mph (126 kph). His attorneys said he broke his back, fractured his hip and suffered a traumatic brain injury that Skyllingstad said has changed his personality.
Blaine Wilmotte was a passenger in a truck on Interstate 5 when a railcar crashed onto the truck from the overpass. He was trapped in the truck in what he described to the jury as "excruciating pain," for 90 minutes before he was extracted and taken to a hospital...
Jury awards $16M to families in grain bin deaths
The families of two teenagers killed in a grain bin entrapment accident in Mount Carroll in 2010 were awarded $8 million Media Pool Photo/Jennifer Delgado/Chicago Tribune Pool Photo/Jennifer Delgado/Chicago Tribune Thursday, Feb. 6, by a Carroll County jury following a 2 1/2-week trial.
Jurors — nine men and three women — deliberated eight hours over two days before returning Friday afternoon, Feb. 7, with the $16 million verdict against Consolidated Grain and Barge Company....
