CASE REPORT
(QQQ 11/3) STREET HAZARDS--MOTORCYCLIST BLAMES POOR POTHOLE REPAIR FOR LOSS OF LEG (9) Hollis Barnes v City of Chicago 17L-5806 Tried Aug. 9-12, 2021
VERDICT): Not Guilty
JUDGE : Israel A. Desierto (IL Cook-Law)
Shilpa A. Patel Shilpa A. Patel is a Chief Assistant Corpo - ration with the City of Chicago Department of Law. She is a member of the manage - ment team for the Torts Division which han - dles the City’s personal injury defense prac - tice. She has tried in excess of fifty trials to verdict including numerous wrongful death, roadway design, and police pursuit cases. She is a proud career long public servant having defended multiple 7, 8, and 9 figure exposure cases while representing the City. Patel obtained her law degree from The Uni - versity of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and obtained her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University.
PLTF ATTY(S): David H. Latarski, Bryan J. O’Connor, Jr. of Whiteside & Gold- berg (Chicago, IL) ASKED: $5,000,000 DEFT ATTY(S): Shilpa A. Patel, Daniel J. Wangler of Chicago Corporation Counsel (Chicago, IL) (Self-Insured) Pltf was operating a motorcycle on South Lake Shore Drive on June 11, 2016. A nearby motorcyclist, Cory Parish, contended he rode over a poorly patched pothole near 53rd St. which caused his bike to spill. To avoid colliding with Par- ish, pltf drove to the side of the road and stopped about a block away, where he was struck by another motorcyclist (Gregory Wright). As a result, pltf sustained a traumatic amputation of his left leg ($153,956 medical expenses). Parish and Wright were sued in this case, but they settled with pltf prior to trial, leaving the allegation of negligent patch work against the City of Chicago as the sole issue at trial. The defense argued pltf could not identify which patch triggered the ac- cident and the City denied there were any negligent patches in the area. Jurors reportedly believed the majority of liability was attributable to Wright.
Daniel J. Wangler Daniel J. Wangler is an Assistant Corpora - tion Counsel Supervisor in the Torts Division of the Chicago Law Department which he has been employed for almost twenty-one years. Since 2005, he has participated in 63 jury trials on behalf of the City in the Cook County Law Division as the 1st Chair attor - ney, achieved a career jury trial record of 50 Wins; 3 Directed Verdicts; 7 Losses and 3 Mistrials. He was also the co-recipient of the 2015 Jury Verdict Reporter for Outstand - ing Defense Verdict in a Pedestrian Case.
The Department of Law serves the City of Chicago by providing legal rep- resentation to the City, its officials, employees, and agencies. The Depart - ment of Law employs approximately 280 lawyers who manage litigation, transactional, and legislative projects covering a wide range of practice areas such as torts, federal civil rights, constitutional, and public finance, in addition to the enforcement of the Municipal Code. Our attorneys also serve as legal counsel for more than 40 City departments as well as the Mayor, Boards, Commissioners, and members of the City Council.
JURY VERDICT REPORTER • 2024 ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYER EXCELLENCE AWARDS 57
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