Members of the Illinois General Assembly;

Solitary confinement or long-term punitive segregation is a psychological wasteland. It is an environment that not only causes inmates to psychologically deteriorate - it causes undue horror and stress for those that work there too.

I spent two decades in solitary confinement in the Illinois Department of Corrections. I lost my social identity in solitary confinement. I felt rejected, lost and alone. In desperate attempts at a sense of humanity, I used to mutilate my neck, arms, legs and private parts. I used to put razors in my eyes that ...

One of the fundamental assumptions in America is that if, for some unfortunate reason, you or someone you love is seriously injured or, heaven forbid, loses their life because of another person or organization, then you can ultimately find some justice in the court system. Maybe it’s in the form of criminal charges and a conviction. Or, in the case of civil litigation, it can be financial compensation to help make things right – pay for lost wages, future medical bills, pain and suffering. Money can never fully make up for what was damaged or lost, but it can bring badly needed resources ...

At Romanucci & Blandin, we have the distinct privilege of representing clients in some of the most significant and most devastating cases from around the world: the Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash in Ethiopia, mass shootings in Las Vegas and Orlando, and claims nationwide for cancer caused by products like Roundup and Zantac. These cases bring together individuals who have all been injured, sickened, or otherwise harmed or killed by a common cause. Our firm is proud to not only seek justice for those people but lead groups of law firms in that pursuit in such other high-profile cases as:

• COVID-19 ...

On June 5, 2020, Governor Pritzker signed into law the Covid-19 Presumption Bill which stated that for purposes of the Illinois Workers Compensation Act or Occupational Disease Act, for front-line Workers and first responders who were exposed to and contracted Covid-19, there will be a rebuttable presumption that the exposure and contraction of the virus arose out of and was in the course of their employment, and that the disease was causally related to their employment – meaning it will be presumed that it was contracted at work, and no further proof will be necessary. This ...

On December 29, 2020, American Airlines passengers bravely boarded a scheduled flight from Miami to New York on a Boeing 737 MAX 8. This was the first time in 21-months that the MAX 8 had flown passengers in the U.S., paving the way for more flights — and more passengers — to be flown on the jet. By the end of February, it is estimated that nearly 100 daily flights in the United States will be flown by the MAX 8, with United, Southwest, and Alaska also resuming service in the first quarter of the year.1 Soon, it will be harder to avoid the MAX 8.

Since the Boeing 737 MAX 8 was grounded back in March ...

Workplace injuries are commonplace in our country regardless of industry or occupation. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there were over 2.8 million workplace injuries reported in the United States in 2019. Included in that number is over 5,000 fatal injuries, and over 850,000 nonfatal injuries that caused a worker to miss at least one day of work. The most common types of workplace injuries are overexertion, falls/slips/trips, contact with objects or machinery, workplace violence, and transportation accidents.

Workplace injuries can happen for a number of reasons ...

Imagine hearing that your once healthy two-year-old has lead poisoning, which may have caused permanent brain damage. It is every parent’s worst nightmare, and a nightmare one of our clients is currently living. When you hear this terrible news, the first questions you may ask is how did this happen? How was my child exposed to lead? Will he ever be back to normal? How could this have been prevented?

Lead-based paint was widely used in the United States because of its durability. In 1972, the federal government banned the manufacture and consumer uses of lead-based house paint after ...

The Third Dist. IL Appellate court decision, Armstead v. National Freight, Inc.(2020 IL App (3d) 170777), may have significant ramifications for Workers' Compensation (WC)practitioners (and Pro Se claimants) because the court held that plaintiff’s personal injury (3rd party) claim was barred by collateral estoppel based on the description of the injuries in the Pennsylvania WC settlement contract. Here, the plaintiff agreed that his injury was a “right knee strain” and did not list all other claimed injuries that he may claim in the Personal Injury case. To my ...

Sexual violence is the most violent crime a person can survive. The key word here – is survive. These acts of violence are terrifyingly present in our society. One out of five women and one out of ten men will experience rape or attempted rape in their lives.1 Rates of sexual violence are even higher among lesbian women, gay men, and bisexual women.2 Despite these immense numbers, survivors who take the daunting but brave step to come forward and hold their perpetrator accountable, often face a criminal system that fails them.  

Less than half a ...

Romanucci & Blandin is proud to share the firm was ranked among the top ten law firms in the state of Illinois, settling cases totaling $38,850,000 between July 2019 and June 2020. The news was published in Chicago Lawyer Magazine’s 2020 Settlement Report which shares the results from the Jury Verdict Reporter’s annual analysis.

This year’s report features 118 firms with settlements of $500,000 or more between July 2019 and June 2020. According to Chicago Lawyer, thanks to COVID-19 closing the courts – the number of settlements in the 2020 Jury Verdict Reporter Settlement ...