Posted on March 10, 2011 in Firm News

Attorney Larry Apfelbaum wrote a letter to the editor at the Pantagraph in Bloomington, Ill. and really got people talking. Follow this link  to read the letter and see the discussion.

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 Posted on March 08, 2011 in Firm News

As this past winter has repeatedly and dramatically demonstrated, snow and ice accumulation are a fact of life in Illinois. Unfortunately, so are the painful, life-altering injuries that can result from a hard fall on ice or from tripping over a snow covered defect on the ground. The insurance companies have successfully lobbied government officials to shield businesses (and their insurance policies) from fairly compensating people injured by their own failure to clear ice and snow. As a result, it is generally the rule in Illinois that there is no duty for a business to clear snow or ice, even if a municipal ordinance requires them to do so. There is also no general duty to warn patrons of natural accumulations, including when water and ice is tracked into stores. Currently, there are only three situations in which a person can recover for a fall caused by snow or ice, however the attorneys at Kanoski Bresney  are well versed in all three.

The first situation in which recovery is possible is when an unnatural accumulation of ice and/or snow causes the fall. What is an unnatural accumulation? An unnatural accumulation can be caused by inappropriate construction or design, by improper snow clearing activities, or by shoddy maintenance. For example, an unnatural accumulation may be caused when runoff from a clogged gutter refreezes somewhere unexpected, when a plow piles snow which melts and refreezes where it normally would not, or when an unnatural depression in a parking lot fills with water and freezes. When an unnatural accumulation causes a person's injuries, that person must also prove: 1) That the landowning business knew or should have known about the unnatural accumulation and the risk it posed, 2) That the business knew or should have known that its customers would not be able to detect the risk or protect themselves against the risk, and 3) That an unreasonable action (or failure to take reasonable precaution) by the business caused the fall.

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 Posted on February 22, 2011 in Firm News

The General Assembly's recent fall veto session saw a flurry of activity that included proposed wide-ranging "reforms" to the Illinois workers' compensation system. Motivated by an apparent desire to secure Republican votes on other issues, Democrats entertained a variety of changes that included giving employers and insurance companies control over which doctors injured workers could see and what treatment they could receive; limiting supplemental wage payments to disabled workers forced to take lower-paying jobs due to permanent injuries; decreasing payments that doctors and hospitals can charge for treating injured workers; and, reducing compensation injured workers receive for potentially life-changing injuries.

While the proposed changes were designed to make Illinois more "business friendly," they would strip away rights Democrats and labor have earned over decades of hard-fought negotiations and legislative battles with Republicans and business. The workers' compensation laws were last reformed about five years ago in an effort to lower insurance costs but the rates kept going higher. Truth is, there are more than 300 insurance companies writing workers' compensation insurance in Illinois, a fact that shows the market is certainly profitable. Maybe it is time our lawmakers consider insurance reforms before they take away more worker rights.

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 Posted on February 14, 2011 in Car Accidents

According to federal traffic statistics, the likelihood that you will be involved in a fatal car accident depends largely upon where you live in the country. People living near and driving on rural roads are far more likely to be involved in fatal car crashes than their urban counterparts.

This may seem counterintuitive. One might reasonably assume that more sparsely populated areas would have fewer fatal car accidents, as drivers on rural roads encounter fewer vehicles with which to collide.

Several factors, however, contribute to the overall disparity in fatality rates between urban and rural areas.

• Urban roads employ a number of strategies to improve road safety that are not frequently present in rural areas, such as lower speed limits and divided highways. Collisions at high speeds and head-on collisions often result in serious injuries, and may result in fatalities.

• It is often easier to access medical treatment in a timely manner in urban areas than rural areas, as the collisions are likely to be discovered more quickly and medical facilities will likely be closer. With serious accidents, timing can be everything.

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 Posted on February 09, 2011 in Firm News

At Kanoski & Associates, we are committed to helping people who have been injured. Whether you need experienced legal representation for a personal injury, medical malpractice or product liability case, we can help.

We want you to know that you are not alone. While we have handled multimillion-dollar claims, we represent accident victims in cases of all sizes -- not just the high-dollar-value cases. Regardless of the severity of the injury, we are dedicated to helping our clients obtain the compensation they deserve.

As part of our commitment to helping accident victims, we are starting this blog. We hope you will find the information on this blog helpful and inspirational. We will update our blog throughout the year, so please return often to see our most current updates and comments.

If you would like to talk with a representative at our firm, please contact us. Call (888) 826-8682 today to schedule a free consultation at one of our eight central Illinois office locations. You are also welcome to contact us by e-mail. We are ready to help.

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