A Cook County judge approved a $5.6 million settlement for a 13-year-old quadriplegic boy injured in a 2008 car crash in Skokie. As a result of the accident, the boy has severely limited communication skills and relies on a ventilator to breathe. The family of the injured boy filed a lawsuit on May 27, 2009, against the driver of a sport utility vehicle that collided with a station wagon driven by the boy’s father. On Dec. 14, 2008, the boy was a passenger in the front seat of the station wagon when it was struck by the northbound SUV. The boy’s father was attempting to turn east onto Old Orchard Road from southbound Skokie Road when the accident occurred. Attorneys Gregory F. Coplan and Benjamin A. Crane, represented the boy’s family. The boy was paralyzed from the neck down. He uses a feeding tube and relies on a ventilator to breathe. The boy’s ability to communicate is limited to blinking and manipulating an adapted keyboard with his chin. The insurance defense lawyers decided to settle the case. They cited Illinois’ so-called One Percent Rule, which would have meant in this case that if a jury were to find the defendant one percent responsible for the accident, the defendant would have been held responsible for the entire amount of exposure. Under the settlement terms, the defendant’s insurance carrier would pay $5.5 million, while the carrier for the boy’s father would pay $100,000.
