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Significant Cases

Below are some of our recent verdicts and settlements:

  • Ripplinger v Fulford was settled by Jamie Bas in Randolph County for $175,000.00. It was an auto/tractor collision involving 3 vehicles. Policy limits were paid by the driver of the tractor and the driver of the car that swerved to miss the tractor and hit Plaintiffs head on. The Plaintiff’s underinsured carrier also paid it policy limits.

  • Jamie Bas settled a nursing home negligence case for $54,000.00. Estate of Rowlinitus v Renaissance. The patient had been injected with crystal methamphetamine while a patient. It was not the cause of death.

  • Pat Zimmer settled the legal malpractice claim in Marchbanks v Paulson for $40,000.00. Defendant had failed to file Plaintiff’s slip and fall claim prior to expiration of the statute of limitations. The case was on file in St. Clair County.

  • Jamie Bas settled an auto collision case for one occupant of Plaintiff’s car for the $50,000.00 policy limits of the other driver. Suit remains pending for the other occupant of the Plaintiff’s car as does a claim for underinsured benefits. Lee v Kirkendoll on file in Franklin County.

  • George Ripplinger settled a legal malpractice claim in Rockford Illinois for $13,000. Defendant sued the wrong store for Plaintiff’s injuries from a slip and fall. Kilgore v Carpenter.

  • George Ripplinger settled Gordon v Basedon and Southern Illinois Motor Express. The Gordons were run down by a semi-tractor trailer truck as they rode their horses at night along a highway in Jackson County, IL. where the suit was on file. The trucker did not stop, claiming that he thought he hit 2 deer. The total settlement was $255,000.

  • George Ripplinger settled a legal malpractice case in Peoria, IL: Webster v Kleczek for 3 members of a family who were injured in a one car accident. Kleczek failed to file the Websters’ claims within the statute of limitations and allowed the automobile to be destroyed so that it was unavailable to prove the plaintiffs’ claim that its defective condition was the cause of the accident. Kleczek also claimed that he did not represent the driver who was most severely injured. The driver, however, had kept his copies of correspondence, medical authorizations and contract. Ripplinger sued Kleczek on a theory of spoliation as well as negligence. The family received a total of $282,000.

  • George Ripplinger settled Hester v Diaz, a legal malpractice case filed in Madison County. Defendant failed to have Hester’s workers compensation case for a broken leg re-instated following its dismissal for the lawyer’s failure to appear at a docket. Prior to the settlement, Ripplinger had successfully appealed the dismissal of the case. He argued that the statute of limitations on the malpractice case was tolled by the defendant’s assurances to Hester that her workers compensation case remained pending after it had been dismissed. The case settled for $66,000.

  • Pat Zimmer settled a legal malpractice case against a Madison County, IL attorney who failed to file the Plaintiff’s slip and fall case before the statute of limitations expired for $41,000.

  • Pat Zimmer settled a medical malpractice case against an Effingham IL surgeon for failure to diagnose post operative complications for $250,000.

  • George Ripplinger settled Franklin v Moore and USAA in St. Clair County, IL against the responsible driver for Mr. and Mrs. Franklin and against their own insurer under the Underinsured provisions of their policy for a total of $263,500. Mrs. Franklin lost her spleen and Mr. Franklin suffered a broken finger.

  • George Ripplinger settled Williams v Wacky Warriors in St. Clair County IL for $40,509. Plaintiff’s eye had been injured at the paint ball park as a result of a defective face shield.

  • George Ripplinger settled Hollywood Trucking v West End Landfill in Saline County, IL. For $90,509. This was a mechanic’s lien foreclosure for excavation work at the landfill.

  • Pat Zimmer settled the case of Voight v Kasson in Madison County IL for $87,500. Plaintiff’s ankle had been fractured in an auto collision.

  • Taymond Freeman was awarded a verdict of $978,874.00 in a civil rights case against a police officer who shot him, partially severing the peroneal nerve to his left leg. Freeman was not wanted for a crime and was not in the act of committing a crime. Police were investigating a stolen car parked at a motel and Freeman had the bad luck of walking out of his motel room at that time. The police pulled their guns and told Freeman to fall to the ground. He ran instead. Officer McGowan of the Alorton, Illinois police gave chase, emptying his Glock .40 in the process. George Ripplinger represented Freeman at the trial. The motion for attorneys’ fees remains pending due to the Village of Alorton’s filing bankruptcy.

    Ripplinger is currently representing Freeman in the bankruptcy and it appears he may be successful in blocking the discharge of Freeman’s claim. 

  • Miller v. Reese Construction Company was settled on the first day of trial in Madison County IL by George Ripplinger and Patricia Zimmer for $1,400,000.00. Kelly Miller claimed that she was injured and her husband killed when the truck her husband was driving hydroplaned on an improperly constructed roadway—Route 4—in Madison County, Illinois. Plaintiff had previously settled her claim against another defendant for $100,000.00.

  • George Ripplinger settled the case of Young v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. while Defendant’s Petition for Leave to Appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court was pending, thus ending a long saga of litigation. Plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle collision in 1998. We settled with the other motorist for her $50,000 policy limits and demanded arbitration from Mr. Young’s insurer for underinsured motorist benefits. The arbitration was finally held in 2001 resulting in an award for an additional $15,000. Young’s policy provided he could reject the award if his total recovery was over $20,000 and we did reject it, filing suit in St. Clair County, Illinois. George Ripplinger tried the case and received a verdict on January 24, 2003, of $181,450.00 for a total recovery of $231,450.00. St. Paul appealed and George Ripplinger briefed and argued the appeal which affirmed the verdict which had included $100,000.00 for lost earning capacity for the then 76 year old self-employed electrician. The settlement was for $180,000 in addition to the $50,000 received from the other driver. 

  • Following a trial in St. Clair County, Illinois, Clyde Frey and Edward Cooper were awarded a total of $91,150.00 in their claim of wrongful termination against Svendsen Builders Inc. They were represented at the trial by George Ripplinger. 

  • Patricia Zimmer settled Ralph Olson vs. Bayer Pharmaceutical and the United States Air Force for $500,000.00. The suit claimed inappropriate administration of a drug. 

  • Patricia Zimmer settled Lou Howell vs. Dr. Garretson, a Medical Malpractice case on file in Mt. Vernon, IL for $100,000.00. 

  • Plaintiff received the last payment of a structured settlement in   Mueller vs. Canham Sheet Metal-Personal Injury which was settled on the first day of trial in Madison County IL by George Ripplinger in 1983. Plaintiff was rendered a paraplegic when the sheetmetal worker fell through the hole in the roof for a sky light he was helping to set in place. The final payment was $750,000.00. The full payout totaled $3,823,000.00. 

  • The case of Hicks v. Gateway City International was settled in mediation in Little Rock Arkansas by George Ripplinger. Plaintiff was a paraplegic as a result of injuries he received when his semi-tractor lost its steering while crossing the I-270 bridge from Illinois into St. Louis. Plaintiff was the owner of the small trucking company which hauled mail between St. Louis and Peoria. By the time the firm was hired, the truck had been scavenged and no part of the steering remained. Ripplinger hired engineers who rebuilt a similar steering system and by testing were able to recreate the event. The defendant truck dealer had repaired the steering on the truck the day before the trip. The case was on file in the City of St. Louis, MO and settled for $1,410,000.

** "Every case is different and must be judged on its own merits. Past results afford no guarantee of future results."**