Cook County Jury Awards $18.15 Million to Teen Struck by Semi on Illinois Route 394 Shoulder
After trial: The freight broker Alliance Shippers won reversal on appeal in September 2023 (no agency relationship, 2023 IL App (1st) 220633). Neither the driver nor Dakota Lines appealed, so the $18,150,750 judgment against them stands.
Won by Clifford Law Offices.
On September 27, 2016, a 17-year-old was hit by an 18-wheel tractor-trailer while on the shoulder of Illinois Route 394 near Sauk Village, suffering a traumatic brain injury and a broken back. After a three-week trial, a Cook County jury found the driver negligent and awarded $18,150,750 in December 2021. The judgment against the driver and his trucking company was never appealed and stands.
What happened
On September 27, 2016, a 17-year-old boy was on the shoulder of Illinois Route 394 near Sauk Village, Illinois, standing beside his family's vehicle and working on the lights of a landscaping trailer. An 18-wheel tractor-trailer driven by Gordon Lewis struck him. The impact threw him about 30 feet.
He suffered a traumatic brain injury, a skull fracture, a broken back, fractured ribs and internal injuries. He spent two weeks in a coma and a month at Stroger Hospital in Chicago. Years later he still needed supervision for most daily activities and continued to live with emotional and psychological effects of the brain injury.
His mother, Francine Cornejo, sued on his behalf in Cook County. The defendants were Lewis, his employer Dakota Lines, Inc., which admitted Lewis was its agent at the time of the crash, and Alliance Shippers, Inc., the freight broker that had hired Dakota to haul automotive parts. Clifford Law Offices represented the family, with partner Bradley Cosgrove as lead trial counsel. The appellate opinion also lists Yvette Loizon and Jack Casciato of the firm.
Dakota had hauled automotive parts for Alliance since the 1990s, and the truck was returning an empty shipping container to a drop yard when it hit him. The family filed suit in 2017, and the complaint was amended several times before trial.
The case went to a jury in December 2021 after a three-week trial. Jurors deliberated about eight hours over two days. They found Lewis negligent and, answering a special question, found that Dakota was Alliance's agent, which made all three defendants liable. They awarded $18,150,750, including more than $3 million for future medical care. The court later added $466,161.20 in prejudgment interest.
Only the freight broker appealed. In September 2023 the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, held that the trial evidence showed Dakota was an independent contractor and not Alliance's agent, and reversed the judgment against Alliance. The court noted that Alliance did not hire, pay or direct Dakota's drivers and did not own the equipment.
Neither Lewis nor Dakota Lines appealed, so the judgment entered against them on the jury's verdict was left in place.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Cornejo v. Dakota Lines, Inc., 2023 IL App (1st) 220633, Illinois Appellate Court, First District, Sept. 27, 2023·Archived copy
- 2.Chicago Sun-Times, '$18 million verdict for family of teen left with brain damage after struck by semi', Dec. 6, 2021·Archived copy
- 3.Claims Journal, 'Illinois Appellate Panel Relieves Freight Broker of Liability for $18M Jury Verdict', Sept. 28, 2023·Archived copy
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