Delivery Company’s $5.2M Settlement For Distracted Driving Case

In July of 2011, a mother was stopped at a traffic light with her 9 year old son and 11 year old daughter on Illinois route 15 in Belleville, Illinois. The driver of a commercial delivery van / truck was using his cellular phone instead of paying attention and slammed into the back of the woman’s car at almost 50 miles per hour! 

The young girl had broken facial bones around her eye and a head injury, and she was rushed to a St. Louis area hospital for treatment. Her brother fared even worse, and suffered a serious brain injury that left him unconscious at the scene of the truck accident. He was flown by air ambulance to a St. Louis hospital where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure from the head injury. The boy spent months in the hospital and a rehab facility, where he literally had to relearn almost everything we take for granted in life… how to breathe, walk, talk, eat, learn, use the bathroom, pretty much everything. With plenty of expert medical care, he is doing much better today and is finally back in school. His sister has also recovered from her injuries, but both children continue to suffer residual effects from their head injuries as a result of this horrific crash. 

Kevin Sullivan, a principal at the Sauter Sullivan law firm, took the case and filed a personal injury lawsuit against the company that employed the careless commercial delivery van driver. Throughout the process, Kevin and the firm saw to it that the children had the best doctors and therapists that could be found and that they received all the appropriate treatment necessary to recover from their injuries. Mr. Sullivan fought aggressively for the rights of these children and obtained an out-of-court settlement worth $5.2 Million. Although the children will never be quite the same as a result of their injuries from the crash, the settlement money Kevin Sullivan helped obtain for them will provide for their needs for the rest of their lives.