CJK was asked to assist in the matter of Banks (Patterson) v. City of Rockford (Winnebago County IL 2023). After a denial of Rockford’s motion for summary judgment in this police-involved wrongful death case in Illinois state court, CJK was retained to develop next step legal defense and trial strategy and to respond to a $3 million demand. The incident involved a traffic stop gone wrong, but we only knew from radio traffic, accident reconstruction, and a single eyewitness who viewed the incident from across the street as to what took place. While waiting in a McDonald's drive-thru the suspect car drove away with the officer hanging from a window and then crashed. The officer was thrown several feet onto the pavement, and both the driver and the officer passed away. CJK filed a motion with the trial judge asking her to reconsider her denial of the summary judgment motion wherein we argued that the evidence was speculative and insufficient to meet a level of willful and wanton. The trial court found our motion persuasive and granted the motion to reconsider, entering summary judgment in the City's favor. The Plaintiff took an appeal and the appellate court affirmed in a published opinion, Banks v. City of Rockford, 2023 IL App (4th) 221111.
