Deals // Verdicts // Settlements

Big Deals

John D. Rayis of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is advising Nationwide Health Properties, Inc., a real estate investment trust, in a $1.75 billion transaction with Pacific Medical Buildings LLC. Nationwide will acquire a portfolio of medical office buildings plus a 50 percent interest in a property management company, and the opportunity to purchase medical office buildings developed by Pacific Medical in the future. Schiff Hardin represented Newell Rubbermaid Inc. in its $45 million acquisition of Technical Concepts Holdings LLC, a Mundelein manufacturer of public restroom equipment.

The Schiff Hardin team was led by Steve E. Isaacs. The team included David P. McHugh, Jason L. Zgliniec, Ian T. Kelly, Lorraine M. Buerger, Frederick L. Hartmann, Lauralyn G. Bengel, Christopher L. Bollinger, Mark E. Ashton, Peter C. Spier, Joshua R. More, Kevin C. Knohl, B. Frank Thorn, Linda K. Stevens, and Richard J. Hoskins, as well as paralegal Paul Bernacki.

Schiff Hardin also represented AAR Aircraft Services, Inc. in the $40 million acquisition of Avborne Heavy Maintenance, Inc. and Aviation Maintenance Staffing, Inc. from AHM Holding Corp.

The Schiff Hardin team was led by Paul A. Rahe, and included attorneys J. Victor Peterson, Lorraine M. Buerger, Robert J. Minkus, Paul C. Marengo, Joshua R. More, Lauralyn G. Bengel, Brendan J. Kelly, Peter C. Spier, Christopher L. Bollinger, Larry Jacobson, Robert J. Muething, Hans F. Kaeser, Mark C. Zaander, and Gabriel M. Rodriguez, as well as paralegal Carlin Sellers.

Verdicts

Attorneys from Kirkland & Ellis obtained a $147 million jury verdict in Wisconsin state court for its client, SC Johnson, against eight defendants in a fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering case. Under Wisconsin’s anti-racketeering statute, the verdict will be doubled. This is believed to be the largest jury verdict in Wisconsin history.

SC Johnson uncovered a scheme by its former transportation manager, Milton Morris, to inflate transportation rates in exchange for kickbacks. In response, the company sued Morris, his second-in-command, and several of the companies they did business with for conspiring together to commit bribery and fraud. These actions violated the Wisconsin Organized Crime Control Act.

The Kirkland team was led by partners Jeffrey L. Willian, Donna M. Welch, and Michael D. Foster, and associates Sarah J. Donnell, Lawrence M. Griffin, and Katherine M. Swift.

A former City of Chicago painter received a final judgment in federal court for $1.325 million as a result of his Sec. 1983 First Amendment retaliation suit against the City of Chicago.

Daniel Waters had been employed as a painter with the city’s Department of Transportation until he was terminated in 2000. In his trial, Waters proved that the city retaliated against him shortly after he had contacted Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass about alleged improprieties within the Department of Transportation.

The final judgment was entered in the Northern District of Illinois on Feb. 12, after the court’s award of $455,523 for back pay, $208,992 for front pay and $435,109 in lost pension benefits, following a December 2007 bench trial.

A September 2006 jury trial on the issues of liability and non-economic damages for wrongful termination resulted in a partial verdict in favor of Waters for $225,000. Waters was represented by Daniel E. O’Brien of Burke & O’Brien. The city was represented by Timothy Swabb of the Corporation Counsel’s office.

Correction: In our February issue, we identified Nathan J. Mirocha, who, along with Robert B. Phillips IV, represented the plaintiff in a $5.5 million verdict, as a member of the firm of Wolin, Kelter & Rosen. Mirocha had started his own practice before the case was tried. His firm is Law Offices of Nathan J. Mirocha.

Settlements

A 34-year-old construction worker who suffered a serious brain injury and a paralyzed arm in a construction accident agreed to a $6.5 million settlement.

Carlos Galindo was working for a sewer installation subcontractor during the building of the Hyundai distribution plant in Aurora when he was pinned between a 12,000-pound steel trench box and a load of sewer pipe in 2002. The trench box tipped over during construction, and Galindo was struck on the head and back before being trapped. He suffered a loss of cognitive function and memory, a fractured shoulder blade, and a fractured leg. He can no longer use his right arm, which is his dominant arm.

Galindo was represented by Donald J. Nolan of the Nolan Law Group, and Thomas P. Routh and Paul R. Borth of Borth & Routh. The construction company was represented by Peter G. Skiko, Lawrence Helms, and Meredith A. Gaffke of Swanson, Martin & Bell.

A 33-year-old woman who alleged that a healthy breast was unnecessarily removed has agreed to a $6 million settlement.

Molly Akers underwent a mastectomy after doctors recommended that she have her right breast and 24 lymph nodes removed in 2005 because of a diagnosis of occult breast cancer. But a laboratory technician at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Health Systems had negligently labeled her normal pathology slides with the name of another woman who had cancer, Akers claimed.

Akers was represented by Robert A. Clifford and Keith A. Hebeisen of Clifford Law Offices. The hospital was represented by Joseph A. Camarra and Mark M. Brennan of Cassiday Schade.

A 38-year-old man who suffered severe back and leg pain after an auto accident received a $3.75 million settlement in Rock Island County. The settlement is the second-highest of any in that county, according to John Kirkton, editor of the Jury Verdict Reporter.

Anthony Koger had been treated for a bulging disc that caused back and leg pain in 2004 when his vehicle was rear-ended by a garbage truck in Rock Island. His pain returned, and Kroger received months of physical therapy, many injections, and a second discectomy. The treatment failed to relieve his pain and tests could not identify the cause. He has been unable to continue working.

Koger was represented by Todd A. Smith and Brian LaCien of Power, Rogers & Smith. The truck company, Millennium Waste, was represented by John D. Telleen of Lane & Waterman of Rock Island.

— Robert Yates