Levin & Perconti is a Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 law firm

Law firm

A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...

 founded in 1992. The firm concentrates in all areas of personal injury

Personal injury

Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. The term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit alleging that the plaintiff's injury has been caused by the negligence of another, but also arises in defamation...

, wrongful death, and medical malpractice

Medical malpractice

Medical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error. Standards and...

 law and has achieved record amounts in verdicts and settlements for its clients, totaling over $250 million. Levin & Perconti maintains seven legal blogs (blawgs).

History

Levin & Perconti was established in 1992 by original founding partners Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti. Since then, Levin & Perconti has grown to twelve attorneys. According to their website http://www.levinperconti.com/, Levin & Perconti has emerged as a pioneer in the litigation of nursing home abuse and neglect

Elder abuse

Elder abuse is a general term used to describe certain types of harm to older adults. Other terms commonly used include: "elder mistreatment," "senior abuse," "abuse in later life," "abuse of older adults," "abuse of older women," and "abuse of older men."...

 by achieving record verdicts and settlements for its clients, handling cases that have gained national attention, and by promoting better nursing home practices and stricter regulations for the care of the elderly and disabled. Since 2001, Levin & Perconti has offices in the historic Reid, Murdoch & Co. Building

Reid, Murdoch & Co. Building

The Reid, Murdoch & Co. Building, also known as the Reid Murdoch Building, the Reid Murdoch Center or the City of Chicago Central Office Building, is a seven story office building in Chicago. It was constructed in 1914 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It also has...

.

Notable cases

• Sued Woodstock Residence Nursing Home on behalf of one patient who died as the possible result of a morphine overdose. The Illinois Department of Public Health
  Illinois Department of Public Health
  The Illinois Department of Public Health is a state agency of Illinois, headquartered in Springfield. The agency promotes public health.-External links:*...
  
   found six mysterious deaths at the home and two employess face criminal charges.
• $3 million awarded on behalf of woman who choked to death at a nursing home when her trachea tube got clogged.
• $7.62 million verdict against an HMO doctor who ignored a mother's complaints of postpartum bleeding, resulting in her bleeding to death.
• $10 million settlement on behalf of a 5-year-old boy who, while playing in an open fire hydrant, was struck by a City of Chicago Fire Department truck and ultimately lost his leg and half of his pelvis.
• $14 million verdict
  Verdict
  In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. The term, from the Latin veredictum, literally means "to say the truth" and is derived from Middle English verdit, from Anglo-Norman: a compound of ver and dit In law, a verdict...
  
   on behalf of a patient who's diagnosis of lung cancer
  Lung cancer
  Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
  
   was delayed after doctors ignored abnormal chest x-ray
  X-ray
  X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
  
   results.

Community involvement

• Donor to the National Citizen's Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR
  NCCNHR
  The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care was founded by Elma L. Holder in 1975. It is the US voice to improve the quality of care for long-term care consumers. The Consumer Voice is the source for long-term care education, advocacy and policy analysis at both the state and federal...
  
  )http://www.nccnhr.org/
• Lobbied to support Illinois House
  Illinois House of Representatives
  The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...
  
   Bill 5213 http://www.iltla.com/pdf/HB%205213%20nursing%20homes%20talking%20points.pdf, a bill requiring all nursing homes and long-term care facilities to carry a minimum of $1 million liability insurance in order to be licensed
• Contributed $10,000 to the Society for the Preservation of Human Dignity's Marion Stocker Sponsorship on May 5, 2007 http://www.sphd.org/index.shtml
• Supporter of the Alzheimer's Association
  Alzheimer's Association
  The Alzheimer's Association, incorporated on April 10, 1980 as the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc., is a non-profit American voluntary health organization which focuses on care, support and research for Alzheimer's disease....
  
  's "A Toast to Remember" in Chicago on February 21, 2008 http://www.alz.org/illinois/index.asp
• Sponsor of the 2008 American Constitution Society (ACS) Chicago Lawyer Chapter's "Safeguarding Seniors" event
• Corporate Partner of the Alzheimer's Association's upcoming "A Toast to Remember" in Chicago on March 19, 2009 http://www.alzheimers-illinois.org/toast/partners.asp

Practice areas

• Personal injury
  Personal injury
  Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. The term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit alleging that the plaintiff's injury has been caused by the negligence of another, but also arises in defamation...
  
  
• Nursing home abuse and neglect/elder abuse
  Elder abuse
  Elder abuse is a general term used to describe certain types of harm to older adults. Other terms commonly used include: "elder mistreatment," "senior abuse," "abuse in later life," "abuse of older adults," "abuse of older women," and "abuse of older men."...
  
  
  • Bed sores, pressure sores, decubitus ulcers
  • Sepsis
    Sepsis
    Sepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues...
    
    
  • Wandering
    Wandering (dementia)
    Wandering, in persons with dementia, is a common behavior that can cause great risk for the person, and is often the major priority for caregivers. It is estimated to be the most common form disruption from people with dementia within institutions. Although it occurs in several types of...
    
     and elopement
  • Falls
    Falling (accident)
    Falling is a major cause of personal injury, especially for the elderly. Builders, electricians, miners, and painters represent worker categories representing high rates of fall injuries. The WHO estimate that 392,000 people die in falls every year...
    
    
  • Physical abuse and assault
    Physical abuse
    Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.-Forms of physical abuse:*Striking*Punching*Belting*Pushing, pulling*Slapping*Whipping*Striking with an object...
    
     or Sexual abuse and assault
    Sexual abuse
    Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
    
    
  • Physical restraints or Chemical restraints
    Overmedication
    Overmedication is an inappropriate medical treatment that occurs when a patient takes unnecessary or excessive medications. This may happen because the prescriber is unaware of other medications the patient is already taking, because of drug interactions with another chemical or target population,...
    
    
  • Verbal abuse
    Verbal abuse
    Verbal abuse is best described as a negative defining statement told to you or about you; or by withholding any response thus defining the target as non-existant...
    
    
  • Malnutrition
    Malnutrition
    Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
    
     and dehydration
    Dehydration
    In physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...
    
    
  • Medication errors
  • Choking
    Choking
    Choking is the mechanical obstruction of the flow of air from the environment into the lungs. Choking prevents breathing, and can be partial or complete, with partial choking allowing some, although inadequate, flow of air into the lungs. Prolonged or complete choking results in asphyxia which...
    
    
  • Clogged breathing tubes
    Tracheal tube
    A tracheal tube is a catheter that is inserted into the trachea in order for the primary purpose of establishing and maintaining a patent airway and to ensure the adequate exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Many different types of tracheal tubes are available, suited for different specific...
    
    
  • Burn
    Burn
    A burn is an injury to flesh caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation, or friction.Burn may also refer to:*Combustion*Burn , type of watercourses so named in Scotland and north-eastern England...
    
    s
  • Elder financial exploitation
• Medical malpractice
  Medical malpractice
  Medical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error. Standards and...
  
  
  • Missed or delayed diagnosis
  • Lack of informed consent
    Informed consent
    Informed consent is a phrase often used in law to indicate that the consent a person gives meets certain minimum standards. As a literal matter, in the absence of fraud, it is redundant. An informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the...
    
    
  • Birth injury
  • Doctor errors
    Medical error
    A medical error may be defined as a preventable adverse effect of care, whether or not it is evident or harmful to the patient. This might include an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis or treatment of a disease, injury, syndrome, behavior, infection, or other ailment.-Definitions:As a general...
    
    
  • Nursing errors
  • Hospital errors
  • Anesthesia errors
  • Surgical errors
  • Pharmaceutical errors
  • Medical device errors
  • Misread x-rays, slides
    Microscope slide
    A microscope slide is a thin flat piece of glass, typically 75 by 25 mm and about 1 mm thick, used to hold objects for examination under a microscope. Typically the object is placed or secured on the slide, and then both are inserted together in the microscope for viewing...
    
    , and ultrasounds
    Medical ultrasonography
    Diagnostic sonography is an ultrasound-based diagnostic imaging technique used for visualizing subcutaneous body structures including tendons, muscles, joints, vessels and internal organs for possible pathology or lesions...
    
    
  • HMO misconduct
  • Adverse drug reaction
    Adverse drug reaction
    An adverse drug reaction is an expression that describes harm associated with the use of given medications at a normal dosage. ADRs may occur following a single dose or prolonged administration of a drug or result from the combination of two or more drugs...
    
    s
  • Dental injuries
• Wrongful death
• Product liability
  Product liability
  Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause...
  
  
  • Machinery and tool
    Tool
    A tool is a device that can be used to produce an item or achieve a task, but that is not consumed in the process. Informally the word is also used to describe a procedure or process with a specific purpose. Tools that are used in particular fields or activities may have different designations such...
    
    s
  • Medical device
    Medical device
    A medical device is a product which is used for medical purposes in patients, in diagnosis, therapy or surgery . Whereas medicinal products achieve their principal action by pharmacological, metabolic or immunological means. Medical devices act by other means like physical, mechanical, thermal,...
    
    s
  • Medicine and drugs
    Medicine
    Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
    
    
  • Food
    Food
    Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
    
     and tobacco
    Tobacco
    Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
    
    
  • Toxic chemicals and substances
    Toxic tort
    A toxic tort is a special type of personal injury lawsuit in which the plaintiff claims that exposure to a chemical caused the plaintiff's injury or disease.-Different types:...
    
     such as pesticide
    Pesticide
    Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
    
    s, asbestos, and mold
  • Firearm
    Firearm
    A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
    
    s
  • Motor vehicle
    Motor vehicle
    A motor vehicle or road vehicle is a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not operate on rails, such as trains or trolleys. The vehicle propulsion is provided by an engine or motor, usually by an internal combustion engine, or an electric motor, or some combination of the two, such as hybrid...
    
    s and automobile accessories such as tire
    Tire
    A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
    
    s, seat belt
    Seat belt
    A seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
    
    s, airbag
    Airbag
    An Airbag is a vehicle safety device. It is an occupant restraint consisting of a flexible envelope designed to inflate rapidly during an automobile collision, to prevent occupants from striking interior objects such as the steering wheel or a window...
    
    s, and child car seats
    Infant car seat
    An infant safety seat, also known as a child safety seat, a child restraint system, a restraint car seat, and, ambiguously, commonly known as a car seat, is a restraint which is secured to the seat of an automobile equipped with safety harnesses to hold an infant or small stature people in the...
    
    
  • Household products and appliances
  • Toys and recreational equipment
  • Clothing and apparel
    Clothing
    Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
    
    
• Automobile accidents
• Trucking accidents
• Brain injuries
  Traumatic brain injury
  Traumatic brain injury , also known as intracranial injury, occurs when an external force traumatically injures the brain. TBI can be classified based on severity, mechanism , or other features...
  
  
• Burn injuries
  Burn
  A burn is an injury to flesh caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation, or friction.Burn may also refer to:*Combustion*Burn , type of watercourses so named in Scotland and north-eastern England...
  
  
• Birth injuries
  • Cerebral palsy
    Cerebral palsy
    Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
    
    
  • Erb's palsy
    Erb's palsy
    Erb's palsy is a paralysis of the arm caused by injury to the upper group of the arm's main nerves, specifically the upper trunk C5-C6 is severed. These form part of the brachial plexus, comprising the ventral rami of spinal nerves C5-C8, and T1. These injuries arise most commonly, but not...
    
     or Klumpke palsy
    Klumpke paralysis
    Named after Augusta Déjerine-Klumpke, Klumpke's paralysis is a variety of partial palsy of the lower roots of the brachial plexus. The brachial plexus is a network of spinal nerves that originates in the back of the neck, extends through the axilla , and gives rise to nerves to the upper limb...
    
    
  • Shoulder dystocia
    Shoulder dystocia
    Shoulder dystocia is a specific case of dystocia whereby after the delivery of the head, the anterior shoulder of the infant cannot pass below the pubic symphysis, or requires significant manipulation to pass below the pubic symphysis. It is diagnosed when the shoulders fail to deliver shortly...
    
    
  • Brachial plexus injuries
    Brachial plexus injury
    The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that conducts signals from the spinal cord, which is housed in the spinal canal of the vertebral column , to the shoulder, arm and hand. These nerves originate in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth cervical , and first thoracic spinal nerves, and...
    
    
  • Breech birth complications
  • Birth hypoxia
    Intrauterine hypoxia
    Intrauterine hypoxia occur when the fetus is deprived of an adequate supply of oxygen. IH is used to describe inadequate oxygen availability during the gestation period, birth asphyxia can result from inadequate supply of oxygen immediately prior to, during or just after delivery...
    
     or brain damage
    Brain damage
    "Brain damage" or "brain injury" is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors...
    
    
  • Fetal death occurring before or during birth
  • Death or trauma related to medication errors
• Spinal cord injuries
  Spinal cord injury
  A spinal cord injury refers to any injury to the spinal cord that is caused by trauma instead of disease. Depending on where the spinal cord and nerve roots are damaged, the symptoms can vary widely, from pain to paralysis to incontinence...
  
  
• Aviation accidents
• Boating accidents
• Bicycle accidents
  Bicycle safety
  Bicycle safety is the use of practices designed to reduce risk associated with cycling. Some of this subject matter is hotly debated: for example, the discussions as to whether bicycle helmets or cyclepaths really deliver improved safety...
  
  
• Premises liability
• Slip and fall accidents
  Slip and fall
  Slip and fall, in United States tort law, is a claim or case based on a person slipping and falling. It is a tort, and based on a claim that the property owner was negligent in allowing some dangerous condition to exist that caused the slip or trip.Property owners generally have two basic...
  
  
• Pedestrian accidents
• Construction accidents
• Workers' compensation
  Workers' compensation
  Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence...
  
  
• Jones Act and maritime law
• Asbestos
  Asbestos
  Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
  
   Exposure / Pleural and Peritoneal Mesothelioma
  Peritoneal mesothelioma
  Peritoneal mesothelioma is the name given to the cancer that attacks the lining of the abdomen. This type of cancer affects the lining that protects the contents of the abdomen and which also provides a lubricating fluid to enable the organs to move and work properly.The peritoneum is made of two...
  
  
• Federal Tort Claims Act
  Federal Tort Claims Act
  The Federal Tort Claims Act or "FTCA", , is a statute enacted by the United States Congress in 1948. "Federal Tort Claims Act" was also previously the official short title passed by the Seventy-ninth Congress on August 2, 1946 as Title IV of the Legislative Reorganization Act, 60 Stat...
  
  
• Injuries to minors and children
• Professional malpractice
  Malpractice
  In law, malpractice is a type of negligence in, which the professional under a duty to act, fails to follow generally accepted professional standards, and that breach of duty is the proximate cause of injury to a plaintiff who suffers harm...
  
  

External links

• Levin & Perconti Website
• Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog
• Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog
• Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Blog
• Chicago Birth Injury Lawyer Blog
• Chicago Brain Injury Lawyer Blog
• Chicago Car Accident Lawyer Blog
• Illinois Truck Accident Lawyer Blog
• Justia.com Legal Services & Lawyers Firm Profile
• Martindale.com Firm Profile