29-May-14 – It has been almost three years since James Corrigan tripped on a sign warning motorists their vehicle will be towed if they park in a loading zone for residents of Marina City.

It has been almost one year since Corrigan filed his second amended complaint in Cook County Circuit Court. The $30,000 lawsuit, originally filed on October 10, 2012, is still in the discovery phase in which information is exchanged between parties.

The basic claim has not changed. On June 23, 2011, while walking on a sidewalk that runs between the north side of Smith & Wollensky and the parking ramp in Marina City’s east tower, Corrigan got distracted looking out for cars and tripped on the base of a sign for Phillips Towing Company. He fell, displacing bones in his hand and rupturing a tendon in his upper leg.

Corrigan had parked in the ramp and was at Marina City on unspecified business. The sign, a flat piece of metal on a pole with a large circular base, was difficult to see, says Corrigan in his complaint, “due to the narrowness of both the sidewalk and the area between the parking garage and the sidewalk itself, and the constant vehicle traffic in the area.”

Not only that, but the sign was pointed away from him at a right angle. He was walking into the side of the sign, making it “extremely difficult to see.”

(Above) Area on the north side of Smith & Wollensky where Corrigan tripped, as it looks today. The column between the awnings, behind and to the right of where the first Zipcars sign now stands, is where the Phillips Towing Company sign was located in 2011. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

List of defendants has evolved

There have been interrogatories, depositions, motions, and orders, including an order giving the defendants access to Corrigan’s personal health information.

The only significant development is that House of Blues was able to convince the court it had nothing to do with the sign or the sidewalk, and the case against it was dismissed. That left Phillips Towing Company along with various Marina City entities such as LaSalle Hotel Properties, owner of the commercial property, Marina Towers Condominium Association, Smith & Wollensky, Transwestern, the commercial property manager, as well as a legal entity that is no longer active.

His second amended complaint, filed on June 14, 2013, added two defendants, including Partnership Acquisition Trust VIII, which has not been heard from since House of Blues owned the hotel now known as Hotel Chicago.

A motion filed that month by his attorney complained that some defendants had not responded to the lawsuit and those that had responded were not admitting ownership of the sidewalk on which Corrigan tripped. They were concerned that the statute of limitations, representing the last day they could file a lawsuit, would expire on June 23, 2013, without all of the defendants filing an answer. All parties had been heard from, however, by the end of June.

The defendants deny virtually all of Corrigan’s claims. LaSalle Hotel Properties has denied, in court documents, that the sign obstructed the sidewalk. The real estate investment trust, based in Bethesda, Maryland, has alleged that Corrigan did not seek appropriate medical care.

In a document filed on March 20, 2013, Burdelik Law Group, attorneys for Phillips Towing Company, says the sign “had been there for a long time without any issue and many – thousands – of pedestrians had walked past that sign over an extended period of time.”

A status hearing is scheduled for June 26.