Description

Agenda

11:30 - Registration and Networking

12:00 - Welcome

12:05 - Announcements

12:10 - Membership Meeting

12:15 - Lunch

12:40 - Seminar

1:30 - Close

Presenter

Jason Gatzulis, JD

Mr. Gatzulis has been a personal injury in Chicago for over 15 years and has been responsible for obtaining over $25 million in settlement and verdicts for injured individuals and their families in cases involving semi-truck and auto collisions, premises liability, medical malpractice, wrongful death, nursing home neglect, school and daycare negligence and sexual abuse. 

Topic:

Legal Case Studies

Presentation:

Two Settlements and a Verdict: Defendants Pay Dearly for Criminal Acts of Another

Jason Gatzulis, an attorney with the Chicago personal injury firm of Parente & Norem, will present three recent cases where a construction company, a landlord, and a security company ended up paying millions of dollars for the criminal acts of two rapists and a murderer.

In general, Illinois law does not recognize a duty to protect another from the criminal acts of a third party.  However, there are exceptions, and Mr. Gatzulis will discuss how those exceptions were used to find liability in all three cases, and how security professionals need to be wary of these exceptions.

1. The first case involves the sexual assault of a 68 year old woman, who at the time of the assault, was living in a housing development for senior citizens. Her attacker was able to gain entry into a common area of the development through a gate that was not properly secured despite the common area sharing a boundary with an alley in a high crime area.  Mr. Gatzulis was able to secure a confidential settlement with the property owner on behalf of his client.
2. The second case involves the sexual assault of 48 year old woman who was dragged into an unsecured construction site that was within feet of an entrance to a northside el station.  Video footage showed that the perpetrator was able to gain easy access to the construction site, and use both the darkness of the site and equipment inside the site to conceal the assault.   Mr. Gatzulis was again able to secure a confidential settlement on behalf of his client.
3. The third case involves the shooting of four individuals inside a loop office building in 2006.  After years of litigation, which included an appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, a jury awarded over $33 million to the families of three men who died as a result of the shooting and a woman who survived.  Mr. Gatzulis was not involved in this trial, but Mr. Gatzulis relied on the legal precedents that were set during the appeal process of the case to assist him in representing his two clients mentioned above.

Guests are always welcomed. We look forward to this monthly gathering of the membership.

*ASIS Chicago ticketed events and sponsorships may be paid for in cash, reflecting a cash payment discount. Online event and sponsorship pricing, paid by credit or debit card, does not reflect this cash payment discount.  Please notify your ASIS Chicago representative and/or the ASIS Chicago Treasurer by email, [email protected], if you would prefer to make a cash payment.*