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Question: What is a commercial vehicle? Shannon: It’s essentially any vehicle that engaged in commerce that’s an easy way to remember it. When we speak of commerce, we think of the transportation of goods or live stock, the transportation of people. Question: Are there any special rules or regulations that govern commercial vehicles? Shannon: Actually the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Regulations (FMCSR) as well as the state’s regulations will govern the operation of commercial vehicles….

It was six years ago that the Chicago Tribune did an investigation of hazards from magnetic toys for children that helped touch off the government stiffening standards on the small pieces that can be swallowed by the unaware. At the time, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) held a public hearing in Chicago on consumer safety. One of the clients of Clifford Law Offices, a mother from the far northern suburbs, Sharon…

April 7, 2013 Clifford Law Offices, with a consortium of law firms, filed a lawsuit Friday (April 5, 2013) in federal district court on behalf of seven Illinois local governments to collect unpaid hotel taxes from a number of online travel agencies. Among the towns suing the online companies are the cities of Warrenville, Oakbrook Terrace and Rockford and the villages of Bedford Park, Oak Lawn, Orland Hills and Willowbrook. Together they have filed a…

It is with great sadness that I heard about the death of Rob Komosa, a young man who died at the age of 30. After 13 years, apparently even the breathing machines could no longer help his lungs handle the work. He was one of my clients years ago, one of those people who makes an impact on you without even trying. I remember one of the first meetings with Rob was when he was…

Clifford’s Notes, Chicago Lawyer April 1, 2013 By Robert A. Clifford I recently returned from an American Bar Association meeting in Texas where one of the Continuing Legal Education programs offered was titled, “The Juice Isn’t Worth the Squeeze: The Impact of Tort Reform on Plaintiffs’ Lawyers and Access to Civil Justice.” A panel of nearly a half-dozen lawyers and judges from Texas headed by Stephen Daniels, research professor for the American Bar Foundation in…

Carrageenan is being studied by researchers at the University of Illinois in Chicago and University of Chicago to determine if it has ill effects on some people’s gastrointestinal systems, the Chicago Tribune reported in a recent article (“Food Additive Stirs Calls for Scrutiny,” March 18, 2013). UIC physician and professor Joanne Tobacman has been looking at the health effects of this food additive for years and in 2008 she petitioned the Food and Drug Administration…

March 26, 2013 Kevin P. Durkin, partner at Clifford Law Offices, has been invited to speak at the American Bar Association Section of Litigation Annual Conference to be held in Chicago April 24-26. Durkin will speak on a panel with Dan Webb of Winston & Strawn on Improper Conduct and Statements in Opening and Closing Arguments. Experienced panelists will discuss what to do when opposing counsel makes inflammatory or improper statements at trial. The program…

A bus carrying the women’s lacrosse team from Seton Hall University crashed off the Pennsylvania Turnpike Saturday, killing the driver, the team’s pregnant coach and her unborn child. Many team members were injured when the bus crashed into a tree at the bottom of a grassy slope. The 23 on the bus were headed to a Saturday game at Millersville University, about 50 miles from the crash. A memorial mass was held Sunday night at…

March 15, 2013 Robert A. Clifford, senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, has been invited to speak April 24 at the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Litigation’s “Anatomy of a Trial” during the Section’s Annual Conference in Chicago. Clifford will be joining lawyers from across the country to speak on a number of topics during the day-long program based on the Sacco & Vanzetti trial including case analysis, theory of the case, direct examination,…