Carol Stonecipher vs. The Illinois Department of Lottery and Bell Fuels, Inc.et. al. 93L651 consolidated with 94CH69 (Kane County)
Case Tried: 1995
Jury Verdict: 1995
Amount: $11,000,000.00
  
Carol purchased Lotto tickets at a Pride Pantry owned by Bell Fuels Inc. The store clerk printed six (6) tickets as opposed to one. All six were for the winning numbers that Carol picked. The clerk kept the extra tickets later claiming that he purchased them. Bell Fuels who had possession of the extra tickets claimed ownership since they had to pay the Department of the Lottery for any mistakes. Following a six-day trial the jury returned a verdict in Carol’s favor entitling her to the entire $11,000,000.00 Lotto prize.  The verdict was successfully protected in both the Appellate and Supreme Court of the State of Illinois


In re Marriage of Sullivan, 795 N.E.2d 392 (Ill.App. 2 Dist. 2003)
(Dupage County)
Case Tried: December 2002
Appellate Decision: August 2003

In Sullivan, Mr. Navigato successfully advocated to protect the visitation rights of his client, Eugene Sullivan, who was a captain in the United States Navy.  Mr. Sullivan was called to active military duty at the start of the Iraq war.  As a non-custodial parent, Mr. Sullivan petitioned the trial court to permit his family members to have continued visitation with his son on his regularly scheduled visitation days while he was away on active military duty.  The trial court dismissed Mr. Sullivan’s petition on the basis that it did not have subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate the petition because the Illinois Supreme Court recently declared the Illinois grandparent visitation statute unconstitutional. On appeal, Mr. Navigato successfully argued that under the common law, when special circumstances were shown, a trial court could award visitation to a military member’s family while the military member was on active military duty. The Sullivan decision has been utilized by advocates to protect the rights of service members. This decision has been cited by the American Bar Association military subcommittee in a recently published report outlining the legal impediments to mobilizing reserve and guard members. The Sullivan decision is  being used as a national model to promulgate laws protecting the parenting rights of our servicemen and women while they serve our country in such places as Iraq.


Fitzgerald vs. McDonald’s Corporation 02 C 3773 United States District Court, Northern District Illinois
Case Settled: June 2003

The matter was settled, however the terms of the settlement are subject to a confidentiality agreement between the parties.