Attorney Frank R. Difranco's Legal Cases

Personal injury

Richard Meadors v Borg Warner Protective Services Corp.

Aug 27, 2002

OUTCOME: Award of $1,174,800

Plaintiff, Richard Meadors, was standing on the public sidewalk outside of LaSalle Bank located at 5250 N. Harlem Ave., when he was shot in the groin area by a bank security guard. Mr. Meadors was havi ... ng an argument with his girlfriend on the sidewalk when three Borg Warner security guards approached and told them to leave the area. After an exchange of words, Meadors and his girlfriend began to walk away when one of the security guards raised his gun and pointed it at Meadors. When Meadors sarcastically asked the guard, “What are you going to do, shoot me?,” and turned to walk away, the guard fired a bullet through Meadors’ thigh and scrotum. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found in the Plaintiff’s favor and awarded Richard Meadors $1,174,800.00. DiFranco and Associates, P.C. were able to successfully argue that the security guard acted with excessive force.

Personal injury

Salonica Prado v City of Evanston

Jun 11, 2002

OUTCOME: Award of $11,038,431

On the day before school began, Salonica Prado got into the back seat of her friend’s sports utility vehicle with her two cousins. The four students were on their way to buy school supplies for the upc ... oming year when an unmarked Evanston Police-car began to chase them. The officer driving the police-car thought he recognized the driver of the sports utility vehicle as a person who had an outstanding warrant. The unmarked police-car had no emergency lights or sirens activated as he initiated the chase. The driver of Ms. Prado’s car would testify at trial that he had no idea the car chasing them was a police-car. The chase continued through the side-streets and alleyways of Evanston at a high rate of speed despite the great danger to the young students. The chase came to an abrupt end when the SUV carrying the students emerged from an alley and crashed into a storefront severely injuring all passengers. Ms. Prado suffered a broken neck, a broken jaw, a collapsed lung, and permanent brain injuries. DiFranco & Associates, P.C., successfully argued to the Cook County jury that the police officer’s act of continuing the high-speed pursuit despite determining it was too dangerous constituted, not only a violation of Evanston Police Department policy as set forth in their General Orders, but also wilful and wanton conduct on behalf of the officers. DiFranco & Associates, P.C., successfully fought for the rights of Ms. Prado, resulting in an $11 Million award for our client.

Criminal defense

Dennis M Floss v Joseph A Fagiano

Jan 14, 2002

OUTCOME: Not Guilty

The Plaintiff, Dennis Floss, was involved in a romantic encounter with the ex-wife of Defendant Joseph Fagiano at their Harwood Heights home. When Fagiano arrived at the home, Floss hid in Fagiano’s ch ... ild’s bedroom, waiting for Fagiano to walk by. When Fagiano entered the child’s bedroom, Floss surprised Fagiano and the two began to fight. Floss later claimed that Fagiano stabbed him with a kitchen-knife, causing multiple lacerations across his right hand, knuckles and forearm, resulting in a severed tendon over the third and forth fingers of his right hand and permanent numbness. In a separate criminal proceeding, defendant Fagiano pleaded guilty to aggravated battery. In the subsequent civil trial Fagiano hired DiFranco & Associates, P.C. in his defense. The Plaintiff, Floss, claimed damages of $41,000.00 in medical expenses and $8,000.00 in lost wages. Before trial, Floss made a settlement demand of $399,447.00 to Fagiano. However, DiFranco & Associates, P.C. successfully defended Fagiano in the civil case, showing the jury that Floss was the aggressor and that the Defendant, Fagiano, acted in self-defense. The finding of “not guilty” absolved Joseph Fagiano of all civil liability.

Personal injury

Carolyn Bojald v Parliament Enterprises Ltd.

Dec 18, 2001

OUTCOME: Award of $1,500,000

While Plaintiff, Carolyn Bojalad, was asleep in bed one evening, an intruder quietly entered her Wrigelyville apartment using a master key. The intruder, an employee of the management company and the l ... andlord, entered Bojalad’s bedroom and threatened her with a butcher knife while attempting to rape her. Bojalad struggled to fight off her attacker while screaming for help from her roommate. As her roommate ran into the room, the intruder fled. Carolyn Bojalad was left with a broken jaw, post-traumatic stress disorder, and major depression disorder as a result of the attack. DiFranco & Associates, P.C. successfully proved in court that there had been seven other prior incidents of an individual using a master key to gain entry to apartments in the landlord’s building, and yet neither the landlord nor the property management company had changed the locks to protect their tenants. As a result, Carolyn Bojalad was awarded $1.5 million by the Cook County jury for her injuries.

Frank R. Difranco's Legal Cases (4)

Richard Meadors v Borg Warner Protective Services Corp.

Salonica Prado v City of Evanston

Dennis M Floss v Joseph A Fagiano

Carolyn Bojald v Parliament Enterprises Ltd.