07/16/2013
meyers & flowers obtains wrongful death settlements for elgin family
On July 4, 2011, an 18 year old boy named Guillermo was shot and killed by Donald Rattanavong, an Elgin Resident, who fired a “warning shot” intended to scare a group of teenagers who were playing in front of his home. Guillermo was survived by his mother and 2 siblings. Mr. Rattanavong was convicted of the criminal act of reckless discharge of a firearm after a criminal trial in Rolling Meadows. Meyers & Flowers filed a wrongful death claim against Mr. Rattanavong, who had home owner’s insurance coverage with Farmers Insurance Company. Farmers initially refused to offer any settlement because their policy contained exclusions for “intentional acts” and “criminal conduct.” However, Farmers agreed to pay Guillermo’s family $225,000 to settle his family’s wrongful death claim after extensive settlement negotiations with lead attorney Craig Brown. According to Mr. Brown, “the language in the Farmer’s policy certainly presented some legal challenges to our claim. Nevertheless, we are pleased to be able to negotiate a fair and reasonable settlement for Guillermo’s family under these tragic circumstances.”