Article source: Glisson Law, IL
Fifteen years after a crash near Vandalia put a Nickelodeon star in the national headlines, a look at the Illinois and Missouri trial lawyer who litigated the case, and at the truck and highway injury claims that have defined his career.
In August 2011, a tour bus carrying iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove hit an overturned tractor trailer on the highway in Fayette County, near Vandalia, Illinois. The crash made national news.
The lawsuits that followed took years, and they drew less attention. One of the attorneys involved was Mike Glisson of Glisson Law in Illinois. The case ended in a confidential settlement, which the firm lists among its case results.
For Glisson, the Cosgrove case is one of many he has handled involving commercial vehicles and highway crashes over nearly three decades. Including a handful of bus accident cases, with three currently in pending litigation.
The case behind the headlines
Cosgrove was on her “Dancing Crazy Summer Tour,” traveling from a show in Kettering, Ohio, to her next stop in Wichita, Kansas. The bus struck a semi that had already overturned. Five people were on board. Cosgrove broke her ankle, and her mother was injured. Two drivers who had stopped to help the driver in the semi’s cab were also hurt. The rest of the tour was postponed.
Cosgrove later sued the drivers of both the tour bus and the semi. According to court filings reported in 2014, she said the crash left her “disfigured and disabled” and she claimed about $2.5 million in total losses, including 25 canceled performances and a lost Neutrogena endorsement. The truck driver’s side disputed her damage calculations in its own filings. Glisson was directly involved in litigating the case. The firm lists it as a confidential settlement.
Why the case fits his career
Collisions between commercial vehicles are among the hardest injury cases to litigate. The Vandalia crash involved a disabled tractor trailer, a commercial passenger bus, several injured passengers, and bystanders who were hurt while trying to help. Each of them had a separate stake in the outcome. Sorting out fault and insurance coverage in a crash like that takes the kind of trucking litigation experience Glisson has built over his career.
The results of the Glisson Law show how much of that work involves the road. They include:
- $8.2 million in a fatal semi-truck accident case
- $6.0 million in a railroad injury case that resulted in an amputation
- Multi-million dollar recoveries in commercial vehicle accident, wrongful death, premises liability, and product liability claims
About Mike Glisson
Glisson grew up in Springfield, Illinois. He is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Missouri and admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Glisson was also recently admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
He has argued before the Illinois Supreme Court, the Illinois appellate courts, and the Seventh Circuit. He is a past president of the Alton-Wood River Bar Association and a member of the American Association for Justice and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. He also completed AAJ’s trial advocacy program at Harvard.
Outside the courtroom, Glisson serves on the board of the Alton Crisis Food Center and has dedicated one hour a week to the organization for over 10 years, and has a firm initiative that donates to various local and national charitable causes every month. He has served on an American Red Cross board, mentored with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and coached youth sports.
