Illinois Lawyer Blog

On September 17, 2007, oral arguments in the lead case challenging the constitutionality of Public Act 94-677[medical malpractice caps] took place in the Courtroom of Cook County Judge Diane Larsen. The case at issue involves Abigaile LeBron, an infant. Her family is alleging medical malpractice led to her severe and permanent injuries. Lawyers on her behalf are arguing that the 2005 law placing caps on medical malpractice awards unfairly penalizes those people who are irreparably harmed due to medical errors.

Not surprisingly, the folks behind Illinois Medical Lawsuit Reform, promptly took out a page ad in local papers bashing trial lawyers and suggesting runaway verdicts had caused "out of control premiums" and led to a shortage of doctors in the state. Not so fast.

The Americans for Insurance Reform recently provided a study the found that payouts per doctor not only failed to increase from 2001-2004[the zenith of the alleged malpractice crisis]but were stable or falling. During that same time period, malpractice premiums skyrocketed. Author Robert Hunter, the Director of Insurance for the Consumer Federation of America noted "This report is proof positive that the huge medical malpractice insurance rate increases between 2000 and 2003 were not related to a jump in claims. Rather, as in the mid 1970's and mid 1980's, they were simply the result of insurance industry economics, supplemented by insurer hype intended to divert attention away from mismanagement by insurers the caused the crisis." Insurers, as they have in the past, are running around moaning about malpractice, hoping to distract their insureds from looking into how they run their business.

Now the truth about doctor shortages. A recent study noted that the explanation for any doctor shortage is due to a policy instituted in the 1990's by the MEDICAL COMMUNITY. The study noted that in the mid-90's, the medical profession called for freezes on medical school slots, and cuts in residency funding. So let's review. First, doctors decide to reduce the number of medical school graduates. Then they decide to defund residency programs to train the lucky few who were able to get a medical school spot. Natural result? Less doctors. And who do they blame? Lawyers of course. A perfect example of how the tort deform lobby is willing to twist the truth to pursue their agenda of restricting access to the courts. Oh, and one final twist. The study I am referring to can be found in March, 2007 Journal of American Medical Association. That's right a medical association journal! The article describes how these policy decisions may help explain any doctor shortages.

Posted by Mark P. Loftus | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

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On Monday, September 10, 2007, Governor Blagojevich signed House Bill 1462, which, under certain circumstances will extend the time period rape victims have to sue their attackers for money damages. Effective January 1, 2008, the new law will suspend the statute of limitations when the rape victim has been intimidated into remaining quiet. The new law came about in part, in response to a legal setback suffered by Woodstock, Illinois resident Jacque Hollander. Ms. Hollander says soul singer James Brown raped her at gunpoint in 1998 and threatened to have her killed if she told anyone of the rape. Hollander waited until 2005 to file suit and the case was dismissed as untimely.

If no intimidation has occurred, the victim will continue to have two years to sue.

Posted by Mark P. Loftus | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: CIVIL PROCEDURE

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Steve and Kelly D'Allesandro are VERY angry with their son's junior high school dean. With very good reason. They filed a federal lawsuit against the school arising out of an odd series of events last year. The saga started back in 2006 when their son Tyler, a student at a suburban Chicago junior high school, inadvertently brought a knife to school in his backpack. The knife was from his dad's workshop and Tyler claimed he had no idea how it got into his backpack. When Tyler noticed it at school, he pointed the knife out to friend. The friend then got hold of the knife. A third boy[who Tyler did not know]grabbed the knife and allegedly brandished the knife at other students. Tyler's friend go the knife back, and got it back in the Tyler's backpack. Nothing else happened. Tyler went home, thinking the episode was over.

The following morning, a school parent made a complaint to Michael Brumbaugh, the Dean of the school. And this is where it gets weird. According to a lawsuit filed by the D'Allesandros, Brumbaugh rounded Tyler up and then drove him to his home. Brumbaugh then demanded that Tyler allow him to enter the home. Brumbaugh then went into the house and looked around for the knife. While he was doing so, Mrs. D'Allesandro was in the bathroom taking a shower. According to the D'Allesandros, Brumbaugh was informed that Mrs. D'Allesandro was in the shower. Not to be deterred, Brumbaugh continued searching for the knife. When he found it, he took the knife and Tyler back to school. He later called Mrs. D' Allesandro and told her to come pick up her son at school. According to the lawsuit, he neglected to advise he had been rummaging around in the home.

Shortly thereafter the D'Allesandros complained to the school about the way this episode was handled. They were then advised that Tyler was suspended for 10 days. They continued to complain and the School District continued to ratchet up Tyler's punishment. Ultimately, Tyler was expelled.

Should the kid be punished for bringing a knife to school? Absolutely, even if he did so unknowingly[which is hard to believe]. But should the Dean of the school be allowed to allegedly: 1) unilaterally take a kid out of school; 2) drive that kid home; 3) enter the home without permission from the homeowner; 4) search the home, again without permission from the homeowner[who, may I remind the reader, was in the shower while an adult male she likely did not know was in her home]; 4) seize evidence from inside the home; 5) drive the kid back to school and 6) never tell Mom he had done any of the above? I think not. Perhaps someone at the school could drag out a copy of the Bill of Rights[assuming the Dean didn't suspend the Bill of Rights of course]and direct Mr. Brumbaugh's attention to the Fourth Amendment. Specifically the language about unreasonable searches and seizures. In the event the guy loses his job, he might want to look for work with Progressive Insurance. He sounds like their type of guy.

Posted by Mark P. Loftus | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: INSURANCE

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According to a recent article in the Chicago Sun-Times, the next fight for Chicago heavyweight Andrew Golota might take place in a Chicago courtroom. Golota is being sued by a Chicago woman after a traffic accident in April, 2007. The woman, Juliet Mendez, is claiming that Golota blew a stop sign and slammed into her car. The lawsuit claims that Mendez suffered permanent injuries to her back and neck. Golota's wife, attorney Mariola Golota, claimed that the accident was a simple fender bender. According to the Sun-Times article, no ambulance was called to the scene, and the accident report referred only to property damage.

Posted by Mark P. Loftus | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: CASES IN THE NEWS

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As I described in my August 21 post, titled ILLINOIS HEALTHCARE SERVICES LIEN ACT was getting a run-around from a medical collection company with respect to my client's hospital bill. The underlying personal injury case had settled and an agreement was reached as to the amount the hospital would be paid for my client's outstanding bills. Just one hiccup - the hospital had sent the bills to some out of state collection agency. And the robots at the collection agency was insisting that even after accepting the agreed-upon amount, they would pursue my client for the balance. I spoke to hospital personnel who admitted they were happy to receive partial payment on what would ordinarily be a non-collectible bill[my client had no insurance]. The hospital also admitted they usually wrote off any remaining balance. Passed that information onto the collection agency, but they wouldn't budge. So, in effect, some third party bill collector, not the hospital, was driving this dispute. Presented a Motion to Adjudicate the Lien today, laying out the facts to the trial judge. And, to my delight, he discharged the remaining balance. This particular judge is an intelligent, seasoned veteran of the bench, and he was not pleased when he figured out that some collection agency was trying to make life tough for my client. Hopefully the hospital will part ways with this particular collection agency.

Posted by Mark P. Loftus | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: HEALTHCARE LIENS

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According to a recent Chicago Sun-Times article by Bill Bird, Michael Flatley, the Irish dancer, also known as the Lord of the Dance, has prevailed in his lawsuit against a Joliet woman and her attorney. The woman, Tyna M. Robertson had accused Flatley of raping her in Las Vegas in October of 2002. No criminal charges were ever filed. Some five months later, Robertson filed a lawsuit against Flatley in Lake County, Illinois, seeking $35 million dollars in damages. Dean Mauro acted as her attorney. Mauro directed a letter to Flatley demanding millions of dollars to settle the case and accused Flatley of rape. Flatley then countersued Mauro and Robertson for extortion and defamation. The case was concluded several weeks ago, with Mauro paying Flatley more than $400,000. A default judgment has been entered against Robertson.

Robertson subsequently had a son with Chicago Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher and was involved in litigation involving visitation rights in October of 2006.

Posted by Mark P. Loftus | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: CASES IN THE NEWS

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