Governor Blagojevich is taking at least partial credit for what appears to be a major drop in medical malpractice insurance rates for Illinois Physicians.  According to a press release on the State of Illinois website, Medpro is reducing medical malpractice insurance premiums by 32 percent across the state. 

Illinois reforms over the past year increased publicly accessible information from insurance companies, including rate-related information and loss and claims-related data.  As a result, insurance companies are lowering their premium rates to be competitive with other companies. 

While the Governor claims this is leading to increased recruitment and retention of physicians, time will tell if these reforms are in fact meaningful.

Medical Malpractice | No Comments »

On October 12, 2006, a state appeals court threw out a jury award of $350,000.  A Chicago man had attempted to recover claimed damages for being incorrectly diagnosed as HIV positive.  The original jury award was for $350,000.  In a possible precedent setting case in Illinois, the 1st District Appellate Court in Chicago decided in a 2-1 questioned whether the plaintiff could collect damages in this type of case, where the misdiagnoses did not cause physical injury.  The initial claim of damages was for emotional injury caused by the incorrect diagnosis. 

 The court also determined that there were other issues that occurred in the initial trial in 2003 which were grounds for the defendent to have a new trial.

The plaintiff plans to appeal the decision to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Medical Malpractice | No Comments »

In almost all cases, a personal injury lawyer will work on a contingency basis.  This means that the client only pays attorney fees if the client collects money from the case.  In cases where the client loses (does not collect any money), then the lawyer would not collect any fees.   In the infrequent situation where a case will go to trial, it is possible that the lawyer will expect the client to pay the cost of filing the case at court.  It is always a good idea to clarify any fees and costs with your lawyer as there may be some variation from lawyer to lawyer in these issues. 

Contingency fees for personal injury lawyers will vary from state to state but the typical range is between 33% and 40% of the final award.  In some situations, an attorney may be willing to negotiate a smaller percentage for large cases, so it never hurts to ask.  Be advised, though, that you should not select a lawyer based on a willingness to reduce their fee - as a larger award will typically more than make up for a modest difference in contingency fees.

Personal Injury | No Comments »