Illinois Judge Awards $99,000 in Attorney's Fees for Nursing Home Lawsuit
It was a good day for the plaintiff's attorneys present in Judge Andreas Matoesian's courtroom on June 2, 2010.
Doug Mendenhall represented the family of Jane Schwartz, a Rosewood Care Center of Alton resident who was severely injured in a fall at the facility in which she broke her wrist and hip. A lawsuit was filed in Madison County, Illinois after her death by Clifford Emons, the Special Administrator of Schwartz's estate, to preserve the statute of limitations.
The 2004 case went to jury trial in September 2009. The jury only considered the damages portion of the case after Judge Matoesian struck the defense's pleadings and directed the verdict in favor of the plaintiff. The jury subsequently awarded $5,000 for negligence and $15,000 violations of the Nursing Home Care Act.
Plaintiff's attorneys asked for $87,625 in fees and $11,943.82 in court costs. The fees were based off of an hourly fee of $275. Defense counsel Dennis McCubbin argued that a $99,000 fee would set a bad precedent to award such a fee in a case with such a small jury award. According to McCubbin, plaintiffs would refuse to settle cases knowing they could obtain "outlandlishly larger" attorney's fee awards if they drug their feet and suggested that Judge Matoesian award attorney's fees only in the amount of the jury damages award or at most twice that amount.
Judge Matoesian stated that Illinois' Nursing Home Care Act and its fee provisions were designed to encourage attorneys to take the often difficult cases. "It should not be based on a percentage," according to Matoesian.
