MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

A Swansea woman is suing a Missouri-based law firm alleging legal malpractice.

Carol Scott brought suit against Stone, Leyton and Gershman and Feirereisel & Kasbohm on March 2 in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

Scott initially hired the defendant to represent her in a suit involving a surgery performed in Missouri in 2010 which she claimed left her disfigured and disabled. Scott, according to the complaint, was under Dr. Ida K. Fox’s care from May until December of 2010 in St. Louis.

Following a 14-hour surgery on Sept. 20, 2010, the plaintiff sued both Dr. Fox and her employer, the Washington University School of Medicine and Associated Hospitals. That suit claimed that Scott suffered lost wages and medical expenses along with pain and suffering.

The law firm had filed a petition on the plaintiff’s behalf but failed to file a certificate of merit as required by Missouri law, the new suit states. Consequently, Scott’s suit was dismissed with prejudice, precluding her from pursuing the malpractice case against the surgeon.

Seeking damages in excess of $50,000 plus attorneys’ fees and costs, she is represented in the case by Grey Chatham Jr. of Chatham and Baricevic of Belleville.

St. Clair County Circuit Court case number: 15-L-122