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MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Running clock

Made opponents tired

Honorable Mention

Rope-a-dope

All Southern Illinois eyes have been on Springfield as patients and doctors alike lobby for reforms to the state’s medical malpractice system.

But eyes get weary. And they get distracted.

That’s the hope of reform opponents, anyway, according to Dicta sources close to the strategic situation. To use an apt basketball metaphor, it's tough to sustain a full court press the entire game.

This one started when the legislature opened in January, and it doesn’t end until late May or even June.

The Chicago Democrats who control Springfield—backed by the powerful Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) -- expect that pressure on the medical malpractice subject will wane as the weather warms, baseball begins, state budget talk heightens, and reformer legs get tired.

And just as they do, expect Senate President Emil Jones, Jr. (D-Chicago) and company to present and pass their own watered-down reform proposal, approved by ITLA, of course.

Sweet settlements

Amidst NCAA basketball fever, American Lawyer magazine released its own “Sweet Sixteen” most successful plaintiffs law firms in the U.S. A firm must generate more than $50 million in fees to make the cut.

Only one-- top listed Baron & Budd— has an official Metro East Presence. The Dallas-based asbestos specialist has an office in Glen Carbon.

South Carolina-based Motley Rice also made the list. It is most famous locally for selling out its clients in the controversial James Blair Down class action fiasco.

SimmonsCooper was given an honorable mention of sorts, noted as a firm that has “the resources to set the course of civil litigation.”

Free at last!

Smokers, rejoice! The parking lot of the new Madison County Criminal Courthouse is yours.

Madison County Circuit Court Chief Judge Edward Ferguson had banned smoking within 150 feet of the building. We reported that last week here in Dicta.

This week, the ‘no smoking’ sign is down. And that can only mean one thing.

It’s time to light up. So smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

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