Illinois Supreme Court
SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Supreme Court has approved Madison County's medical malpractice rule on mandatory mediation.
The rule, the first of its kind in the state, is unique in that it not only calls for mandatory mediation of all medical malpractice cases, but also allows the parties to choose between judges or lawyers to mediate their cases. Madison County has long appeared on national lists of "judicial hellholes" for corporate defendants.
The Illinois Third Judicial Circuit's nine circuit judges also set restrictions on medical malpractice cases lacking certificates of merit. The Third District takes in Madison and Bond Counties.
Judges there adopted the rules June 18 based on recommendations of the circuit's Medical-Legal Committee.