Hunsaker and Moske Victorious in FNC Transfer

Richard Hunsaker and Karen Moske were successful in getting a medical malpractice case moved from St. Clair County to Marion County. Although there was no medical care alleged to have been negligently performed in St. Clair County, Plaintiff’s counsel attempted to justify the filing of the case there by arguing that the plaintiff’s medical condition deteriorated significantly while being driven through St. Clair County in an ambulance from Centralia, Illinois to St. Louis University.

To succeed on a motion to transfer, it is critically important to develop a strong record justifying transfer. Here, Heyl Royster‘s team established that although the firm’s client was the collaborating physician for a co-defendant nurse practitioner, its client never treated the plaintiff, was not involved in the actual care provided at a rural health clinic and that any remote connection to St. Clair County had no bearing on the legal analysis required by the Illinois Supreme Court to determine the appropriate venue.

This important result was accomplished through close collaboration with counsel for the codefendant. The case is now in the process of being transferred from St. Clair County to Marion County, where all medical care at issue in the litigation was provided.

Heyl Royster‘s medical malpractice team is proud of its recent success in securing transfer of cases to the venue where the medical care was provided, as opposed to venues chosen by the plaintiff’s lawyers. Because venue challenges must be raised at the beginning of the case, it is often challenging to develop a full and accurate record. That effort is worth it to our clients, who have a vested interest in having their cases decided by local juries.