John Tyler Robinson

Office Managing Partner & Shareholder
Springfield, IL

Joined Firm in 2012

Tyler’s unwavering commitment and creative efforts have saved his clients millions of dollars in nationwide lawsuits.

Medical Malpractice Defense Group Chair
Qui Tam (Whistleblower) Practice Group Chair

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John Tyler Robinson

Attorney in Springfield, IL

Tyler brings a creative approach to defending hospitals, physicians, physician groups, and long-term care facilities across the state. As Chair of the firm’s Medical Malpractice Defense Practice, he is an accomplished attorney with broad experience. Tyler employs a unique strategy for handling damages and manages catastrophic cases across Illinois and the nation. He regularly counsels’ clients and attorneys on attacking life care plans and reducing economic damages. His commitment and creativity have saved clients millions in lawsuits nationwide.

Tyler credits his success in catastrophic damage cases to his experience with complex healthcare statutory and regulatory matters. He has defended clients against claims under civil monetary penalty laws, the Stark Law, and the Anti-Kickback Statute. Tyler has worked with federal and state agencies across the country, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the United States Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of Inspector General. His background also includes defending and preventing qui tam actions under the Illinois and Federal False Claims Acts, which has served him well in his role as the Chair of the firm’s Qui Tam Practice Group.

Through these efforts, Tyler has earned his peers' respect. He has been named to the Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Stars and Emerging Lawyers lists, and routinely presents and publishes nationally on issues relevant to his practice.

Springfield, IL

jrobinson@heylroyster.com

Practices

Credentials

Education

J.D., Southern Illinois University School of Law

B.S., Southern Illinois University, Political Science

Licensure(s) and Admission(s)

State Courts of Illinois

United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois

United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association

American Health Lawyers Association

Fraud and Abuse Practice Group

Claims and Litigation Management Alliance

Management & Professional Liability Community Member

Medical & Healthcare (Medical Malpractice) Committee

Defense Research Institute

Health Care Compliance Association

Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys

Symposium Committee Member

Illinois Defense Counsel

Trucking & Transportation Law Committee Chair

Illinois State Bar Association

Community Involvement

Youth Sports Coach, Baseball & Soccer

Results

Won a motion to allow ex parte communications with non-defendant employees from his multispecialty medical group client. Tyler convinced the court that Petrillo protects a patient’s reasonable, but not unlimited, expectation of privacy. The trial court found that a medical group is not a third party with respect to its own medical information compiled by its employees. This finding is significant because Petrillo only prohibited unauthorized disclosures of medical information to third parties, which the Illinois Supreme Court has interpreted to mean “parties who otherwise would not possess the information absent the disclosure.” Because the medical group already possessed information gathered by its employees, the court found there was no unauthorized disclosure to third parties.
Secured a defense verdict on behalf of a hospitalist in a case involving an alleged failure to diagnose H1N1 and provide antiviral medication to the plaintiff’s decedent.
Secured a defense verdict on behalf of an obstetrician in a case involving an alleged brachial plexus injury from a shoulder dystocia encountered during delivery.
Secured a defense verdict on behalf of a gynecologist in a case involving alleged injuries and death following a laparoscopy with bipolar cauterization of fallopian tubes.
Secured a defense verdict on behalf of an internal medicine physician and a multi-specialty physician’s group in a case involving an alleged failure to timely diagnose a pulmonary embolism.

Presentations/Publications

Presentations

“Taking Back Control of Healthcare Litigation: Overcoming Sticker Prices and The Lost Chance Doctrine,” ISHRM 37th Annual Meeting (2025)

“The Who, What, When, and Why of Mental Health and Medical Records,” Madison County Bar Association (2020)

“Overcoming Sticker Prices: The Emergence of the Reasonable Value Approach,” IADC Professional Liability Roundtable, Medical Liability Track (2019)

“Overcoming Sticker Prices: The Emergence of the Reasonable Value Approach,” Claims and Litigation Management Alliance’s Annual Conference (2019)

“From Laptops to iPads: Why and How to Use Technology at Trial,” IICLE’s Ethics Institute: Legal Tech Seminar (2018)

“Overcoming the Sticker Price: The Reasonable Value Damage Rebuttal Theory,” Heyl Royster's 33rd Annual Claims Handling Seminar (2018)

“A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words: The Use of Technology at Trial,” Heyl Royster's 33rd Annual Claims Handling Seminar (2018)

“Get on Board! The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!,” Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN), Annual Conference (2017)

“Physician Lease Arrangements: New Rules,” Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN), Annual Conference (2016)

“Legal Options for Specialty Physician Contracting,” Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN) Webinar (2016)

“I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me: An Eye on the Inside of Nursing Homes,” Heyl Royster's 31st Annual Claims Handling Seminar (2016)

Publications

"Nursing Home Litigation," chapter in Medical Malpractice, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (2018)

“How to Self-Disclose and Re-Tool Compliance at the Same Time,” Compliance Today, a publication of the Health Care Compliance Association (2017)

"Timeshare Arrangements Exception to Stark Law Offers Opportunities in Rural/Underserved Communities," American Bar Association, Health Law Litigation (2016)

"What is a Qui Tam (Whistleblower) Lawsuit?" Health Law Now (2015)

"Beware the Whistleblower: Whether Congress' Omission of the Term 'Employer' from Section 3730(h) of the False Claims Act Was Intended to Extend Liability to a Whistleblower's Individual Supervisors," Illinois Defense Counsel Quarterly (2014)

"The Rise of the 'Reverse' False Claim and Proposed Rules from CMS on Reporting and Returning Overpayments," Illinois Defense Counsel Quarterly (2013)