Cassiday Schade LLP’s Post

Springfield partners Joy Syrcle and Joseph Rupcich obtained a defense verdict following a six-day jury trial in the Central District of Illinois. The plaintiff had sued a medical provider and his employer, claiming the provision of medical care to her in an emergency was without consent and constituted battery and medical battery, among other things. Plaintiff presented expert testimony that no emergency existed, which was countered by expert testimony from the Defendants on the exigency of the situation. The jury deliberated approximately one hour before returning a verdict for the defendants on all claims.

Springfield partner Joseph Rupcich obtained a verdict in a jury trial in which he represented a correctional lieutenant sued by a resident of a county jail after the resident suffered a blowout fracture of his orbital. The plaintiff claimed he required surgery and suffered permanent vision changes. The judge granted a directed verdict against the plaintiff at the close of the evidence.  

Partners Joseph Rupcich and Joy Syrcle tried a civil rights case in the Central District of Illinois April 29 through May 2, 2024. The plaintiff claimed two medical providers did not adequately treat a chronic femur nonunion with a broken intermedullary rod. The plaintiff’s expert said the non-union and rod fracture required immediate CAT scan and surgical intervention. The defendants’ expert said the initial two years of observation with eventual surgical intervention was medically reasonable. The plaintiff’s pretrial settlement demand was $250,000 and he asked the jury to award $1,050,000. The jury found in favor of one defendant and against the other, awarding $20,000.

Brian Hickey and Joe Lombardo obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a local diagnostic radiologist and his radiology practice group. Plaintiff asserted medical negligence claims pursuant to the Illinois Wrongful Death Act and the Survival Act in connection with allegations that defendants failed to properly diagnose her late husband’s aortic dissection resulting in his death in 2015. The jury found in favor of Plaintiff and against the co-defendant, a hospital system that employed a doctor of nursing practice in the amount of $2.9 million.

Cassiday is proud to have the following attorneys featured as 2024 Super Lawyers. Joseph Giannelli, Michael J. Hennig, Julie Teuscher, Matthew Weller, Marc Benjoya

Cassiday congratulates Thomas C. Kallies, Adam McCabe, & Daniel Sheroff on being elected to the Partnership.

Cassiday Partner, John VanDenburgh, and Cassiday Summer Law Clerks, Ryan Day and Olivia Trinks, recently authored an article titled “The Nondelegable Duties of Contractors,” which was published in the 2023 issue of the Indiana Civil Litigation Review.

Bernadett DeLise recently won summary judgment for a home health agency and its caregiver in an alleged wrongful death case. The evidence showed that the decedent was mentally sound and capable of making decisions for himself and that he would regularly request the homemaker to drive him to a pool for him to go swimming. However, the homemaker would not regularly stay in the pool with the decedent.  The Circuit Court agreed with the argument that the home health agency and homemaker did not owe the decedent a duty of care to prevent his accidental drowning while swimming and granted summary judgment for the defendants. 

Jackie Hill recently won a motion for summary judgment on behalf of a defendant hospital in a premises liability lawsuit. Plaintiff alleged he fell after slipping on water in a guest bathroom at the hospital. Plaintiff claimed the water spill was caused by a broken bathroom sink and that the hospital had constructive notice of the broken sink and spill. The Court ultimately agreed with the Defendant that there was no evidence as to how long water may have been present on the floors below the bathroom or that the presence of water on floors below meant the sink was broken for any set period of time.