Illinois now has required mediation
From an article I read online at the Edwardsville Journal I see that the Illinois Supreme Court has approved a program that requires medical malpractice cases be mediated to hopefully reduce the number of long and costly trials in Illinois.
All Good. I believe that mediation forces lawyers and parties to try to resolve the case before either side has spent a whole boatload of money preparing the case.
Also It forces parties to realistically look at their case early on. AND It gets someone else who is not part of the case to look very closely at the merits. This is kindof an unbiased opinion and is often very helpful.
The only objection I have with the article is this line...
The rule fits into an overall effort to address flagrant lawsuits in Illinois, especially Madison, St. Clair and Bond counties, which have long histories of doling out large class action settlements.
This incorrectly links "doling out large class action settlements" with medical malpractice cases. The two kinds of cases are not the same. Additionally, courts do not "dole out" settlements. Settlements are by definition reached between the two parties.
