On March 20, 2014, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a defendant doctor’s claim that he was entitled to immunity from medical negligence claims under the state’s Good Samaritan Act because neither he nor his employer charged a fee for the services to the hospital patient he injured. Representing the American Association for Justice (AAJ), CCL’s Valerie M. Nannery filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the plaintiffs in the Illinois Supreme Court urging the court to hold that doctors who have a duty to provide emergency services to patients are not entitled to immunity for their negligence when providing those services, and that doctors cannot escape liability for negligent emergency care simply by not billing the patient. The brief provided a national and historical perspective on Good Samaritan immunity laws and their purposes.

In the case, Home Star Bank v. Murphy, Illinois Supreme Court rejected the defendant doctor’s argument that because he was employed by the emergency room services provider and not the hospital, and because neither the patient nor his insurer were billed for the doctor’s services, the terms of Illinois’ Good Samaritan Act shielded him from liability for negligence because the services were provided “without fee.” The court’s decision effectively overturns a line of cases from Illinois’ courts of appeal that read the terms of the statute narrowly and applied Good Samaritan immunity to doctors performing their jobs in hospital settings. The court reasoned that the Illinois legislature never intended for Good Samaritan immunity to apply to a doctor who provides emergency services as a part of his job for which he is paid. Even though the patient and his insurer were not billed for these services, the services were not provided “without fee” as that term should be read. The court wrote that a narrow interpretation of that term would thwart the “unmistakably obvious legislative intent” of encouraging volunteerism and protecting generous and compassionate actors from liability. In so holding, the court discussed the leading case on these issues from California, Colby v. Schwartz, 144 Cal. Rptr. 624 (Cal. Ct. App. 1978), cited throughout AAJ’s brief. The decision brings Illinois back into line with other states with similar Good Samaritan immunity laws.

The plaintiffs were represented by AAJ member and current Board of Governors member from Illinois Keith Hebeisen and Bob Sheridan of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago, IL. The opinion of the Illinois Supreme Court is attached.