Wylie v. Schaefer
| Decision Date | 27 July 2021 |
| Docket Number | 5-20-0425 |
| Citation | 2021 IL App (5th) 200425,195 N.E.3d 251,457 Ill.Dec. 337 |
| Parties | Caroline WYLIE, as Special Administrator of the Estate of Michael Kapp, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robert SCHAEFER, M.D.; Mallory Rinderer; and HSHS Medical Group, Inc., a Not-for-Profit Corporation, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Kenneth M. Burke and Kara M. Burke, of Brown & James, P.C., of Belleville, for appellant Robert Schaefer.
Stephen R. Kaufmann, Christian R. Willenborg, Christin E. Doyle, and Michael P. Murphy, of HeplerBroom, LLC, of Springfield, for other appellants.
Thomas Q. Keefe III, of Keefe, Keefe & Unsell, P.C., of Belleville, for appellee.
¶ 1 The defendants—Robert Schaefer, M.D., Mallory Rinderer, and HSHS Medical Group, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation—appeal the December 4, 2020, order of the circuit court of St. Clair County, which denied their motion to transfer the medical malpractice complaint of the plaintiff, Caroline Wylie, as special administrator of the estate of Michael Kapp, deceased, to Madison County, pursuant to the doctrine of forum non conveniens. For the following reasons, we affirm.
¶ 3 On April 17, 2020, the plaintiff, as special administrator of the estate of the decedent, filed a complaint against the defendants in the circuit court of St. Clair County. The complaint alleged that the defendants were liable for the wrongful death of the decedent due to their failure to diagnose and treat the decedent's coronary artery disease, resulting in his death. On August 14, 2020, the defendants—Mallory Rinderer and HSHS Medical Group, Inc.—filed a motion to transfer the case from St. Clair County to Madison County based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens , primarily because all the care and treatment of the decedent that is the basis of the plaintiff's complaint was rendered in Madison County.
¶ 4 In support of the motion to transfer, Ms. Rinderer submitted her affidavit, in which she attested as follows. She works for HSHS Medical Group, Inc., in Highland, which is in Madison County. She also resides in Highland. Participating in a trial in St. Clair County would be inconvenient to her, and a trial in Madison County would be more convenient. HSHS Medical Group submitted the affidavit of Laurie Grawe, its office manager for the facility where Ms. Rinderer provided care for the decedent. Ms. Grawe attested that this facility is also in Highland. According to Ms. Grawe's affidavit, a trial in St. Clair County would be inconvenient to HSHS Medical Group, and a trial in Madison County would be more convenient. Ms. Rinderer and HSHS Medical Group also submitted documentation in support of their motion to transfer, showing that the plaintiff, the decedent's parents, and the decedent's three sisters all reside in Madison County.
¶ 5 On August 21, 2020, Dr. Schaefer also filed a motion to transfer the case to Madison County, based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens. He attached his affidavit, in which he attested that he only provided care to the decedent at the HSHS Medical Group clinic in Highland. He also attached the plaintiff's initial answers to his interrogatories, in which all witnesses were said to reside in Madison County other than (1) a friend of the decedent said to reside in Manchester, Missouri; (2) a friend of the decedent said to reside in O'Fallon, which is in St. Clair County; and (3) a friend of the decedent said to reside in Pocahontas, which is in Bond County.
¶ 6 Thereafter, Mallory Rinderer and HSHS Medical Group supplemented their motion to transfer with the plaintiff's supplemental answers to their interrogatories. In her supplemental answers, the plaintiff named several family members of the decedent who resided in St. Clair County who the plaintiff submitted would be knowledgeable about the plaintiff's damages. The plaintiff then filed her response to the defendants’ motion to transfer. The plaintiff submitted the affidavits of nine of the listed St. Clair County witnesses, who all averred that it would be inconvenient for them to travel to the Madison County courthouse.
¶ 7 On December 4, 2020, the circuit court entered a detailed written order denying the defendants’ motion to transfer. The circuit court began its analysis by noting that, because the plaintiff is not a resident of St. Clair County, her choice of forum is entitled to less deference. The circuit court also noted that it was the defendants’ burden to demonstrate that St. Clair County is an inconvenient forum and that Madison County is a more convenient forum. The circuit court then detailed its analysis of all the private and public interest factors.
¶ 8 As to the private interest factors, the circuit court found that the convenience of the parties weighed against transfer because the plaintiff's choice was to travel to St. Clair County. The circuit court then noted that, while Ms. Rinderer lives and works in Highland, her residence is only 14 miles closer to the Madison County Courthouse than the St. Clair County Courthouse. As to Dr. Schaefer, the circuit court found that while his office was closer to the Madison County Courthouse, his residence was closer to St. Clair County.
¶ 9 As to the relative ease of access to sources of testimonial, documentary, and real evidence, the circuit court noted that this factor weighs in favor of transfer, but not strongly. The circuit court found that the medical records pertaining to the defendants’ alleged malpractice are present in Madison County, but that these records can presumably be obtained electronically or through the mail. As to the witnesses, the circuit court noted that some were in Madison County, but others were in St. Clair County, Bond County, and Manchester, Missouri. While the circuit court recognized that the plaintiff had filed several affidavits from witnesses located in St. Clair County, the circuit court stated it did not place undue weight on these affidavits because of their timing and the fact that they appear to be witnesses pertaining to damages. The circuit court noted that the HSHS office in Highland is 13 miles closer to the Madison County Courthouse than the St. Clair County Courthouse, a difference that it found was negligible.
¶ 10 As to the possibility of viewing the premises, the circuit court found that the likelihood of a jury view of the Highland HSHS Medical Group clinic where the defendants’ alleged failure to diagnose and treat the decedent occurred is so small as to be insignificant, and thus did not favor transfer. Finally, the circuit court found that the parties had produced no evidence that would favor the transfer to Madison County based on "any other factors that make a trial easy, expeditious and inexpensive." The circuit court concluded that, overall, the private interest factors do not strongly favor transfer of venue to Madison County.
¶ 11 Regarding the public interest factors, the circuit court first noted that the parties had not submitted evidence pertaining to docket congestion or the average length of time from filing to trial of a case in either county. Thus, the court found that this factor did not strongly favor transfer. As to the local interest in local controversies and the burden of imposing jury duty on residents, the circuit court noted that Madison County has a stronger interest in the case due to the alleged malpractice having occurred at HSHS Medical Group's clinic in Highland. However, the circuit court noted that Dr. Schaefer is a resident of St. Clair County and that HSHS has numerous medical facilities and offices in St. Clair County. Thus, St. Clair County has an interest as well. Accordingly, the circuit court found that the public interest factors do not strongly favor transfer to Madison County. Thus, the circuit court denied the defendants’ motion to transfer.
¶ 12 On December 23, 2020, Ms. Rinderer and HSHS Medical Group filed a petition for leave to appeal from the circuit court's order denying their motion to transfer, pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 306(a)(2) (eff. Oct. 1, 2020). On December 31, 2020, Dr. Schaefer filed a motion to join in the petition for leave to appeal, which this court allowed. On February 2, 2021, this court allowed the petition. On July 27, 2021, this court filed its initial opinion affirming the circuit court's order. On August 16, 2021, the defendants filed a petition for rehearing. After full consideration of the defendants’ petition for rehearing, we issue this modified opinion upon denial of rehearing.
¶ 14 This court has repeatedly set forth the relevant standards for our review of an order regarding a motion to transfer a cause based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens , as follows:
To continue reading
Request your trial