When your child has suffered a serious injury due to preventable medical errors, every hour matters. Pediatric malpractice cases demand a legal team that understands both the medicine and the law - because proving that a healthcare provider deviated from accepted standards requires far more than legal skill alone.
At Cirignani, Heller & Harman, LLP, our Chicago pediatric malpractice lawyers combine over 40 years of medical malpractice experience with in-house clinical expertise to fight for families whose children have been harmed by medical negligence.
Attorney Stanley J. Heller, M.D., is a former board-certified cardiologist trained at Johns Hopkins, and attorney James C. Harman is a certified respiratory therapist. This allows our legal team to interpret fetal monitoring strips, Apgar scores, cord blood gas studies, NICU protocols, and anesthesia records with clinical precision - the same way a treating physician would.
When a child injured by medical negligence faces a lifetime of disability, the case demands attorneys who understand how to quantify decades of future medical expenses, therapy, assistive devices, and lost earning capacity. Over 250,000 acts of medical malpractice occur annually in the U.S., and medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the country. Our firm focuses on the cases with the most severe consequences.
The most difficult personal injury cases in Chicago come to CHH Law, including cases involving major hospital systems, credentialing failures, and institutional negligence. We do not shy away from hospital lawyers or complex multi-defendant litigation.
A child's condition after a medical error is fundamentally different from an adult's - injuries sustained during the birthing process or early childhood compound over a lifetime, requiring specialized life-care planning that accounts for growth, development, and changing needs.
Pediatric malpractice covers birth injuries and misdiagnoses, surgical errors and emergency room mistakes, medication failures, and more. Below are the core areas where CHH Law represents Chicago families whose children have been harmed by medical negligence.
Birth injuries in malpractice cases often result from delayed C-sections or improper use of delivery tools. When health care professionals fail to respond to fetal distress, mismanage the labor and delivery process, or use excessive force during the delivery process, the consequences can be devastating. About 2 of every 1,000 newborns suffer a birth injury, and 40% of birth injury liability claims stem from poor labor management.
Common birth injury cases we handle include:
Cerebral palsy caused by oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery - cerebral palsy affects approximately 1 in 345 children in the U.S. and is the most common motor disability in childhood. Lifetime costs for a child with cerebral palsy can exceed $1 million.
Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) from delayed intervention when fetal monitoring showed distress
Brachial plexus injury and Erb's palsy resulting from physical trauma during shoulder dystocia
Brain injuries from prolonged oxygen deprivation, premature birth complications, or failed neonatal resuscitation
In a recent Cook County case, a jury awarded $23.5 million to a family after Mercy Hospital failed to act on fetal distress, delayed a C-section, and had credentialing failures that contributed to the child developing HIE and cerebral palsy. In another Chicago case, a $55.5 million verdict was awarded to Shamond Butler, who suffered brain damage during birth at University of Illinois Hospital and now has the cognitive ability of a two-year-old due to negligence involving labor management and delayed treatment. Illinois had 790 infant deaths in 2019, many from birth injuries, and birth injuries account for 36.9% of infant deaths in 2022.
When medical professionals fail to identify infections, cancer, genetic conditions, or emergency situations in a child, a delayed diagnosis can allow a treatable condition to become a permanent one. Children depend on their healthcare provider to recognize symptoms that may present differently than in adults. A failure to provide proper treatment after recognizing warning signs - or a failure to recognize those signs at all - can lead to tragic outcomes including permanent disability or wrongful death.
Pediatric malpractice may involve surgical errors and emergency room mistakes, including wrong-site surgery (operating on the wrong body part), procedures performed on the wrong body, anesthesia overdoses, and post-operative complications from inadequate monitoring. Children's smaller body size and developing physiology make anesthesia complications particularly dangerous, with even small deviations causing brain injuries from hypoxia or ischemia.
Medication errors include wrong dosages or incorrect medication prescribed - and in pediatric patients, the margin for error is dangerously thin. A wrong dosage calculated for a child's weight can be catastrophic. Chicago cases have involved IV pump programming errors where flow rates were set at 90 times the prescribed rate, pharmacy mix-ups, and morphine overdoses in neonates. These preventable medical errors can cause permanent injury or infant death.
Medical malpractice claims require a robust investigation of facts, specialized medical knowledge, and a strategic approach built from the ground up. Here is how CHH Law handles pediatric malpractice claims from first contact through resolution.
Your no obligation consultation begins with our legal team learning the full timeline of your child's injury. Our physician-attorneys then review medical records - prenatal records, fetal monitoring data, NICU notes, imaging, medication logs - with clinical expertise. Lawyers review medical records to identify negligence in malpractice cases, and our clinician-attorneys are uniquely positioned to spot what's missing from the chart, not just what was documented. You receive an honest assessment of whether malpractice occurred and the strength of your potential malpractice claim.
Attorneys access medical experts to validate claims of malpractice. We consult with pediatric specialists - neonatologists, obstetricians, pediatric surgeons, neurologists - to establish exactly how the standard of care was violated and how that breach caused your child's injury. We investigate all involved healthcare professionals and institutions, including potential credentialing and administrative failures. Effective legal representation in malpractice cases requires specialized medical knowledge, and our in-house clinical background allows us to work alongside outside experts at a deeper technical level.
We file your medical malpractice lawsuit within the statute of limitations required by Illinois law. Our goal is to recover maximum compensation covering your child's current and future needs - medical bills, future care costs, lost future earnings, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. If the defense will not offer fair compensation, we prepare for trial and take your case before a jury. Illinois has no caps on malpractice damages, and recent Chicago verdicts - including an $8.6 million settlement for a nine-year-old boy with HIE and a $55.5 million verdict for birth-related brain damage - show that Cook County juries hold negligent providers accountable for catastrophic pediatric injuries.
CHH Law's proven track record spans over four decades of representing families in Chicago's most complex medical malpractice and catastrophic injury cases. Our law firm has secured significant recoveries for families whose children were harmed by medical negligence, including cases involving permanent brain injuries, cerebral palsy, and other devastating outcomes.
Illinois ranks 5th nationally for medical malpractice payouts in 2023, and the Chicago area has seen some of the largest pediatric malpractice verdicts in the country. Families can evaluate lawyers based on their experience handling similar pediatric cases - and CHH Law's combination of legal experience and medical expertise has consistently positioned us to handle the birth injury cases and pediatric injury cases that other firms decline.
Contact us to learn about specific case results relevant to your child's situation.
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They were compassionate and communicated openly through every step of the process. All of the CHH staff was a joy to work with.
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Dan was the most compassionate and caring professional that we could have. He was not only our attorney but a source of support during the process. I would highly recommend him to any friend or family member.
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CHH was absolutely awesome! The team came through for me and our family. They are professional, compassionate, informative, and thorough. They took the case, fought, and won. I highly recommend this firm if you want to win too.
CHH Law represents families in pediatric malpractice claims across Chicago and the surrounding region, including cases involving major medical centers where birth injuries occur and pediatric malpractice is most frequently reported.
Chicago neighborhoods and areas served: Loop, Near North Side, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Hyde Park, South Shore, Austin, Englewood, Rogers Park, Pilsen, Bridgeport, and all Chicago neighborhoods.
Suburban and county coverage: Cook County, DuPage County, Lake County, Will County, Kane County, McHenry County, and Kendall County.
Major hospitals where cases commonly arise: Lurie Children's Hospital, University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, UIC Hospital, Advocate Children's Hospital, Mercy Hospital, and labor and delivery units, NICUs, pediatric surgical suites, and emergency departments across Chicagoland.
Illinois has specific rules for minors in medical malpractice lawsuits. Under 735 ILCS 5/13-212, minors have up to 8 years from the date of the act or omission to bring a malpractice claim, but in no case later than the minor's 22nd birthday. Illinois has strict time limits for filing medical malpractice claims for minors, and parents should be aware that their own individual claims (for medical expenses, lost wages, and emotional distress) follow shorter adult deadlines - generally 2 years from discovery and a maximum of 4 years from the act or omission. Wrongful death claims must be filed within 2 years of the date of death. Claims against government hospitals may involve even shorter notice requirements. Early legal action is critical to preserve all rights. Finally, with any brain-injured person, where that injury renders them “legally disabled,” which a brain injury would cause in most cases, the statute of limitations never runs.
Lawyers often need to prove four elements in malpractice cases: duty (the medical provider owed your child a standard of care), breach (the provider deviated from that standard), causation (the breach directly caused your child's injury), and damages (your child suffered measurable harm). To demonstrate negligence, we rely on expert testimony from pediatric specialists, analysis of medical records including fetal monitoring data and imaging, and comparison of actual treatment against accepted medical protocols. Our physician-attorneys' ability to interpret clinical data - understanding what physiological markers should have triggered intervention - gives CHH Law a distinct advantage in building these cases.
Families may recover compensation for past and future medical expenses, ongoing therapy and rehabilitation costs, assistive devices and special education, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and lost future earnings. Because children's injuries from malpractice can affect their lifelong development, pediatric cases often involve larger recoveries than adult cases. Illinois has no caps on malpractice damages, allowing juries to fully account for decades of future care needs. Injury victims in recent Chicago pediatric cases have received verdicts and settlements ranging from $8.6 million to $55.5 million depending on severity.
Most pediatric malpractice cases take 1 to 3 years from evaluation through settlement or trial. Factors that affect duration include the complexity of medical record review, the number of defendants (multiple physicians, hospitals, or institutions), the time needed to secure expert witnesses, and the discovery process. Cases involving catastrophic injuries with extensive future care needs may take longer because calculating lifetime costs requires detailed life-care planning. Some recent Chicago-area trials have lasted four weeks with additional deliberation time. Most reputable malpractice lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, meaning your family pays no fees unless we recover compensation for your child.
When your child has been harmed by medical negligence, your family deserves legal representation that combines real medical understanding with aggressive legal advocacy. Pediatric malpractice lawyers assist families in claims involving healthcare provider negligence, and CHH Law's unique combination of a licensed physician, a certified respiratory therapist, and experienced trial attorneys - all under one roof - means your child's case is evaluated and pursued with a level of clinical insight that other firms simply cannot match.
Don't wait. The statute of limitations is strict, and critical medical evidence can be lost or altered over time. Contact CHH Law today for a free consultation to discuss your child's injury and your legal options.
Cirignani, Heller & Harman, LLP · Chicago, IL · Serving all of Chicagoland and surrounding counties
