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* I’m not quite sure why I received this e-mail from the Quinn campaign today…
ICYMI: Defense attorneys hit value of lawsuits in Rauner-linked nursing home case
Actually, the article points out something that I had on the blog the other day which backs up Rauner’s claims that nobody was trying to dump assets in the face of huge lawsuit threats…
Defense attorneys for a nursing home chain once owned by Bruce Rauner’s GTCR equity firm sought Wednesday to show a bankruptcy court judge that wrongful death cases involving patients could have been settled for modest sums, aiming to undercut claims that the owners had a motive to hide assets.
Under cross-examination, a former staff attorney for the nursing home chain testified that the plaintiff attorneys offered to settle six neglect and wrongful death lawsuits for a total of $200,000. The offer came as the company was trying to clear lawsuits off its books before filing for receivership in Maryland in 2009, said Kristi Anderson, who was a lawyer for Trans Healthcare of Baltimore at the time.
“There was some demand that came back in the neighborhood of $200,000,” Anderson testified.
When she relayed that to the chief financial officer of her company, his counter offer was $80,000 to settle all the suits. She said the attorney representing estates of the patients never responded, and that was the end of settlement talks.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:00 pm
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Must have been sent by the guy who’s only supposed to be answering the phone today, eh?
Comment by A guy... Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:05 pm
Sometimes I wonder how you put up with it, Rich.
Or how your email box doesn’t explode from the constant emails during this time of year.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:05 pm
Absolutely agree. The company was not drained of assets because of pending lawsuits. The company was drained of assets long before the $1 billion judgement. Because that is how well GTCRauner manages businesses. Takes the money and leaves behind debt. It is coincidental that he is leaving behind that much.
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:09 pm
Rich -
I’d be hitting on the fact that Rauner Inc. apparently believes that a human life is worth about $12,000.
Not sure what Quinn’s point was, but you have to be careful not to get too down in the weeds or stir the pot every day. Slow cooker sometimes is better than a fast boil.
On the other hand, I dunno that the story really bolsters the defense claim, unless these were their own liabilities, which I doubt.
It only takes one family who is too angry to settle to make abuse and neglect extremely costly.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:14 pm
Clearly, whoever in the Quinn crew sent it to you didn’t read it or read it and didn’t understand it. It means nothing to their play.
Not that it matters. The judgements are the judgements. They’ve been entered and are outstanding. Prior settlement talks are irrelevant.
What they’re trying to do now in bankruptcy court is track down any assets to see if they can get any money at all toward the judgements.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:25 pm
Maybe there is a lot less to this issue than Quinn is trying to make out.
Comment by Cassidy Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:27 pm
Rauner’s firm’s attorney’s defense. Old people aren’t worth a lot of $.
Comment by Nonplussed Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:43 pm
I imagine that huge sums of public money went into the nursing homes. Where did that money go, and shouldn’t that money have gone to provide better service to the residents? Who if anybody profited from the trainwrecks?
Comment by Grandson of Man Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:45 pm
But haven’t there been huge jury awards that the nursing home company neither appealed nor paid? the only way that happens is if there are no assets to pay, which goes with the argument that the liabilities were sold to a shell company.
Comment by Nonplussed Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:47 pm
A bungle by the Quinn team, but anything linking Rauner to those nasty nursing homes ain’t good for Rauner neither.
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:56 pm
Pat Quinn, by proxy, caught Bruce Rauner telling the truth. That’s something that many of the commenters here can’t do on purpose or by accident.
Comment by A guy... Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 2:59 pm
–Pat Quinn, by proxy, caught Bruce Rauner telling the truth.–
What do you mean?
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 3:03 pm
You aren’t hearing anything about the liability insurance for the nursing home, in all likelihood because there was none. If there was no liability insurance and the lawyers were anticipating having difficulty collecting, that would account for low settlement demands.
Comment by The Way I See It Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 3:05 pm
=== wordslinger - Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 3:03 pm:
–Pat Quinn, by proxy, caught Bruce Rauner telling the truth.–
What do you mean?====
From the top of this Blog entry from Mr. Miller:
I’m not quite sure why I received this e-mail from the Quinn campaign today…
ICYMI: Defense attorneys hit value of lawsuits in Rauner-linked nursing home case
Actually, the article points out something that I had on the blog the other day which backs up Rauner’s claims that nobody was trying to dump assets in the face of huge lawsuit threats…====
Does that help you Sling?
Comment by A guy... Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 3:23 pm
A Guy, I’m not buying any of the premise.
–The offer came as the company was trying to clear lawsuits off its books before filing for receivership in Maryland in 2009, said Kristi Anderson, who was a lawyer for Trans Healthcare of Baltimore at the time. –
First off, I think the writer means bankruptcy, which is voluntary, and not receivership, which is forced by creditors.
Riddle me this: why is a company preparing to file for bankruptcy seeking to settle lawsuits? It makes no sense.
Most businesses that are preparing to file for bankruptcy stop paying on everything. After you file, all debts are thrown in one pot, all assets in another, and a judge figures out how to divvy it up among the creditors.
I can see why a plaintiff’s lawyer would try to get paid before a filing — better something guaranteed now than possibly nothing later.
But what’s the advantage for the defendant? In fact, bankruptcy laws have a look-back and if a judge sees some creditors were favored with payment prior to filing, the court can claw it back.
If hiding assets was going on, the benefit is obvious, regardless of lawsuits or any other claims against assets.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 4:07 pm
“First off, I think the writer means bankruptcy, which is voluntary, and not receivership, which is forced by creditors.”
Wrong-o, ’slinger. A Maryland corporate entity can enter a voluntary receivership to wind up its affairs. Maryland TITLE 3, Subtitle 4, Section 3-418.
It’s basically the same as a voluntary liquidation in Illinois.
So, the author *meant* “receivership”.
Comment by Chris Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 5:31 pm
This nursing home stuff is old news. It didn’t work in the primary and it won’t work now either.
Comment by Fearless Freep Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 7:01 pm
===This nursing home stuff is old news.===
Not nearly as old as what Harold Washington said about Quinn.
Just saying. That excuse is now gone.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Sep 24, 14 @ 7:23 pm