Medical Alliances, LLC v. Health Care Service Corporation

              No. 2--06--0188 Filed: 3-1-07
______________________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT
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MEDICAL ALLIANCES, LLC, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
NEUROLOGICAL TESTING SERVICES, ) of Lake County.
LLC, and DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES )
AMERICA, LLC, )
)
Plaintiffs, )
)
v. ) Nos. 01--CH--206
) 01--L--1076
HEALTH CARE SERVICE CORPORATION, ) 01--L--1077
d/b/a BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois, )
)
Defendant-Appellant ) Honorable
) Stephen E. Walter,
(Gardner Carton and Douglas, LLP, Appellee). ) Judge, Presiding.
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JUSTICE BOWMAN delivered the opinion of the court:
Defendant, Health Care Service Corporation, d/b/a BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois (HCSC),
appeals from the trial court's order denying in part its motion for sanctions pursuant to Supreme
Court Rule 137 (155 Ill. 2d R. 137). HCSC was sued by plaintiffs, Medical Alliances, LLC,
Neurological Testing Services, LLC, and Diagnostic Services America, LLC, in 2001. Plaintiffs
alleged that HCSC wrongfully refused to pay claims for neurological tests that they had performed.
On July 13, 2005, HCSC filed a motion for Rule 137 sanctions against plaintiffs as well as their
counsel, Gardner Carton & Douglas, LLP (GCD). HCSC did not request sanctions against the
individual attorney who signed the pleadings. On December 30, 2005, the trial court granted HCSC's