Today's case update from the Illinois Bar Association brings news of Cothren v. Thompson, in which a medical-malpractice lawyer argued that he couldn't get his expert affidavit filed in time because his expert was "unfortunately incarcerated" in Pennsylvania and was "difficult to communicate with" while in jail.
The appellate court's rejection of this argument relied in part upon what the British call "understatement"--
[P]laintiff has failed to establish good cause in the late filing of the required documents. The fact that plaintiff's attorney chose an incarcerated health professional to determine if a meritorious cause existed and had difficulty communicating with him because of his incarceration does not amount to good cause.
Noted.
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