Testimony got underway Tuesday in the city of Clinton’s legal malpractice case against an attorney who urged a settlement in a whistle-blower lawsuit alleging fraudulent Emergency Medical Services billing of Medicare and Medicaid.
Clinton is trying to prove legal malpractice on the part of attorney Michael Walker and his law firm Hopkins and Huebner in the handling of the city’s case. The settlement was the city’s repayment to the federal government of $4.5-million over ten years.
The whistle-blower lawsuit was filed by former Clinton fire fighter Tim Schultheis. He receives a portion of the payments as a ‘whistle-blower’ under the law.
Former Fire Chief Mark Regenwether was the first city witness to take the stand.
Mike Hannafan, from the Chicago law firm representing the city in its legal malpractice suit, questioned Regenwether on Tuesday afternoon regarding the whistle-blower case. His questions ranged from Tim Schultheis’s personality to the city’s process for coding ambulance calls.
You can read more details in the Clinton Herald and clintonherald.com
Regenwether is expected to continue his testimony today in the case being heard in Scott County on a change of venue.
