The SAO Undercover is a newsletter that circulates among the Cook County state`s attorney`s office staff, but it`s unlikely that you will find any mention there of the latest promotions made by State`s Atty. Jack O`Malley.
Though Undercover lacks a masthead-and proficiency in spelling-the gossipy, single-page handout includes some interesting gibes aimed at O`Malley`s aides.
Among the targets in what apparently was the initial edition were former Judge Kenneth Gillis, O`Malley`s first assistant, and Patrick O`Brien, a top trial lawyer in the office.
Undercover pokes fun at Gillis by alleging that since taking over as first assistant last March, he has tried out seven different autos at county expense before finding a leased car he liked.
”Very devious,” said Andy Knott, O`Malley`s press secretary, when we asked for a response to Undercover. ”None of it is true; it`s all a smear campaign.”
He said Gillis is on his third car-one was a ”lemon” and another had to be returned because the lease was up.
Our sources in the prosecutor`s office report there`s no shortage of readers in this season of electioneering.
For the record, O`Malley announced the promotions Friday of Thomas Hennelly, Elizabeth Loredo Rivera, Robert Lyons and Colleen McSweeney Moore, saying the moves bolster prosecution of gangs, sex crimes, consumer fraud and traffic offenders.
A shot in arm for HMOs
A recent federal court decision in New Hampshire could help the financial viability of health maintenance organizations nationwide, says the Chicago antitrust lawyer who won the case.
A federal magistrate sitting as a U.S. District Court judge ruled last month that the exclusive contracts between Healthsource Inc., a New Hampshire-based HMO, and about 260 independent primary-care physicians were not an illegal monopoly or a restraint of trade.
The magistrate rejected claims brought against Healthsource by a rival HMO, which was seeking to recruit doctors to serve its subscribers who lived in New Hampshire but worked for Massachusetts employers.
It was the first legal test for contract language that prevents independent physicians from working for more than one HMO, according to lawyers Thomas Campbell and James Teevans, of Chicago`s Gardner, Carton & Douglas.
There are different types of health maintenance organizations-some are hospital-based or employ staff doctors. This case involved HMOs that recruit independent doctors to treat patients covered by their plans.
Healthsource believes that entering into exclusive arrangements with doctors, which prevent the physicians from working with other HMOs but do not preclude them from seeing private patients, helps it to control costs and results in lower rates, Campbell said.
The ruling notes that other types of medical benefit plans are available in New Hampshire.
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The contracts were challenged by Philadelphia-based U.S. Healthcare Inc. The company is considering an appeal, but no decision has been made, said one of its lawyers, William Kopit, a health-care antitrust attorney at Epstein, Becker & Green in Washington, D.C.
Kopit says exclusive clauses might work for HMOs in some rural areas, but doesn`t think the arrangements would be attractive in major markets like Chicago, New York or Boston.
– HEADS UP, LOUISIANA. Memo to Louisiana state officials: FBI Special Agent Charles E. ”Chip” Riley, a lawyer and former legal adviser in the Chicago field office, is headed your way.
In Chicago, Riley was a key player in the bureau`s battle against public corruption and organized crime. His promotion to No. 2 person in the New Orleans office was conveyed personally by FBI Director William Sessions.
Riley`s arrival is scheduled for after Mardi Gras.
– COMINGS AND GOINGS. Veteran Cook County Circuit Judge Joseph Schneider, presiding judge of the court`s County Division, has set March 15 as the date for his resignation. Schneider leaves to oversee implementation of a federal consent decree intended to resolve the litigation brought against the state Department of Children and Family Services by the American Civil Liberties Union. . . . Lawyers Nancy Schiavone and Mary T. Zerega have split from their respective firms to set up shop as Schiavone & Zerega, which will handle bankruptcy, creditors rights, real estate and general litigation. Schiavone was a partner at Katten, Muchin & Zavis; Zerega was at McDermott, Will & Emery.
– LAW BRIEFS. Lawyers have been mum about details, but Japanese-owned Quasar Co. and the three former executives who filed a discrimination lawsuit against the company after they were fired in 1986 have quietly resolved their differences. In December, the federal appeals court here overturned the $2.5 million in damages awarded to the three and ordered further proceedings. . . . Karen L. Braun, marketing director at Rosenthal & Schanfield, is the new president of the Chicago regional chapter of the National Law Firm Marketing Association.