Battersby Black, Margaret P.

Margaret P. Battersby Black joined Levin & Perconti as an associate in 2008 and has played a key role in a number of nursing home and medical malpractice cases. Margaret is well-regarded by her clients and peers alike, and was recently honored by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company as one of the 2011"40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch." This award is given to 40 outstanding attorneys throughout the state for their achievements on behalf of their clients, their communities, and the legal profession. To view Margaret's 40 Under Forty profile click here.

Recently, Margaret worked with Partner Steven Levin to reach a $17.7 million settlement for a former Stone Park police officer who suffered a life-changing brain injury due to medical negligence at a Chicago hospital. She also played a vital role in a $3.3 million settlement for the family of a 52-year-old woman who suffered a brain injury and died after falling in a hospital.

In September 2011, Margaret settled two nursing home pressure sore lawsuits against ManorCare South Holland for $1 million and $750,000, respectively. She settled a nursing home fall lawsuit for $500,000 on behalf of an 89-year-old woman who fell multiple times while living at a Chicago nursing home and reached a $450,000 nursing home fall settlement against an uninsured Illinois nursing home.

Margaret is currently handling a number of nursing home abuse and neglect cases, including a case against a Bridgeview, IL nursing home for failing to ensure that our 73-year-old client received hemodialysis three times a week, as ordered by her physician. She also filed a suit against a Chicago nursing home and a physician for the family of a woman who died from internal bleeding after nursing home staff and her physician failed to properly manage her anti-coagulation regimen causing hemorrhagic shock and death.

In the area of personal injury, Margaret is representing a client whose right hand was severely injured when an employee of an Illinois farm failed to exercise reasonable care while operating an auger to unload grain. She is also handling a case in which our client suffered permanent injuries in an automobile accident involving a semi-truck.

Margaret is active in the American Constitution Society, the American Association for Justice, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the Illinois State Bar Association, and previously served as the ACS Chicago Chapter's Law Firm Outreach Coordinator. During law school, she served as the school's ACS chapter president in 2006 and 2007, was on the Chicago chapter board from 2006 to 2008, and was a member of the national organization's "Next Generation Leaders" program during 2007 and 2008. She takes interest in mentoring law students and has spoken at several law schools about her experiences. She regularly judges law school moot court competitions and hosts students in externships.

Leading up to her tenure at the firm, Margaret graduated from Chicago-Kent Law School with honors, earning the top grade in her litigation technology class. During law school, Margaret was a member of the Chicago-Kent Moot Court Honors Society. She earned the Best Oralist award in the preliminary rounds of the Midwest Moot Court competition in October 2007, where her team finished second, and was a quarterfinalist in the American Constitution Society's Moot Court Competition in March 2007. Also, Margaret worked as a legal extern for Ronin Consulting, a litigation technology consulting firm, where she used technology to assist personal injury lawyers throughout the country in organizing and presenting their cases.

Before entering law school, Margaret had a successful career as a financial analyst at JP Morgan Chase in Chicago. In 2003, she assisted the Mergers & Acquisitions group in the acquisition of a real estate asset management firm with $3.5 billion in assets and worked on a presentation to senior management justifying a merger between JP Morgan Chase and Bank One.

Margaret obtained her undergraduate degree from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan with University Honors and a concentration in Finance and Accounting. Margaret grew up in Beverly Hills, MI, a suburb of Detroit, where she attended Wylie E. Groves High School and was actively involved in academics, school leadership and sports, most notably serving as co-captain of her school's 1998 state championship soccer team.