Founder
Attorney Megan Shore-Toca is a Plaintiff's attorney who litigates cases involving sexual assault, medical malpractice, birth injury, nursing home abuse and neglect, assisted living abuse and neglect, community integrated living arrangement (CILA) abuse and neglect, dental malpractice, and other personal injury cases including privacy invasion, slip and falls, and auto accidents. Throughout her career, Megan has a 100% success rate at obtaining compensation for her clients. Megan is Super Lawyer's Illinois 2021 and 2022 Rising Star, The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 40 Under 40 Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 100 Medical Malpractice Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 10 Nursing Home Lawyers. Throughout her career her cases have been highly publicized in the media, including CBS, ABC local news, NBC 5 Chicago Nightly News, AARP, Law360, The Chicago Tribune, and The Daley Herald.
Throughout her career, Megan has presented and continues to do so at law schools and continuing education courses for lawyers and nurse consultants regarding electronic medical records for hospitals and nursing homes, audit trails, preventing obstruction of justice, written and oral discovery, defeating motions to compel arbitration, and the Medical Studies Act. Megan has also published articles across the country on birth injury, electronic medical records for hospitals and nursing homes, and audit trails. Megan also served as a consultant to AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). In September of 2022, Megan worked with special monitors of skilled nursing facilities appointed by the California Attorney General to review and audit electronic medical records.
Prior to starting her own firm, Megan litigated hundreds of cases throughout her career at a top rated Chicago law firm which was rated by US News as “Best Law Firms in Illinois First Tier Rankings Recognition,” and #1 for number of settlements reported by The Jury Verdict Reporter. Due to confidentiality, Megan cannot disclose many of her cases; however, her cases included, the following non-confidential cases:
$3.6 million in a medical malpractice and wrongful death case regarding anesthesia error;
$2.5 million record setting settlement in a birth injury and wrongful death case of a baby born stillborn;
$1.5 million in a Coumadin mismanagement case causing the death of an 84 year old;
$1.5 million in an acute GI bleed and wrongful death case at an LTAC facility;
$1,275,000 for post-operative complications following surgery;
$976,000 in a nursing home choking and wrongful death case;
$975,000 in a nursing home fall case resulting in a neck fracture;
$925,000 in a nursing home dehydration case;
$800,000 in a nursing home pressure sore and wrongful death case;
$750,000 in a nursing home fall and wrongful death case;
$650,000 in a nursing home pressure sore and wrongful death case;
$550,000 in a nursing home anticoagulant mismanagement case;
$500,000 in a nursing home pressure sore case;
$500,000 in a medical malpractice case causing right side brachial plexus after a first rib resection;
$500,000 in a diabetic mismanagement case;
$495,000 in a nursing home pressure sore case;
$450,000 in a nursing home pressure sore case;
$400,000 in a community integrated living arrangement (CILA) child abuse case;
$400,000 in a nursing home fall case;
$375,000 in a nursing home case involving complications with a tracheostomy tube;
$375,000 in a nursing home fall case of a 105 year old woman;
$350,000 in a nursing home urinary tract infection case;
$325,000 in a nursing home pressure sore case;
$300,000 in a nursing home septic shock case;
$200,000 in a nursing home case involving an infected port; and
$195,000 in a nursing home case for failure to provide incontinence care.
Among her many accomplishments, Megan won the first federal motion to remand within the 7th Circuit determining that nursing homes are not immune from liability pursuant to the PREP Act and federal officer immunity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Megan also trained and litigated cases with nationally renowned birth injury attorneys, whom she continues to work and prosecutes cases with as a team, both in Illinois and across the nation. Megan has worked on birth injury cases across the nation in state and federal court for cases resulting in multi-million dollar settlements and jury verdicts ranging from $4.5 million to $143 million - the largest obstetrical malpractice verdict in United States history at the time.
Awards
Super Lawyer's 2021 Rising Star
Super Lawyer's 2022 Rising Star
The National Trial Lawyer’s 2021 Top 40 Under 40
The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 10 Nursing Home Lawyers
The National Trial Lawyer's Top 100 Lawyers
Associations and Committees:
Illinois State Bar Association
Illinois State Bar Association's Mentorship Program (Mentor)
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
Chicago Bar Association
Women's Bar Association of Illinois
Co-Chair of the following Committees:
Small Firms
Annual Dinner
Top Women in Leadership Reception
The American Association for Justice:
The Birth Trauma Litigation Group
Women's Trial Lawyers Caucus
The Nursing Home Litigation Group - Executive Committee Member
The Medical Malpractice Litigation Group
The Medical Record Retrieval CIOX Litigation Group
The New Lawyers Division
The National Trial Lawyers
Top 100 Lawyers
Top 10 Nursing Home Lawyers
Top 40 Under 40 Trial Lawyers
Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism's Mentor
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
Illinois
Central District of Illinois
Presentations and Publications
Exposing Nursing Homes, Trial magazine, June 2022
Be Audit You Can Be: How to Better Prepare Your Lawyer, 2022 LNC Success Conference (coming soon!)
Increasing the Value of Nursing Home Cases, Maryland Association for Justice, Nursing Home Litigation Group (coming soon!)
Understanding Audit Data in Medical Malpractice and Nursing Home Cases, Ohio Association for Justice Annual Convention 2022
Understanding the Nursing Home Industry’s Leading Electronic Medical Record and Audit Data, American Association for Justice's Nursing Home Litigation Group's Webinar Series, Spring 2022
Understanding Electronic Medical Records and Audit Trails - 2 Part Series, American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants Conference, West Virginia, 2022
Ethical Trial Practice in the Digital Age, Northwest Suburban Bar Association, December 1, 2021
Nothing Good Happens After 3 Hours: Recent Literature Questions ACOG's Guidance on the 2nd Stage of Labor, AAJ Birth Trauma Litigation Group Journal, July 2021
A New Nursing Home Playbook: Discovery What the Long-Term Care Industry Hides in Its Electronic Medical, Financial, and Staffing Information, The American Association for Justice, Nursing Home Litigation Group, Spring 2021 Seminar
Understanding Electronic Medical Records, The American Association for Justice, Spring 2020 Seminar
Understanding the Leading Nursing Home EMR System, The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Journal, Winter 2020 Issue
Combating Defense Obstruction in Medical Malpractice Cases, The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, December 2019 Seminar
Megan Shore-Toca In The News
9th Circ. Ruling Won't End Nursing Home Virus Venue Fight - Law 360
Super Lawyers' Rising Star in Plaintiff's Medical Malpractice - Super Lawyers Magazine
Top 40 Under 40 Spotlight, Winter 2021 Issue - The Trial Lawyer Magazine
Member Spotlight, January 2022 - Illinois Women's Bar Association
Nursing Home Unlikely to Sway 9th Circ. In Virus Venue Fight - Law 360
2 Women Say They Were Sexually Assaulted By Same Masseur At Old Town Massage Envy - CBS News Chicago
2 Women Say Old Town Massage Envy Employee Sexually Assaulted Them - NBC 5 Chicago
Nursing Home Unlikely to Sway 9th Circ. In Virus Venue Fight - Law 360
2nd Symphony Of Joliet Wrongful Death Lawsuit, - Yahoo News!
Lawsuit Claims 'Gross Negligence' in COVID Death at Bloomington Nursing Home - WTLG Radio
COVID Executive Order Limits Malpractice Lawsuits - WGLT Radio
Lawsuit Accuses Bloomington facility of 'gross negligence' in COVID-19 death - Week 25 News
Lawsuit Against Bloomington Long Term Care Facility Alleges Gross Negligence in COVID Outbreak Death
- ABC News
Nursing Homes Struggle to Keep COVID Out as Deaths Rise - WGLT News
Bloomington Nursing Home Sued Over COVID Death - The Pantagraph
Teaching and Mentoring Programs
Mentor for the UIC Law Alumni Mentor Program, 2022
Mentor for the Illinois State Bar Associations' Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring, 2022
Mentor for the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, 2022
Trial Advocacy, Guest Speaker, at The John Marshall Law School, 2017
Education
Megan graduated from The John Marshall Law School (JMLS). While in law school, Megan was a JMLS Student Ambassador, a Phi Delta Phi Honor's Society member, on the Dean's List, a CALI Award recipient, and awarded as a Dean Johnston Academic Scholar. Out of 124 of her fellow students, Megan placed 2nd for her appellate brief and in oral argument in the Herzog Moot Court Competition. During law school, Megan expanded her legal knowledge by also working for various firms in the Chicagoland area which provided services in immigration law, family law, real estate law, and criminal law. While in law school, Megan worked for the Illinois State's Attorney's Appellate Prosecutor where all her cases were successfully affirmed in favor of the appellate prosecutor. During law school, Megan also worked with a firm which prosecuted birth injury cases across the nation in state and federal court for cases resulting in multi-million dollar settlements and jury verdicts.
J.D., The John Marshall Law School
B.A., Loyola University Chicago
Pre-Medicine, Biology, B.A.
Business Management
