Margaret P. Battersby Black

Margaret P. Battersby Black is an award-winning attorney who has played a key role in a number of nursing home and medical malpractice cases at Levin & Perconti. Her commitment to her practice has achieved noteworthy results for clients in all types of personal injury, nursing home, and malpractice matters. She is also committed to the advancement of women in the legal profession and serves as a mentor to law students and younger lawyers. In 2015, she was honored by IIT-Chicago-Kent Law School as Outstanding Young Alumna of the year. This award recognizes alumni who have made significant contributions to the law school and the legal community. In 2023, she was bestowed the Carole K. Bellows Women of Influence Award which honors those who are advocates for action addressing women’s issues and promote involvement by women in the legal community at all levels.

Margaret is well-known for her work on behalf of individuals and families in lawsuits involving nursing home abuse and negligence. She has secured many notable high six and seven-figure settlements in cases involving falls, pressure sores and medication errors. She is well regarded by her clients and peers alike and was honored by the Law Bulletin Media and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin 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.

She was a founding member and inaugural chair of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Women’s Caucus for the term that ran through 2018. She is active in the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, 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. She regularly judges law school moot court competitions and hosts students in externships.

She grew up in Beverly Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit in a large Irish Catholic family full of lawyers and judges. She watched her father, a Plaintiff’s lawyer, spend his career helping the underdogs and the good guys, and this made a lasting impression. From a young age, she embraced leadership roles in school, sports, and within her own family as the oldest child. Later, her ambition and vision helped earn her an undergraduate degree from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, build a successful career as a financial analyst at JP Morgan Chase in Chicago, and go on to earn her law degree from Chicago-Kent Law School. Margaret joined Levin & Perconti as a law clerk in 2006, was promoted to associate attorney in 2008, and was named partner in 2014.

Notable Cases and Results:
$29M Birth Injury Settlement

$20M Verdict: on behalf of a child who suffered preventable HIE and asphyxia injuries at birth, resulting in permanent cognitive and developmental impairments.

$17.7M Medical Malpractice Settlement

$9M Birth Injury Settlement

$8M Medical Malpractice Settlement

$7.5M Illinois Record Jones Act Settlement

$7M Wrongful Death Jury Verdict

$6M Medical Negligence Settlement

$5.45M Wrongful death medical malpractice settlement for a 48-year-old woman who presented to the emergency room with complaints of feeling ill and was sent home. She returned the following day and was in sepsis.

$4.1M Record-Setting Illinois Nursing Home Jury Verdict: on behalf of an 85-year-old woman injured in a nursing home when her medications were mismanaged.

$3.8 Motor Vehicle Settlement

$3.6M Medical Malpractice Settlement: for the death of a 26-year-old

$3.3M Hospital Fall Case Settlement

$3M Medical Malpractice Settlement

$1.55M Medical Malpractice Settlement

$1.335M Verdict in a Medical Negligence Lawsuit

$1.175M Assisted Living Negligence Settlement