Chicago Psychiatric Malpractice Lawyer
Psychiatric malpractice requires specialized legal expertise like the lawyers at Levin & Perconti. We focus exclusively on cases where psychiatric negligence has caused severe, life-altering harm. Our attorneys have decades of combined experience pursuing justice for victims of psychiatric malpractice involving suicide, medication complications, sexual abuse, and other severe injuries.
Quick Facts About Levin & Perconti
- Levin & Perconti secured a $1.5 million settlement involving a resident in a mental health and developmental support facility who died after caregivers failed to properly execute his individual service plan
- Levin & Perconti is currently leading a highly publicized lawsuit against Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center (a Chicago facility providing mental health, housing, and social services to youth)
- Levin & Perconti has secured $2 billion in total compensation for their clients
- 21 Levin & Perconti attorneys were honored in the 2026 Super Lawyers® list, with 11 earning the Super Lawyers distinction and 10 recognized as Rising Stars
Why Choose Our Chicago Psychiatric Malpractice Lawyers?
Our psychiatric malpractice lawyers focus exclusively on severe, life-altering injuries, bringing deep knowledge of psychiatric medicine, medication interactions, diagnostic standards, and the duties psychiatrists owe their patients. With over 200 years of combined legal experience in medical malpractice litigation, our team has also built established relationships with leading psychiatric experts, forensic psychiatrists, and pharmacologists who support our cases. We approach every matter with sensitivity and compassion, understanding the trauma and complexity involved in psychiatric malpractice cases and handling each one with the utmost discretion and respect.
Beyond our expertise, we bring extensive investigative resources to thoroughly examine complex psychiatric malpractice cases and build the strongest possible claims. Our proven track record, including a recent $530,000 settlement, demonstrates our ability to secure substantial compensation for catastrophic injuries. This success has helped our firm grow into a nationally recognized practice with a strong network and reputation for winning catastrophic injury cases.
Some of our notable Illinois medical malpractice case results include:
| Recovery Amount | Case Context |
|---|---|
| $40 Million Verdict | for a woman who suffered a severe and permanent brain injury, marking one of the largest case results in Illinois history. |
| $27 Million Verdict | for a child with permanent cognitive and developmental impairments. |
| $17.7 Million Settlement | for a medical malpractice incident involving a former police officer who suffered a life-altering brain injury due to nursing staff negligence at a Chicago hospital. |
| $14 Million Verdict | for a record high medical malpractice case against a doctor and hospital for not following and ignoring abnormal chest X-ray results, which caused a substantial delay in the diagnosis of lung cancer. |
| $12 Million Verdit | in lung cancer case, the doctors never told the patient about abnormal X-Rays. |
| $8.1 Million Verdict | on behalf of a family whose mother died of lung cancer as a result of a failure to diagnose. |
| $8 Million Settlement | due to a hospital’s failure to treat a kidney stone which led to a woman’s wrongful death. |
Past Client Testimonials
Don’t take our word for it. Hear from some of the past clients we’ve helped:
What is psychiatric malpractice?
Psychiatric malpractice occurs when a psychiatrist breaches a duty to provide a reasonable standard of care, causing the patient to experience harm. Examples of psychiatric malpractice include:
- Failure to notice suicidal symptoms
- Misdiagnosis
- Failure to diagnose
- Delayed diagnosis
- Medication errors
Psychiatric Misdiagnosis
Diagnosing mental health conditions is not always straightforward because mental health conditions cannot generally be detected using laboratory testing. Symptoms of mental illness also manifest differently from one patient to the next. Additionally, mental health symptoms may be caused by physical conditions.
Accurately assessing patients and monitoring their results requires insight that can only be gained by allotting sufficient time to interview patients while observing response patterns and body language.
Outpatient psychiatric visits are generally 15 minutes long, according to Psychology Today, except for a one-time longer visit during the initial assessment. This does not always provide sufficient time to make an accurate diagnosis.
Despite the mental health connection, most psychiatrists do not offer psychotherapy. As a rule, psychiatrists do not collaborate with talk therapists, so their diagnoses are based on observations gained during excessively short windows of time and the patient’s communications.
Psychiatric Malpractice Cases We Handle
We exclusively represent victims of severe psychiatric negligence. Our psychiatric attorneys have the expertise to recognize, investigate, and litigate the most complex psychiatric malpractice cases. We handle cases where the injury is severe and fundamentally alters the patient’s life trajectory:
- Suicide attempts or completed suicide due to failure to diagnose suicidal ideation, inadequate monitoring, or inappropriate medication
- Permanent psychiatric disability from misdiagnosis or improper medication resulting in inability to work or function
- Severe medication complications resulting in chronic health conditions, organ damage, permanent neurological injury, or permanent movement disorders
- Sexual abuse or assault by a psychiatrist or facility staff causing severe psychological trauma
- Catastrophic physical injuries from medication side effects including neuroleptic malignant syndrome, tardive dyskinesia, stroke, cardiac events, or diabetic complications
- Permanent loss of employment and earning capacity due to wrongful injury
- Severe psychological trauma from abuse or malpractice requiring extensive ongoing psychiatric treatment
These cases require specialized legal expertise that few attorneys possess. The Chicago psychiatric malpractice lawyers at Levin & Perconti have the knowledge, resources, and determination to pursue these complex cases.
Proving Psychiatric Malpractice: What Our Lawyers Must Establish
To hold a psychiatrist liable for catastrophic injury, our team must establish four key elements of medical negligence:
1. Duty of Care
A doctor-patient relationship existed between you and the psychiatrist, creating a legal duty to provide competent psychiatric care that meets the standard of care for psychiatrists in Illinois.
2. Breach of Duty
The psychiatrist failed to provide a reasonable standard of care, such as failing to diagnose suicidal ideation, prescribing inappropriate medication, failing to monitor medication effects, sexual abuse, or other negligent conduct.
3. Injury
You suffered a severe, catastrophic injury that would not have occurred but for the psychiatrist’s breach of duty. In our cases, the injury must be life-altering and severe.
4. Proximate Cause
The breach of duty directly caused your catastrophic injury. There is a causal connection between the psychiatrist’s negligence and your injury.
Expert testimony required: Our psychiatric malpractice lawyers have established relationships with leading psychiatric experts, forensic psychiatrists, and pharmacology specialists. We know how to select the right experts, prepare them for trial, and use their testimony to prove the psychiatrist breached the standard of care. This expert network is one of the key advantages of working with experienced psychiatric malpractice lawyers.
Statute of Limitations for Psychiatric Malpractice Claims
In Illinois, the statute of limitations for psychiatric malpractice is strict and unforgiving:
- Two years from the date of the injury or from when the injury was discovered
- Maximum of four years after the negligent act, even if discovery occurred later
Do not delay. Missing the statute of limitations deadline eliminates your legal claim entirely. If you or a loved one has suffered injury from psychiatric malpractice, contact us immediately. Time is critical in these cases.
Can I Afford a Psychiatric Malpractice Lawyer?
At Levin & Perconti, we believe financial limitations should never create a barrier to justice. As a result, we accept cases on a contingency basis, which means we charge nothing up front. We only get paid if you recover a settlement or jury award.
This arrangement means you have no financial risk in pursuing your claim. We invest our resources into thoroughly investigating and litigating your case because we are confident in our ability to secure compensation for your catastrophic injury.
Discuss Your Case with an Experienced Psychiatric Malpractice Lawyer at Levin & Perconti
If you have been injured because of psychiatric malpractice, you deserve justice. The statute of limitations limits the time we have to gather evidence and prepare your case, so retaining counsel promptly is critical. Contact us today or call us at (312) 332-2872 to schedule a free, confidential consultation.
Legally Reviewed by
Bonamarte, IV
Read Bio
Since 2005, Michael Bonamarte IV has been a passionate advocate for victims of negligent conduct, corporate malfeasance, and medical malpractice. He has won numerous awards and recognitions, including Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers’ Rising Star. He has presented for the American Association for Justice, the AAJ Nursing Home Litigation Group, the John Marshall Law School, and numerous other legal associations. He regularly lectures at Chicago-area aging organizations about nursing home abuse. His writings have been published by the American Bar Association, the Chicago Daily Bulletin, and numerous other prestigious publications.
