National Law Journal says Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. “pioneered” legal niche.

In the July 26 edition of the National Law Journal, the Law Firm of Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. is named to the “Plaintiff’s Hot List”, a list of the Top 20 plaintiff firms in the nation. The national firm with an office in Little Rock was selected based, in part, on work done in Arkansas.

“Though we paid careful attention to recent successes,” wrote the editors of the Journal’s ‘Plaintiff’s Hot List’, “all the firms chosen have track records that go back years, sometimes decades. But our selections were not based on vaunted reputations, impressive clients lists or cases filed. We looked for results.”

In one of three accompanying features, the Journal profiles Wilkes & McHugh, P.A.. As a law firm known for its advocacy for nursing home residents, the firm earned a total of $64 million in verdicts in the past two years with 60 attorneys in seven states, including 12 attorneys in the Little Rock Office.

In its profile of the firm, the National Law Journal notes the groundbreaking litigation developed in the 1980s and 90s by the partners of Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. that took on the large corporate nursing homes: “Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. has carved out a niche and a name for itself … It pioneered use of … residents’ rights law to sue for neglect, as a separate cause of action beyond simple negligence. Its success has been noticed by other firms, which followed its lead.”

Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. has represented nearly 2,000 families in cases against nursing home, including a 2001 case in which the firm won a $78 million verdict in a negligence suit against Advocat, a national nursing home chain with a home in Mena.

It was the largest such result in state history. Overseeing the case in Arkansas was Brian Reddick, the managing attorney of the Wilkes & McHugh, P.A. Little Rock office.

“We’re pleased that our work has been recognized by the National Law Journal,” said Reddick. “As advocates for the elderly confined to nursing homes, we know that our first priority is to fight for justice for those who have been abused or neglected.

Additionally, our work has focused attention on nursing care and has served as a catalyst for systematic policy changes, which have improved the level of care. Being acknowledged as one of the best is an honor that truly reflects the commitment, the heart and the soul, our lawyers put into representing those least able to defend themselves.”

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