McVey v. M.L.K. Enterprises, LLC, 2015 IL 118143

Alma McVey sued M.L.K. Enterprises for personal injuries and settled for $7,500. Southern Illinois Hospital Services treated McVey and asserted a health-care lien of $2,891.64.
McVey incurred attorney fees (30% contingency) and claimed litigation costs of $846.66.
Trial court held that section 10 of the Health Care Services Lien Act requires lien calculations to be based on the gross "verdict, judgment, award, settlement, or compromise," and limited the hospital to one-third of the $7,500 (i.e., $2,500).
The appellate court reversed, following Stanton v. Rea, holding that attorney fees and costs must be deducted before computing health-care liens.
The hospital sought review. The Illinois Supreme Court granted leave and considered whether attorney fees and costs must be deducted prior to calculating health-care liens under section 10.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether attorney fees and litigation costs must be deducted from a plaintiff’s recovery before computing health-care liens under 770 ILCS 23/10	McVey: subtract attorney fees and costs from the settlement first, then calculate liens on the net amount (to protect plaintiff’s share)	Hospital: calculate liens from the gross "verdict, judgment, award, settlement, or compromise"; no statutory deduction for fees/costs	The Court held fees and costs are not deductible; lien percentages are calculated from the gross recovery as written in section 10.

First American Bank Corp. v. Henry, 239 Ill. 2d 511 (Illinois 2011) (statutory construction reviewed de novo)
DeLuna v. Burciaga, 223 Ill. 2d 49 (Illinois 2006) (when statutory language is clear, courts must apply it as written)
In re D.L., 191 Ill. 2d 1 (Illinois 2000) (court may not read limitations into an unambiguous statute)
Wendling v. Southern Illinois Hospital Services, 242 Ill. 2d 261 (Illinois 2011) (hospitals not required to contribute attorneys’ fees under common fund theory)