05/19/2026
A hospital system that is part of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare is requesting The Leapfrog Group reimburse nearly $10.5 million in legal fees connected to a 2025 lawsuit that questioned the methodology of Leapfrog’s hospital safety grades.
In March, a federal judge in Florida sided with five hospitals operated by Tenet’s Palm Beach (Fla.) Health Network, which accused Leapfrog of assigning “unfairly low scores for several measures” and penalizing hospitals that do not participate in its surveys. Leapfrog has said it is appealing the decision, alleging the First Amendment protects its safety grades.
The judge ordered the patient safety organization the “D” and “F” safety grades from those five hospitals. In its spring 2026 safety grades, Leapfrog did not grade about 450 hospitals, as they did not participate in surveys.
On May 15, about two months after the judge’s decision, Palm Beach Health Network filed a motion requesting the court to compel Leapfrog to pay approximately $2 million to each hospital “in reasonable attorneys’ fees and litigation costs,” for a total of $10,499,880.47, according to court documents.
“The judge affirmed what we were saying all along — Leapfrog’s grades are deceptive and harmful to patients and communities,” Maggie Gill, eastern group president of Palm Beach Health Network, told Becker’s in a May 18 statement. “The cost to that decision was multiples of what we are now seeking to recoup through motion practice, and Leapfrog should consider itself lucky that we exercised judgment in recouping costs that should never have been diverted from patient care in the first place.”
Palm Beach listed 20 employees from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, whose hourly rates ranged from $500 to $975, and five local counsel attorneys with hourly rates of $975. From April 2025 filing to trial, Palm Beach’s lawyers said they litigated the case on an expedited eight-month course and experienced burdens from Leapfrog’s litigation team.
“Leapfrog served late and overbroad discovery, produced nearly 1 million documents without a responsiveness review, failed to timely provide an adequate privilege log, forced motion practice to secure basic discovery compliance, and shifted positions and public-facing statements while the case was pending,” according to the May 15 filing.
The same day, Leapfrog filed a motion to either deny Palm Beach’s request or delay a decision until all legal appeals are exhausted. The organization also called the health system’s motion “premature” and the $10.5 million ask unreasonable.
Leapfrog said the latest filing “appears to reflect a concerted effort by the hospitals to weaponize the discretionary fee-shifting provision of [Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act], such that they would be imposing a financial death sentence against Leapfrog, even as they otherwise disavow any monetary relief. No other explanation is apparent for why the Hospitals deployed an army of over two dozen lawyers against Leapfrog’s handful.”
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.
