Christopher H. Dietmann

Christopher H. Dietmann is a skilled trial attorney with extensive experience representing plaintiffs in complex personal injury cases. Dietmann handles a broad range of personal injury cases including railroad, automobile, rideshare and truck collisions, premises liability, medical malpractice, construction site injuries, and product liability.

Dietmann has played a critical role in securing major victories for clients. Alongside partners Tim Cavanagh and Michael Sorich, Dietmann obtained a record $50 million settlement in a FELA railroad case. The firm represented a young man who was injured at a railroad yard in Chicago when he fell off a reach stacker crane and the rear wheels of the crane ran over his pelvis area, resulting in catastrophic injuries, including a degloving injury of his lower torso, a traumatic amputation of his left leg, a loss of function in his right leg, and a portion of his pelvis was removed. He underwent over 50 surgeries and incurred medical bills in excess of $5 million.

“We were able to reach a settlement for $50 million, which is the largest FELA settlement in the state for an employee who was injured at a rail yard,” said Dietmann. “He sustained horrific injuries… it was really a privilege to meet this person and to work with them and to help them.”

Just weeks before going to trial, Dietmann helped obtain a $27 million confidential settlement for the families of two young adults killed in a semi-truck crash and assisted in an $11.1 million product liability settlement for a 25-year-old man who lost five fingers in an industrial incident caused by an unguarded pinch point. That case was settled shortly before trial and was featured in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

In a widely publicized case, Dietmann helped secure a $1.9 million payout for teenager Rylan Wilder who was inadvertently shot by a Des Plaines police officer in a Chicago music school during the pursuit of a bank robber. A bullet tore through Wilder’s arm, demolishing an artery, shattering bone and severely damaging a major nerve leaving his dream of a future in music hanging in the balance. He underwent more than a dozen surgeries and endured three years of intensive physical therapy on the road to recovery.

Dietmann has been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in both Illinois and Connecticut every year since 2020, an honor awarded to fewer than 2.5% of attorneys statewide. Dietmann has built a reputation for excellence and client advocacy. Prior to joining Cavanagh Sorich Law Group, he litigated at respected personal injury firms in Connecticut, where he tried and second-chaired more than a dozen cases involving transportation, premises liability, and animal liability.

Among his notable results is a jury verdict in a disputed liability car crash where the defense attempted to attribute the plaintiff’s injuries to a prior condition. Despite the challenge, Dietmann secured a verdict exceeding ten times the claimed economic damages, with the bulk awarded for non-economic harm.

Dietmann earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Fordham University in 2011 and graduated cum laude from Quinnipiac University School of Law in 2014, where he served as Executive Business Editor of the Quinnipiac Health Law Journal. He is a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.

Outside the courtroom, Dietmann and his wife, Louise, reside in Northfield with their two children. Dietmann has been a dedicated supporter of Cycle for Survival for more than 10 years, participating in its indoor team cycling events to help fund rare cancer research. Cycle for Survival is the official rare cancer fundraising initiative of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), with 100% of every dollar raised going directly to MSK’s research efforts.