Timothy Cavanagh

With more than 35 years of experience, nationally recognized trial attorney Timothy J. Cavanagh has championed the rights of personal injury victims across Illinois and throughout the country. Since founding Cavanagh Sorich Law Group, formerly Cavanagh Law Group, in 1997, he has secured more than 75 verdicts and settlements totaling $800 million on behalf of his clients. Cavanagh’s cases have broken Illinois records, strengthened safety standards, and prompted policy change within city and law enforcement agencies. 

This year, Cavanagh took the helm as President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA), further solidifying his leadership within the state’s legal community. He has served on the ITLA Board of Managers for more than 25 years, and on ITLA’s Executive Committee for more than 10 years. “I am honored and excited to be President,” said Cavanagh.

Cavanagh has consistently obtained multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements for his clients including record-breaking results. This includes a $55 million verdict against the Canadian National Railroad which was recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the top 100 verdicts in the nation.  His landmark $20 million settlement during his closing argument in Cazares v. City of Chicago successfully compelled the Chicago Police Department to acknowledge its long-entrenched “code of silence.” 

Alongside partner Michael Sorich and attorney Christopher Dietmann, he recently secured a $50 million settlement in a FELA railroad injury case for a young man who underwent more than 30 surgeries following a devastating accident in a Chicago rail yard. “It is professionally gratifying to secure a $50 Million settlement for our client,” stated Cavanagh. “He will never be able to walk or work again but will now have the money to live with dignity.”

In just the last three years, Cavanagh and his team obtained a $11.1 million product liability settlement for a young man who lost five digits of his left hand in an unguarded pinch point; a $27 million settlement in Federal Court for the families of two young adults killed in a trucking crash just weeks before trial, a $12.5 million settlement in a medical malpractice case and $5.3 million in a premises liability case and $1.7 million in a motorcycle/auto crash. 

Cavanagh’s reach has been global, delivering a $6.65 million verdict for the family of a man killed in Kuwait in one of the only overseas wrongful death cases ever to be litigated in an American courtroom.

Cavanagh has established himself as an unwavering advocate for victims and their families following catastrophic events. He tackles challenging cases in trying times and has obtained for his clients some of the largest verdicts and settlements in Illinois history. Among them is an unprecedented $9.75 million settlement for a triathlete who was hit by a truck and severely injured while riding her bike in downtown Chicago. The settlement was the largest in state history involving a vehicular collision with a bicycle.

Cavanagh has advocated nationally for Positive Train Control (PTC), a high-tech safety system that alerts train operators to danger and can even override a train’s system to slow down or stop the train if personnel fail to act. He has litigated several high-profile railroad cases, including cases against the Canadian National Railroad that resulted in a $55 million verdict and a $9.1 million settlement.  In the first case, an eight-million-pound train traveling 50 mph rammed into a family’s car, severely and permanently injuring everyone inside the vehicle. The crossing gates and lights were malfunctioning at the time, and a dispatcher erroneously told train operators the crossing was clear.

In the second case, Cavanagh obtained a $9.1 million settlement for a woman who suffered nerve and brain damage after a train collided with her car at a broken crossing gate. He secured a $1.8 million settlement in 2012 for Metra passengers who were seriously injured in a train derailment caused by an engineer who didn’t stop at a red light.  The year before, Cavanagh obtained a $7.5 million settlement for a woman who sustained a massive brain injury after being struck by a Metra commuter train in Chicago.

Several of Cavanagh’s cases have propelled public policy change. In the firm’s landmark $20 million “code of silence” case against the city of Chicago, an off-duty Chicago police detective killed two men while driving drunk on an interstate. The detective had a long history of alcohol-related offenses, including two prior car crashes, but never faced serious consequences. During a federal trial, Cavanagh and partner Michael Sorich uncovered crucial and damaging evidence the city failed to disclose during discovery which compelled city officials to acknowledge its long-entrenched “code of silence.” 

Other major legal victories include a $14 million settlement for a 5-year-old boy who sustained a severe brain injury during birth after hospital staff confused his heart rate with his mother’s pulse. A seven-minute lapse without oxygen caused the boy to suffer cerebral palsy, ultimately leaving his arms and legs paralyzed. Cavanagh also previously secured a $5.75 million settlement for a Mundelein police officer whose squad car was rear-ended by a limousine. Her right leg was amputated above the knee. She suffered multiple leg fractures and lost her unborn child a few weeks later. The award was the highest reported uninsured motorist settlement in Illinois history.

Cavanagh was named the Best Lawyers® 2022 Personal Injury Litigation — Plaintiffs “Lawyer of the Year” in Chicago. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America® every year since 2015 in the field of personal injury litigation – plaintiffs and he has been one of  Lawdragon’s top 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers since 2019. Cavanagh has been named an Illinois Leading Lawyer by the Leading Lawyers Network every year since 2003; the list is reserved for the top five percent of attorneys in the state. Thomson Reuters has named Cavanagh a Super Lawyer every year since 2005. He also has been included on the annual Irish Legal 100 list since 2010.

Cavanagh Sorich Law Group was given a “Tier 1” ranking by U.S. News & World Report and has been included in the publication’s annual Best Law Firms list since 2016.

Cavanagh earned a bachelor’s degree from John Carroll University and a Juris Doctor degree from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. In 2019, he was sworn into the U.S. Supreme Court Bar by Chief Justice John Roberts. Cavanagh is a sought-after lecturer and guest speaker. He frequently discusses his cases and provides legal insight and commentary for Chicago and national media outlets, including The Today Show, the Chicago Tribune, and the Washington Post.

He holds leadership positions in a variety of educational, professional, and philanthropic organizations. Cavanagh serves on the Board of Directors at John Carroll University, the Board of Ambassadors for Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, and the Advisory Board for Leading Lawyers Illinois. He is a longtime member of the Executive Committee of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and currently serves as its President. In addition, Cavanagh is a longstanding director of both the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago and the Western Golf Association Evans Scholars Foundation.

Cavanagh lives in Chicago with his wife Stacey, a partner at Cavanagh Sorich Law Group, and their six children.

Honors for Cavanagh and his law firm include:

• Best Lawyers® 2022 Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs “Lawyer of the Year” in Chicago
• Best Lawyers in America® – Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Litigation – 2015 to present
• Best Lawyers®: Cavanagh Sorich Law Group, Best Law Firms – 2016 to present
• Cavanagh was selected one of the top 500 leading plaintiff lawyers in America by Lawdragon Magazine
• Selected to Super Lawyers by Thomas Reuters every year since 2005
• Named a Leading Lawyer by Law Bulletin Media every year since 2003 (The list honors the top 5 percent of lawyers in Illinois.)
• Listed in the Irish Legal 100 by The Irish Voice Newspaper as one of the top Irish lawyers in America from 2010 to present
• Cited as one of the top 100 consumer lawyers in Illinois
• The recipient of two Trial Lawyers Excellence Awards by the Jury Verdict Reporter (one was awarded for a record setting settlement and another for a record-setting verdict)
• Included by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company on the “40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch” list in 2001
• John Carroll University – “Community Service Award;” December 12, 1999