Patrick Flaherty

Mr. Flaherty was born in Aurora, Illinois on September 20, 1951. He is a lifelong resident of the Fox Valley. He has been married to his wife, Judy, for over 25 years, and they have four children, Benjamin, Mark, Katie and Daniel. One child has been disabled since birth, giving Mr. Flaherty a personal perspective on the struggles faced by families whose loved ones suffer disabilities. He put himself through college working at factories such as Caterpillar Tractor Company and National Metalwares, Inc. Community Involvement: He has been involved in the communities of the Fox Valley for many years. He coached baseball with Aurora Boys Baseball for five years and a team of disabled children with Batavia Boys Baseball for three years. He served on the Aurora Preservation Commission in the City of Aurora for four years and on the Board of Directors for the Association for Individual Development for seven years. He is currently vice-chair of the AID Board of Directors.

He was admitted to the practice of law in Illinois in 1978. He is also admitted to the Federal Trial Bar in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

He graduated from Marmion Military Academy in 1969. He received his undergraduate degree from DePaul University in 1975 and his law degree from Northern Illinois University in 1978.

Mr. Flaherty limits his practice to all phases of personal injury, wrongful death and workers’ compensation cases, including medical malpractice, auto accidents/truck accidents, construction accidents, defective products, premises accidents, train accidents, nursing home injuries and sexual abuse. His extensive experience in medical malpractice includes birth injuries, diagnosis errors, surgical errors and medication errors. He has been recognized by his peers as among the top five percent of all Illinois lawyers in personal injury, workers’ compensation and medical negligence litigation (“Super Lawyers” and “Leading Lawyers”) and has received the highest peer rating for skill and integrity. He has obtained many multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements and is widely respected as a champion for the victims of negligence and wrongdoing.

He has been selected as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” in Illinois by the American Trial Lawyers Association. He has been named a “Super Lawyer” by survey of his peers, signifying that he is among the top 5% of all Illinois lawyers in the field of personal injury litigation. He has also been named a “Leading Lawyer in Personal Injury, Workers’ Compensation and Medical Malpractice” by survey of his peers, a distinction likewise limited to the top 5% of all lawyers who practice in Illinois. He was selected by Law & Lawyers Magazine as one of the top five lawyers in all practice fields and one of the top four lawyers in Personal Injury Litigation/Workers’ Compensation from Kane, Kendall and DeKalb counties in Illinois. Kinnally Flaherty Krentz Loran Hodge & Masur, P.C. is the only law firm with two members named among the top five lawyers in the tri-county area. He has also received the highest rating from his peers for skill and integrity with an A-V designation by Martindale Hubble. He has been voted to the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and to the Board of Directors of the Kane County Bar Association. He will be president of the Kane County Bar Association in 2007 – 2008. He also has been appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness, Second District.

He is a member of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ILTLA) (Board of Managers), the Kane County Bar Association (KCBA) (President 2007-2008) and the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA).

• Old Second Nat’l Bank v. Rush Copley Medical Center et al: Obtained the largest reported birth injury settlement or verdict in Kane County history of $5 million for a 7-year-old girl who suffered brain damage and cerebral palsy from delayed cesarean section.
• Estate of Fajfar v Sadovsky et al: Obtained largest wrongful death verdict in Will County history of $3.4 million on behalf of the family of a 47-year-old father who died following the failure to diagnose aortic dissection.
• Obtained $3 million award for 34-year-old unmarried man seriously and permanently injured by medical negligence.
• Obtained $2.5 million award for wife and children of a 46-year-old father run over by a truck he was directing at a construction site.
• Obtained the largest podiatric malpractice award in Kane County history of $1.5 million for wife and adult daughters of 60-year-old man with a family history of thromboembolism who died of a blood clot following ankle reconstruction surgery by a podiatrist.
• Vickroy v Sportsman Park: Obtained $2 million verdict in Cook County for injured spectator at race track knocked to the floor of the grandstand by patrons frightened after shot from dropped handgun.
• Nila v Hartford Insurance Company of Midwest (2d Dist. 2000) 312 Ill. App. 3d 811, 728 N.E. 2d 81: Successfully argued in a case of first impression that a surviving wife was not bound by her deceased husband’s initial rejection of additional UM coverage where the insurer later issued an auto policy to the surviving wife as the sole named insured for a term beyond the husband’s last policy renewal. The policy was reformed to provide UM limits equal to the liability limits.

For over 20 years, he has been a frequent lecturer and moderator on issues pertaining to personal injury and wrongful death litigation at continuing legal education programs sponsored by the Kane County Bar Association and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. He was chairman of the Civil Practice Committee of the Kane County Bar Association for many years.

He has been involved in the communities of the Fox Valley for many years. He coached baseball with Aurora Boys Baseball for five years and a team of disabled children with Batavia Boys Baseball for three years. He served on the Aurora Preservation Commission in the City of Aurora for four years and on the Board of Directors for the Association for Individual Development for seven years. He is currently vice-chair of the AID Board of Directors.