Timothy John Cavanagh

Timothy J. Cavanagh, founding partner of Cavanagh Law Group, is a nationally recognized trial lawyer who has obtained more than $500 million in settlements and verdicts for his clients including some of the largest personal injury victories in Illinois history. For more than a quarter of a century, Cavanagh has successfully represented victims in personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases in the Chicago area and around the United States.

Since launching Cavanagh Law Group in 1997, Cavanagh has obtained more than 55 verdicts and settlements exceeding one million dollars and has a 99 percent success rate. Cavanagh is routinely recognized as one of the top trial and plaintiff lawyers in Illinois and the nation.

Cavanagh has a reputation for taking on and winning the most challenging cases including a recent $20 million landmark settlement with the City of Chicago in the high profile “Code of Silence” wrongful death case. In Cazares vs. Frugoli, a drunk, off-duty Chicago Police Officer drove and fatally struck another vehicle with two passengers inside.

During the federal court trial, Cavanagh uncovered evidence the City of Chicago failed to disclose crucial and damaging information during discovery. Cavanagh successfully compelled the City and Police Department to acknowledge its long-entrenched “Code of Silence,” resulting in a settlement split between the two victims’ families.

During his career, Cavanagh has obtained numerous record verdicts and settlements for his clients. Among them, a $55 million railroad crossing verdict recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top 100 verdicts in the country in 2002 and an Illinois record.

Since then, Cavanagh has successfully represented other victims in railroad crashes obtaining a $9.1 million railroad crossing settlement for a severely injured woman, a $7.5 million settlement for a woman who was struck by a Metra train and suffered a brain injury and a $1.8 million settlement for a woman injured in a Metra derailment. Cavanagh has also become a nationally recognized advocate for Positive Train Control technology which would have prevented these tragedies.

Cavanagh also successfully represented clients injured or killed by trucks. He obtained a record $9.75 million-dollar settlement when a truck hit and severely injured a female triathlete riding her bike in downtown Chicago. It was the largest settlement in Illinois history for a case involving a vehicle and a bicyclist. Cavanagh obtained a $5.9 million settlement in 2017 on behalf of Mary Kriete-Green against Adan’s Trucking.

Green’s 38-year-old husband was struck and killed by a semi-truck. Cavanagh also obtained a confidential $10 million settlement in another trucking incident.

Cavanagh’s legal victories have also prompted changes in safety procedures and public policy. A $2 million-dollar verdict Cavanagh obtained for the family of an innocent motorist killed in a Chicago police chase prompted the department to revise its policy regarding police chases in the city.

Cavanagh earned a BA from John Carroll University in Ohio, and a JD from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. He is a member of the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, where he currently serves on its Executive Committee.

He is also a member of the Board of Ambassadors of Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, he is a member of the Board of Directors and vice president of the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago, and he is a director of the Western Golf Association Evans Scholars Foundation. Cavanagh lives in Chicago with his wife Stacey and their six children.