Patrick M. Flaherty (Partner)

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 has been selected as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” in Illinois by the American Trial Lawyers Association and among the top 1 percent of all lawyers nationwide by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel. He has been named a “Super Lawyer” since 2005 by survey of his peers, signifying that he is among the top 5 percent of all Illinois lawyers in the field of personal injury litigation. Most recently, Mr. Flaherty was selected as a "Super Lawyer" in 2021. 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 percent 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.

Based on his extraordinary legal experience, competency, reputation and ethical standards, Mr. Flaherty has been selected as a Best Attorney by the Best Attorneys of America and one of the "Top 10" personal injury lawyers in his county by The American Institute's Personal Injury Division. He has received the highest evaluation from AVVO with a “10.0 Superb” rating. He has also received the highest rating from his peers for skill and integrity with an AV Preeminent designation by Martindale-Hubbell. 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 was president of the Kane County Bar Association in 2007 - 2008. He also has been appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to its Committee on Character and Fitness, Second District.

For over 30 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.

• $7.7 Million verdict for the family of a 40 year old woman who died from a thiamine deficiency following gastric bypass surgery.
• Suburban Hospital & Clinic: Obtained the largest reported paraplegia settlement or verdict in Kane County history of $6 million for 63 year-old woman who became paralyzed from the waist down following delay in the diagnosis of a thoracic spinal infection.
• 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 Faifar v Sadovsky et al: Obtained the 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.
• Vickroy v Sportsman’s 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.
• 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 $2.4 million award for 47 year old woman who suffered permanent back injuries from tripping over defective carpet tiles made by a large carpet manufacturer.
• $2,000,00 policy limits recovery for death of 63 year old retired teacher who was murdered after her maid service disclosed her cleaning schedule to an estranged boy friend against whom she had obtained a protective order.
• 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 podiatrist.
• Stearns v. Ridge Ambulance and Countryside Care Center, 2015 IL App (2d) 140908: Successfully argued in a case of first impression that a nursing home owes a duty of care to a resident in providing off site transportation by a third party vendor because the home stands in a special relationship with the patient and because the nursing home-patient relationship is the equivalent of a custodian-ward relationship.
• Nila v Hartford Insurance Company of Midwest (2d Dist. 2000) 312 Ill. App. 3d 811, 278 N.E. 2d 81: Successfully argued in a case of first impression that a surviving wife was not bound by her 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.

• "Advocating for and Being with the Powerless" by Paul Dailing, Law & Lawyers, April 2014
• "Yamirka," KCBA Bar Briefs, July, 2011
• “Turning Justice into a Business: The Perils of Private Mediation in Tort Cases,” KCBA Bar Briefs, April, 2010
• "How Judges Influence Advocacy," by Patrick M. Flaherty and Patrick M. Kinnally, KCBA Bar Briefs, February, 2009
• “Kane County Bar Association 1858-2008," Virginia Beach: Donning Publishers, Fall, 2008
• "Our Anniversary," KCBA Bar Briefs, January, 2008
• "Our Heritage," KCBA Bar Briefs, August, 2007
• "A Proud Legacy," KCBA Bar Briefs, July, 2007
• “Patrick Flaherty, KCBA President,” by P.J. Grubbins, KCBA Bar Briefs, July, 2007
• Wrongful Death Mediation Summary
• Personal Injury Mediation Summary

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

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 30 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.

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 over ten years. He is currently vice-chair of the AID Board of Directors. Mr. Flaherty was also appointed by the Chairman of the Kane County Board in 2014 to the Work Force Development Board serving Kane, Kendall, and DeKalb Counties. In 2013, he received the Lyle Oncken Community Service Award from the Kane County 708 INC Board for outstanding advocacy on behalf of people with developmental disabilities. In 2014, he received the Community Service Award from the Kane County Bar Association for his commitment to community involvement and community improvement.