Michael Sorich — Attorney in Chicago, Illinois

Michael J. Sorich is a veteran trial attorney and partner at Cavanagh Sorich Law Group with a track record of securing outstanding results in personal injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death cases. Sorich brings more than two decades of trial experience to his practice and has obtained more than $300 million in verdicts and settlements for clients in Illinois and across the country since joining the firm in 2016. He has played a key role in many of the firm’s biggest and most high-profile courtroom victories. In 2024, Sorich became a named partner at the firm.

In October 2025, Sorich and partner Tim Cavanagh secured a $104 million verdict, the largest verdict or settlement in a road construction case in Illinois history. The verdict brought a nine-and-a-half–year legal battle to a close. The jury determined that the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority was negligent in designing and constructing the temporary traffic zone and in failing to install the required warning signs. These failures were key factors in the crash that left the plaintiff a quadriplegic.

Before joining Cavanagh Sorich Law Group, Sorich served for 13 years in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, where he tried more than 50 cases in state court and argued before the Illinois Appellate Court. He was named the youngest-ever supervisor in the office’s Civil Division. That experience continues to shape his ability to investigate, gather evidence and litigate high-stakes civil matters with precision and confidence. His background in both criminal and civil litigation gives him a distinct advantage in the courtroom.

“As a state’s attorney I gained a lot of trial experience as a young lawyer, and it was invaluable. I learned how to tell a victim’s story to a jury in a compelling and convincing way and how to develop effective trial strategies,” said Sorich. “I became a lawyer because I wanted to advocate for victims. I did that for victims of crime as a state’s attorney. Now I represent people who were catastrophically injured and families who have lost loved ones. This gives me great personal satisfaction.”

Sorich has helped obtain many impressive verdicts and settlements for his clients, including a record $50 million settlement in 2024 in a FELA railroad injury case for a young man in a devastating accident in a Chicago rail yard. He helped obtain a $27 million settlement for the families of two young adults killed in a trucking crash. He also secured an $11.1 million settlement in a workplace product liability case where a young man lost all five fingers on his left hand.In 2018, he was part of the Cavanagh Law Group trial team that obtained a landmark $20 million “code of silence” victory against the City of Chicago after an off-duty Chicago police detective drove drunk and killed two men in a fiery crash in 2009. Sorich helped uncover dramatic evidence the City failed to disclose during discovery and compelled the Chicago Police Department to acknowledge its long-entrenched “code of silence.”

Before joining Cavanagh Law Group in 2016, Sorich worked at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for 13 years. He tried more than 50 criminal and civil cases in state and federal courts, argued before the Illinois State Appellate Court and served as the youngest ever supervisor in the county’s Civil Division. Sorich is a skilled investigator and evidence gatherer who since 2019 has been named an Illinois Leading Lawyer. Fewer than five percent of attorneys statewide are honored on the annual peer-selected list.

Sorich’s victories include a $7.5 million settlement for a woman who suffered traumatic injuries after being struck by a Metra commuter train. In 2017, Sorich obtained $5.9 million for Mary Kriete-Green, whose husband was struck and killed by a semi-truck while working in an Elmhurst construction zone. Sorich in 2020 secured a confidential $6 million settlement for a man who nearly drowned in a supervised pool in the Chicago area.

Other significant cases resulted in a $5 million settlement for a man whose hand was amputated by an industrial machine at his workplace and a $3.6 million wrongful death settlement for the family of a woman who died after hospital staff failed to perform a necessary MRI. In 2020, Sorich secured $3 million for a pedestrian whose leg was amputated when he was hit by a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus. And in 2019, Sorich obtained $2.4 million for an elderly woman who sustained traumatic brain injuries after being struck by a car in a Pennsylvania parking lot.

Sorich has extensive expertise in trucking, transit and rideshare cases and has obtained numerous settlements and verdicts in excess of $1 million. Among them are:

• a $2.1 million settlement for a cement truck driver who suffered spinal injuries in a low-impact crash;

• a $1.5 million settlement in a fatal downstate Illinois crash caused by a semi-truck driver who was texting and driving in a construction zone;

• a $1.5 million settlement for a truck driver who sustained rare internal injuries after being pinned between two semi-trucks at a repair facility;

• a $1 million settlement for the family of a woman who was fatally injured in a crash caused by a truck driver making an illegal U-turn;

• and a $1.3 million settlement for the family of two elderly parents who were killed after being rear-ended and pushed underneath a semi-truck.

Sorich has a long history of successfully representing grieving families in wrongful death cases. He obtained a $1 million settlement in 2017 for the parents of a 10-year-old boy who died in an apartment fire after the family’s landlord failed to provide smoke detectors. In 2020, Sorich secured $900,000 for the son of a man who died after a nursing home failed to administer prescribed medication. And in 2018, Sorich obtained a $1.089 million settlement for the family of a 27-year-old man who died after being “sucker punched” outside a suburban Chicago bar.

Sorich is a sought-after panelist and guest lecturer with an impressive roster of speaking engagements. He serves on the ITLA Board of Managers and was previously a member of the organization’s Board of Advocates. Sorich has taught at the college level and served as a member of the Chicago Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Committee and the Young Lawyers Tort Litigation Committee.

Since 2019, Sorich has been named to the annual Irish Legal 100 list. He was included as one of Chicago Law Bulletin’s top “40 Under 40” attorneys and named an Illinois Leading Lawyers “Emerging Lawyer” in 2017 and 2018.

Sorich has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Illinois Wesleyan University and graduated cum laude from UIC John Marshall Law School, where he was a member of the school’s Law Review. Sorich grew up on the South Side of Chicago and attended Marist High School. He serves on the Marist Law Association Board of Directors.

Sorich and his wife, Katie, live in Western Springs with their three children. Sorich is a volunteer basketball coach and member of the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago.