Michael Sorich

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.

“We asked the jurors to award full justice to the plaintiffs, and they did,” said Sorich. “We hope the jury’s verdict sends a strong message that ignoring safety requirements and standards and putting citizens at risk will not be tolerated and those guilty of it will be held accountable.”

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 who underwent more than 30 surgeries following 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 just weeks before trial. 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 due to an unguarded pinch point.

In 2018, Sorich was a key member of the trial team that obtained a $20 million settlement from the City of Chicago during closing arguments in a federal court trial exposing a long-standing “code of silence” within the Chicago Police Department. The case involved an off-duty police detective with a history of alcohol-related incidents who killed two men in a drunk driving crash. Sorich helped uncover evidence that had been improperly withheld by the city, leading to public accountability and recognition of a long-standing culture of silence within the police department.

Sorich obtained a $12.5 million settlement for a man who suffered a disabling stroke after being taken off a critical medication. Other victories include a $7.5 million settlement for a woman struck by a Metra train, a $6 million settlement for a man who nearly drowned in an unsupervised pool, a $5.9 million result for a fatal construction zone crash, a $5 million workplace amputation case, and a $3.6 million settlement for a woman who was misdiagnosed in a Chicagoland emergency department. He has also secured millions in other catastrophic injury cases, including those involving transit accidents, hospital negligence, and traumatic brain injuries.

Sorich’s professional excellence has earned him consistent recognition. He has been named to the Illinois Super Lawyers list, the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers. He is also a Leading Lawyer in Illinois, a distinction awarded to fewer than five percent of attorneys in the state. Since 2019, he has been selected to the Irish Legal 100 and previously named one of Chicago’s “40 Under 40” attorneys by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Earlier in his career, he was honored as an Emerging Lawyer in both 2017 and 2018.

In addition to his litigation work, Sorich is a frequent guest lecturer and panelist on the topics of trial advocacy and legal ethics. He serves on the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and previously served on its Board of Advocates. He has taught law courses at the college level and is active in the Chicago Bar Association, where he has contributed to both the Judicial Evaluation Committee and the Young Lawyers Tort Litigation Committee.

Sorich earned his 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 Law Review.

A native of Chicago’s South Side, he is a graduate of Marist High School and currently serves as president of the Marist Law Society.

He lives in Western Springs with his wife, Katie, and their three children. Outside of his legal practice, Sorich volunteers as a youth basketball coach, is a member of the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago and is the president of the Western Springs Police Pension Board.