With more than 35 years of experience, nationally recognized trial attorney Timothy J. Cavanagh has championed the rights of personal injury victims across Illinois and throughout the country. Since founding Cavanagh Sorich Law Group in 1997, he has secured more than 75 verdicts and settlements that exceed $1 million and has recovered more than $900 million on behalf of his clients. Cavanagh’s cases have broken Illinois records, strengthened safety standards, and prompted policy changes within city and law enforcement agencies.
In October 2025, Cavanagh led his team to a $104 million verdict, the largest verdict or settlement in a road construction case in Illinois history, concluding a nine-and-a-half–year legal battle. The jury found the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority negligent in the design and construction of the temporary traffic zone and in failing to install the required warning signs. These factors were determined to be major causes of the crash that left the plaintiff a quadriplegic.
“For nearly a decade, our clients have had to navigate the devastating consequences of what was a preventable tragedy. They will have to continue to do so for as long as they live,” said Cavanagh.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers | 2025 | Personal Injury |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers | 2024 | Personal Injury |
| The 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers | 2023 | Personal Injury |
| The 2022 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers | 2022 | Personal Injury |
| The 2021 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers | 2021 | Personal Injury |
| The 2020 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers | 2020 | Personal Injury |
| Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers | 2019 | Personal Injury |
Mr. Cavanagh has obtained over $900 million in verdicts, settlements and judgments in his career including the following recent results:
- $104 million verdict, the largest verdict or settlement in a road construction case in Illinois history. Negligent construction safety precautions led to a crash, leaving the plaintiff a quadriplegic.
- $55 million railroad crossing verdict (recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top 100 verdicts in the country in 2002)
- $50 million settlement 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.
- $27 million settlement in Federal Court for the families of two young adults killed in a trucking crash just weeks before trial
- $20 million “code of silence” case against the city of Chicago, an off-duty Chicago police detective killed two men while driving drunk on an interstate.
- $14 million settlement for a 5-year-old boy who sustained a severe brain injury during birth after hospital staff confused his heart rate with his mother’s pulse.
- $13.7 million verdict for a deadly automobile crash where the defendant was driving 95 miles per hour.
- $12.5 million settlement in a medical malpractice case and $5.3 million in a premises liability case and $1.7 million in a motorcycle/auto crash.
- $11.1 million product liability settlement for a young man who lost five digits of his left hand in an unguarded pinch point
- $9.75 million settlement for a triathlete who was hit by a truck and severely injured while riding her bike in downtown Chicago. The settlement was the largest in state history involving a vehicular collision with a bicycle.
- $9.1 million settlement for a woman who suffered nerve and brain damage after a train collided with her car at a broken crossing gate
- $7.5 million settlement on behalf of a woman who sustained traumatic injuries caused from a passing commuter train.
Cavanagh is the husband of Stacey Feeley Cavanagh and the proud father of six children.
REPRESENTATIVE PERSONAL VERDICTS/AWARDS
Johnson and Rosa v. Illinois Toll Highway Authority
Verdict: $104,600,000 Offer: 0
On October 9, 2025 Tim Cavanagh secured a record $104 million verdict, the largest verdict or settlement in a road construction case in Illinois history, for his clients who were injured in a crash. On March 25, 2016, Rob Rosa and Michael Johnson and 2 other couples were passengers in a limousine traveling from Madison, WI to O’Hare International Airport. The limousine did not negotiate a sudden lane shift on I90 at the Fox River Bridge. The Tollway was renovating the toll road in a multi-billion dollar project under Move Illinois. The lane shift was designed in violation of AASHTO and the MUTCD. The MOT plan called for 6 advanced, lane shift signs before the sudden lane shift. But 5 of 6 signs were omitted by contractors/engineers. The Tollway engineers were intimately involved in the design of the lane shift and in the construction process and knew or should have known of the omission of signs. The advanced warning signs were designed to warn motorists of the lane shift. The limousine driver failed to negotiate the lane shift and crashed into an attenuator and flipped over. Rob Rosa was rendered a quadriplegic. In the 9.5 year legal battle, the case went through the Appellate court twice and the Illinois Supreme court.
