Sarah F. King is an established medical malpractice lawyer in Illinois. She works tirelessly to investigate and prepare complex medical malpractice cases to achieve justice for those who have been harmed by medical negligence. She works with dedication and tenacity to get to the bottom of what happened and what proper practices should have been used to prevent injuries related to medical care. It is this passion that makes her one of today’s top Chicago medical malpractice lawyers. Her focus has been on medical malpractice, particularly involving mothers and babies.
King has substantial trial experience as an attorney of record in many of the firm’s most significant trials. She was one of the lead attorneys on the trial team that obtained a $101 million record verdict on behalf of a baby boy who was brain-damaged at birth when his external fetal monitoring strips were ignored for six hours. Experts on behalf of the plaintiff testified that he would have been born a normal baby if hospital nurses and other medical personnel had alerted doctors to the abnormality and performed a C-section. This stands as the record birth injury verdict in the state of Illinois.
In February 2024, King obtained a record $6.47 million verdict in a 10-day trial in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of a 58-year-old man who suffered debilitating injuries due to a malpositioned hip implant. King was also involved in a two-week trial involving the negligent prescription of Yasmin that gained international attention for a 37-year-old woman who took the medication for less than two weeks and suffered a debilitating stroke. The jury awarded a $14 million verdict in that case. King went on to try a case that involved the wrongful death of a 33-year-old mother who sustained a massive hemorrhage during a c-section. Following a three-week trial, the jury returned a verdict of $15.55 million for the family.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2025 | Plaintiff Medical Malpractice Litigation |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers | 2025 | Medical Malpractice, esp. Mother & Baby |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers | 2024 | Medical Malpractice, esp. Mother & Baby |
| The 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers | 2023 | Medical Malpractice, esp. Mother & Baby |
King currently serves as the President of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois (WBAI). Before being elected President King previously served as the organization’s Vice President, Financial Secretary, and Director.
A staunch advocate for women’s rights and women’s health equality, King understands the opportunity she has as a trial lawyer to create positive changes in the judicial and healthcare system by fostering equity and inclusion for women both inside and outside the courtroom. In addition to her leadership roles within the WBAI, King is the current Chair of the Women’s Bar Association Political Action Committee. She can often be found in the halls of the Illinois state capital advocating for the rights of patients, litigants, women, and children.
She is a past President and long-serving board member of Women Everywhere: Partners in Service Project, which is a collaborative effort of lawyers and judges coordinating volunteer activities to help women and children in Chicago.
King is committed to promoting and advancing women lawyers. To that end, Sarah co-founded the Illinois Trial Lawyer Association’s Women’s Caucus. She is a member of the ITLA Board of Managers and was elected Treasurer for the 2023-24 term. Sarah also serves on the Board of Managers of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. She is the Co-Editor of the ITLA Medical Malpractice Trial Notebook.
In 2024, she was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court to the Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness. The Committee was created in 1971 under Rule 708 and reviews applications of those seeking Illinois law licenses.
Notable Cases:
- A record $101 million verdict on behalf of a baby who sustained brain damage at birth at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park. This case is the highest reported Illinois Medical Malpractice Verdict. Click here to read more about the case.
- $51 million settlement on behalf of a baby who sustained brain damage at birth.
- $25 million verdict on behalf of a 59-year-old woman who suffered from Locked-In Syndrome as a result of negligent treatment by a resident physician and the local Chicagoland Area Hospital’s failure to timely recognize and treat a stroke.
- $22.9 Million settlement for a child who sustained a permanent brain injury due to lack of oxygen to his organs during labor and delivery. A brain MRI demonstrated evidence of a severe profound perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. He was diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy, and global disabilities including the inability to walk, motor and speech delays, and cognitive impairment.
- $20 million settlement obtained on behalf of a 42-year-old man and his spouse for a radiologist’s alleged failure to diagnose a brain aneurysm in 2015. Thereafter, the man suffered a ruptured aneurysm, required multiple hospitalizations, and because of his condition, can no longer work.
- $15 Million verdict on behalf of a 33-year-old woman who died after a cesarean section due to massive bleeding caused by doctors’ negligence in failing to diagnose and properly treat placenta abnormality. Click here to read more about this case.
- $14.75 million settlement for a 47-year-old patient who sustained a permanent injury to his eyes during hospitalization for unrelated surgery.
- $8.5 Million settlement on behalf of the family of a 38-year-old mother who died after childbirth due to the medical team’s failure to recognize and treat ongoing bleeding from a placental abruption.
- $6.47 million dollar record verdict was obtained on behalf of a 58-year-old man who suffered debilitating injuries due to a malpositioned hip implant.
- $6 million settlement on behalf of a 69-year-old man who died due to negligent delay in diagnosing and treating complications of a cardiac catheterization procedure, leaving a widow and 4 adult children.