Attorney Christopher C. Cortese
Christopher C. Cortese is a partner and trial lawyer at Keating Law Offices, P.C. He has devoted his entire career to representing seriously injured individuals and their families in personal injury and wrongful death cases. He works tirelessly to obtain justice on behalf of plaintiffs and their families injured by the negligence and wrongdoing of individuals, institutions, and corporations.
Christopher concentrates his practice in the area of construction site negligence, bicycle injuries, institutional sex abuse, product liability, nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, motor vehicle negligence, and premises liability. He has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict and recovered substantial settlements on behalf of injured persons throughout Illinois and Wisconsin.
His empathy and passion for representing men and women injured on construction sites and in the workplace comes from growing up surrounded by family working in the trades. During summers in high school and college, Christopher worked as a plumber’s apprentice on commercial high-rise construction sites in Chicago. His past jobsite experience gives him a unique perspective in his representation of injured plumbers, pipefitters, ironworkers, carpenters, electricians, masons, and laborers. This strategic advantage has helped him recover millions of dollars on behalf of workers injured on the job.
Christopher graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where he focused on trial advocacy and was regularly named to the Dean’s List. Prior to attaining his law degree, he graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he double-majored in Writing-Intensive English and Spanish Language and Literature.
Christopher grew up in the Portage Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side of Chicago and attended Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois. He is admitted to practice law in the Illinois State Bar and United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He is also an active member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice, and the Illinois State Bar Association.
Education
- Juris Doctor, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 2012
- Bachelor of Arts, Marquette University, 2008
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
- Illinois State Bar
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Professional and Bar Association Memberships
- Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
- American Association for Justice
- Illinois State Bar Association
Notable Verdicts and Settlements
- $10,800,000 Cook County jury verdict on behalf of a woman who was sexually assaulted in her apartment building as a result of her landlord’s failure to adequately maintain the building’s security door.
- $5,300,000 settlement on behalf of a union ironworker who suffered a crush and degloving injury to his dominant hand while dismantling a jet bridge at an airport construction project.
- $5,000,000 settlement on behalf of a man crushed between two vehicles at an auto auction resulting in an above-the-knee amputation.
- $1,950,000 settlement on behalf of a man who suffered a spinal cord injury requiring a lumbar fusion as a result of being struck by a semi-truck at an expressway entrance ramp.
- $1,350,000 wrongful death settlement on behalf of the estate of a retirement community resident who fell from an unsecured window causing his death.
- $1,030,000 settlement on behalf of a union ironworker who fractured his calcaneus while installing a catwalk.
