Michael A. Kelly's February 2010 $23,200,000 jury verdict in an obstetrical negligence/cerebral palsy case in western Minnesota is one of the nation's largest jury results ever obtained in a birth injury case. He has also resolved obstetrical injury cases in both California and Hawaii. He was voted "Best Personal Injury Attorney" in San Francisco in December 2009 by the readers of San Francisco's Recorder legal newspaper and featured on the cover of the 2009 Northern California Super Lawyers magazine.
In obstetrical and birth injury cases, Mr. Kelly has successfully concluded cases involving cerebral palsy, excessive Pitocin administration, fetal monitoring errors, failed vacuum delivery, brain injury, delayed caesarian section and uterine rapture. He has prosecuted more birth injury claims under the terms of the Kaiser Arbitration system than any other Northern California attorney. He has tried cases throughout California and has been involved in more than 150 cases where his client(s) recovered $1,000,000 or more by way of trial, arbitration, mediation or settlement. He is a three-time "Trial Lawyer of the Year" nominee of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association. In 2010 he was selected for the 16th consecutive year as one of the Best Lawyers In America.
His commitment to pro-bono work and the rights of the underserved and under-represented have been acknowledged by multiple Bar organizations. In 2008 he was honored by Sonoma County Legal Aid for his commitment to the poor, and in 2007 the Bar Association of San Francisco presented him with a citation acknowledging his commitment to training lawyers for children. In 2010 he serves as President of the San Francisco chapter of ABOTA. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and Secretary-Treasurer of the International Society of Barristers. He serves on the National Board of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is a summa cum laude graduate of St. Mary's College of California and obtained his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1976. For the last 36 years he has specialized in the resolution of complex plaintiff's personal injury claims, including claims for wrongful death, and those arising from product liability, government negligence, obstetrical mismanagement, drug and device failure, vehicle defects and vehicle collisions.
At the appointment of the California Judicial Council he has served as a member of the task force empanelled to rewrite California's civil jury instructions in plain English, and he continues at present to serve as part of the CACI instruction committee.
Mr. Kelly has successfully prosecuted cases throughout California in both State and Federal Court. He has also litigated matters in Oregon, Hawaii, Colorado, Alaska, Minnesota, New Mexico and the Territory of Guam. He has obtained 8-figure jury verdicts and settlements in product liability, wrongful death and vehicle collision cases.
He holds an "AV" rating (highest rating) from Martindale-Hubbell and has been favorably profiled in legal periodicals. He is heavily involved in continuing legal education and teaches for NITA, the California Continuing Education of the Bar, ABOTA, CAOC, SFTLA and The Rutter Group. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy, and serves as Program Director of that organization's San Francisco, New York and Colorado Teacher Training Programs.
