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Voted in 2009 by the attorney-readers of San Francisco's Recorder legal newspaper as the "Best Personal Injury Attorney" in San Francisco, and featured on the cover of the 2009 Northern California Super Lawyers magazine, Michael A. Kelly is one of California's top personal injury litigators. He has more than 30 years experience in handling cases against Kaiser.
He has arbitrated cases in both the 1 arbitrator and 3 arbitrator formats ( the two available options under Kaiser member’s contracts.) He has won cases against Kaiser involving wrongful death, delayed diagnoses, emergency room errors, labor and delivery errors and obstetrical malpractice. He has settled cases against Kaiser with total gross value in excess of 100 million dollars.
His areas of expertise in Kaiser claims include pediatrics, cardiology, neurosurgery, obstetrics, labor and delivery, delayed diagnoses of cancer and botched surgical procedures.
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 four time "Trial Lawyer of the Year" nominee of the San Francisco Trial Lawyer's Association.
In 2010 he was selected for the 15th consecutive year as one of the Best Lawyers In America; in 2010 he obtained a jury verdict in the amount of $23,200,000 in an obstetrical malpractice/cerebral palsy trial; 2007 he obtained the largest medical malpractice verdict in Sonoma County history; in 2006 he obtained the largest jury verdict for medical negligence in the history of El Dorado County. Also in 2006, he obtained a jury verdict which was, at that time, the largest ever reported for the wrongful death of a non-dependent adult child in San Francisco Superior Court.
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 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.
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 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 and New York Teacher Training Programs.
