Patrick Richel joined Cavanagh Law Group as an associate in November 2018 after clerking at the firm during law school. He practices in all areas of personal injury, medical malpractice and wrongful death litigation. Richel has experience in cases involving ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft. In December 2018, he obtained a $649,000 arbitration award for a client seriously injured in a three-car crash with an underinsured motorist in Will County.
Richel works closely with partners Tim Cavanagh and Michael Sorich on cases involving catastrophic personal injury, trucking and transportation crashes, premises liability and product liability. In 2019, Richel assisted Cavanagh and Sorich in a semi-truck case that settled for $1.5 million following a fatal crash on I-70 in downstate Clark County. Richel was instrumental in a product liability case that settled for $5 million in 2018 after a man had his hand traumatically amputated at work by an industrial machine.
Richel is currently working on a wrongful death case arising out of a 2017 truck crash in Will County and a catastrophic injury case related to a 2016 construction zone defect on I-90 in Cook County.
While working as a law clerk at Cavanagh Law Group, Richel conducted legal research for Cazares v. Frugoli and City of Chicago, a Chicago Police Department “Code of Silence” case that settled in 2017 for $20 million following a two-week trial in federal court. He also helped the firm gather evidence and conduct research after Daniel Green, a Wisconsin worker, was fatally struck by a semi-truck in an Elmhurst construction zone in 2011. The case settled for $5.9 million on the eve of trial.
Prior to joining the firm, Richel clerked for the Honorable Judge Deborah Dooling of the Circuit Court of Cook County Law Division. Richel researched case law, reviewed motions, managed hearings, and drafted judicial orders relating to pending class-action lawsuits. He also previously served as a certified mediator at the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago, assisting litigants to resolve small claims and landlord-tenant matters in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Richel earned his Juris Doctor from Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award for his proficiency in trial advocacy. Richel was named to the Dean’s Honor List multiple semesters at Chicago-Kent. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Notre Dame.
He is a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Chicago Bar Association, American Association for Justice, and the American Bar Association. He is also a member of the Misericordia Young Professionals Council and the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago.
Richel lives in Chicago with his wife Michaela, who teaches at the Frances Xavier Warde School.
Professional Membership
• Chicago Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Chicago Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section
• Illinois Trial Lawyers Association
