About Michelle Kohut

Michelle M. Kohut is a Chicago personal injury trial lawyer who joined Corboy & Demetrio in 2004 and was named Partner in 2019. She practices across all areas of personal injury law, including automobile collisions, medical malpractice, construction negligence, premises liability, product liability, and railroad negligence, plus workers' compensation matters.

Throughout her career, Kohut has tried numerous personal injury cases to verdict and secured substantial multi-million dollar settlements. She obtained a $1.6 million settlement for a school crossing guard struck by a day care bus, a $2 million settlement for a pedestrian hit by a garbage truck, and a $2 million settlement for a roofing foreman who fell through a roof hole, sustaining a fractured heel.

Kohut remains highly active in bar associations. She currently serves as Chair of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Women's Caucus and previously held the position of President of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois from 2013-2014. She maintains membership in the Chicago Bar Association and Illinois State Bar Association, serving on the Tort Law Section Council since 2016.

Her professional recognition includes numerous honors: the Top Women Lawyers in Leadership Award from the Women's Bar Association of Illinois (2024), selection to Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2023-present), The Best Lawyers in America for personal injury litigation (2020-present) and workers' compensation claimants (2022-present), Illinois Super Lawyers Top 50 Women (2023), Crain's Chicago Business Notable Women in Law (2022), Chicago Lawyer Salute! Top 50 Women in Law (2021), and Illinois Leading Lawyer designation since 2014, ranking #8 and #6 in Top 10 Leading Women Lawyers respectively in 2021 and 2022.

Kohut holds active involvement in community service, having served as President of Women Everywhere - Partners in Service Project, Inc., which helps women and children in need while introducing teenage girls to the legal profession. She also served on the Board of Directors for Heartland International Health Center.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Corboy & Demetrio

These results are credited to Corboy & Demetrio. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.

A federal judge in Chicago entered a default judgment against the Islamic Republic of Iran for a 2009 roadside bomb attack in Iraq that killed Army Sergeant Joshua Soto and injured his platoon leader, First Lieutenant Miles Murray. Iran never appeared, and the court heard the plaintiffs' proof at a four-day evidentiary hearing. Murray was awarded $28 million, Soto's widow $32 million, and the couple's minor son $20 million, each including punitive damages.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Chicago · 2024Wrongful DeathRead the full story →

Thomas Demetrio of Corboy & Demetrio represented seven of the people killed and injured when a suspended work platform fell from the John Hancock Center in 2002, part of a $75 million global settlement reached on the eve of trial.

Cook County Circuit Court, Chicago, IL · 2006Premises LiabilityRead the full story →
$42.4 millionVerdict

A Cook County jury found Advocate Condell Medical Center responsible for the death of a 47-year-old quadriplegic father who suffered fatal baclofen withdrawal while waiting for a delayed surgery to replace his medication pump, and the verdict was later affirmed on appeal.

Cook County Circuit Court, Chicago, IL · 2022Medical MalpracticeRead the full story →
$29.6 millionVerdictTop 20 of 2009 · #7

A Cook County jury awarded commuter Renea Poppel $29.6 million after a Metra Rock Island train took a 10 mph crossover at 69 mph and derailed, the largest Illinois verdict for one person injured in a mass-transit crash.

Cook County Circuit Court, Chicago, IL · 2009Car AccidentsRead the full story →
$21.36 millionVerdict

In May 1990 a Cook County jury awarded $22,358,814 to a 23-year-old flight attendant who was left an incomplete quadriplegic when a semitrailer struck her stopped car from behind in Highland Park, Illinois, in November 1987. The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed in January 1997 but cut the future medical care award by $1 million, so $21,358,814 stood.

Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois (affirmed as modified, Illinois Supreme Court) · 1990Truck AccidentsRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

Loyola University School of Law, Chicago
J.D., 2002
Loyola University, Chicago
Undergraduate, 1996

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Illinois, admitted 2002

Other attorneys at Corboy & Demetrio

View firm →

Proven verdicts and settlements from other Chicago firms

Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.
Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.
$363 million · Sterigenics Verdict: $363 Million for a Willowbrook Cancer Survivor
Clifford Law Offices
Clifford Law Offices
$110 million · American Eagle Flight 4184: $110 Million Crash Settlement and a Courtroom Apology
Power Rogers LLP
Power Rogers LLP
$100 million · Willis Family Wrongful Death Settlement: $100 Million After Six Children Killed in I-94 Truck Crash
Romanucci & Blandin
Romanucci & Blandin
$98.65 Million Verdict for Family of Botham Jean, Shot in His Own Apartment by Off-Duty Dallas Officer
Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates
Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates
$64 Million Verdict for Ironworker Left Quadriplegic After 15-Foot Fall at Panduit Warehouse

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.