Kelly Sabo Gaden
SENIOR ASSOCIATE
Kelly Sabo Gaden joined Malman Law as a Senior Associate in 2011. She co-leads the long term care and medical malpractice group at the firm. She has dedicated her legal career to obtaining justice for the victims of nursing home abuse and neglect, medical malpractice, and personal injury. With nearly fourteen years of experience, she has obtained over $40,000,000 in compensation for her clients due to hard work and dedication to her practice.
Mrs. Sabo Gaden is a graduate of Augustana College, where she had the honor of serving as the 144th Annual Commencement Student Speaker. During her time at Capital University Law School, she contributed to the article, “Kelo vs. City of New London: An Argument for Banning Economic Development Takings,” which was published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.
Prior to joining Malman Law, Mrs. Sabo Gaden practiced law at a prominent Chicago personal injury law firm and worked in the Chicago office of a top regional law firm for civil litigation defense. During her time at Malman Law, Ms. Sabo Gaden has achieved several noteworthy six and seven figure settlements in long term care cases and has played a vital role as first chair and second chair in record setting verdicts with the firm.
Mrs. Sabo Gaden lives in Chicago with her husband, Brian and daughters, Charlotte “Charlie” and Amelia. Outside of the her practice, Kelly enjoys Chicago sporting events, particularly the Chicago Bears and traveling the world exploring different cultures. She is also involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Practice Areas
- Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
- Medical Malpractice
- Personal Injury
- Assisted Living Facilities
- Supportive Living Facilities
- Community Integrated Living Arrangements (CILA)
- Elder Abuse
Awards
- 2016 -Top 100 Verdicts in Illinois
- 2016-2017 Super Lawyer Rising Star
- 2018 -Top 100 Verdicts in Illinois
- 2018 -Top Women Lawyers in Chicago Daily Herald Business Ledger
- 2019 – Top 40 under 40 Civil Plaintiff National Trial Lawyers
- 2019 – Lawyers of Distinction Medical Malpractice Law
- 2019 – Leading Lawyers Emerging Lawyer
- 2020-2021 – ITLA: Board of Managers
- 2020 – 2021 – AAJ Nursing Home Litigation Group: CLE Committee
- 2020 – 2021 – WBAI: Annual Judicial Reception Committee
Education
- Juris Doctor, Capital University Law School, 2007
- B.S. Public Administration and Political Science, Augustana College, 2004
Top Settlements
- $972,000- obtained a verdict in a case against a downstate nursing home and management company. Our client, 93, was a long-term nursing home resident who fell while ambulating in her room during the middle of the night. She sustained catastrophic injuries including a large brain bleed, spinal fracture and orbital fracture resulting in death one week after being admitted to hospice.
- $1,001,864.80- obtained a record settling verdict in a case against a nursing home. Our client was a nursing home resident who was dropped in the shower room during a transfer resulting in a fractured hip requiring the surgical placement of two metal rods and screws in her leg and hip. Upon return to the nursing home, the surgical site became infected requiring surgery to remove the metal rods and screws.
- $1,225,000 – while a resident of a supportive living facility, decedent suffered a fall down a flight of stairs for extensive and severe injuries, including but not limited to: bilateral anterior and superior epidural hematomas and right frontal and temporal subdural hematomas, a subarachnoid hemorrhage, multiple skull fractures, orbital fractures, rib fracture and vertebrae fractures. Following this traumatic fall, decedent was transferred to nursing home for rehabilitation. While a resident of the nursing home, due to a lack of supervision and monitoring, the decedent removed his catheter and the nursing home staff improperly reinserted a new catheter, causing urethral injury with perineal infection, requiring operative care and death.
- $1,675,000 – Assisted Living Facility settlement for a 93 year old who was left outside for over 8 hours in extreme heat. Facility staff had miscommunicated and documented that the resident was out of the facility with family. As a result of this “miscommunication,” our client died from being left outside on the facility patio leaving behind six adult children.
- $1,500,000 – A group home (CILA) settlement for a 31 year old who was physically assaulted on multiple occasions. The last assault resulted in a very tragic and foreseeable event where our client sustained traumatic brain injuries resulting in death.
Professional & Bar Association Memberships
- American Association for Justice (AAJ)-
- Nursing Home Litigation Group (NHLG)- Elected Executive Committee Member at Large 2020
- American Bar Association (ABA)
- Illinois Trial Lawyer Association (ITLA) 2019-2020 – Board of Advocates 2019-2020
- 2018-2019 Civil Litigation Committee Chair
- Women’s Bar Association of Illinois (WBAI) – 2018-2019, 2020-2021 Civil Litigation Committee Chair | 2020 Annual Dinner Committee
