Michael Keating

Michael Keating founded Keating Law Offices in 2008 with the mission of representing individuals and families whose lives have been affected due to the negligence of others. Since that time, he has continuously obtained results on behalf of his clients in courtrooms throughout Illinois. He has been the attorney on hundreds of successful cases involving transportation negligence, nursing home negligence and abuse, and premises liability cases. The firm has recovered tens of millions of dollars on behalf of its clients and their families for cases involving personal injury and wrongful death.

Connect: https://keatinglegal.com/Michael's Linkedin ProfileMichael's Twitter ProfileMichael's Facebook Profilehttps://www.illinoislawyernow.com/author/michaelk/feed/
Firm/Organization: Keating Law Offices
Blogs: Illinois Bicycle Lawyers

Latest Articles

The Chicago Tribune posted a series of Letters to the Editor entitled “Letters: In light of death, how cyclists can ride smarter.” The letters unfortunately reflect many of the misguided and inaccurate sentiments that have long plagued cyclists. Despite the hundreds of miles of bicycle lanes in Chicago and the specific sections of the Chicago Municipal Code and the Illinois Vehicle Code that serve to protect bicyclists, there are those that any crash is in some way the cyclist’s fault.  And apparently the Chicago Tribune thinks a fair summary is all cyclists should be riding “smarter,” which would imply…
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The driver of a dump truck who struck a bicyclist when turning from southeast bound Milwaukee Avenue onto Kilbourn Avenue has been issued two traffic citations by the Chicago Police Department. The two citations stem from the fatal crash which occurred early Wednesday morning. The police officers that originally arrived at the scene did not issue citations, but it appears that after the Major Accidents Investigation Unit became involved and additional details emerged that the traffic citations were issued. The driver of the dump truck was issued a citation for negligent driving and another for an improper right turn.  “Negligent…
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A 37-year old Chicago bicyclist has been killed in an apparent “right hook” at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Kimball Avenue on the city’s northwest side. According to news reports, the bicyclist was riding southeast on Milwaukee Avenue when she was struck by a dump truck as its driver turned right onto Kilbourn Avenue.  This section of Milwaukee Avenue contains marked bike lanes on both sides of Milwaukee Avenue and the adjacent section of Kilbourn that runs parallel to the railroad tracks. Metra’s Grayland station and Schurz High School are near this intersection and there is near constant bicycle…
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Keating Law Offices, a Chicago-based personal injury firm that devotes part of its practice to representing victims of bicycle collisions, is proud to be the title sponsor of the Keating Law Offices Illinois State Cyclocross Championship. The state championships will be held on Saturday, November 9, 2019 in Woodstock, Illinois. Cyclocross is the fastest growing bicycle discipline in the country and has seen exponential growth over the past decade. The sport is especially popular in Illinois where fall and winter climates are perfect for the races over fields and hills. The Illinois Bicycle Lawyers at Keating Law Offices take great…
July 1, 2019 is a notable day in the history of transportation in Illinois. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill that puts $45 billion towards state construction projects. Within that $45 billion is $50 million annually toward projects for pedestrians and bicyclists. This is a massive victory by the Active Transportation Alliance, other advocacy groups, and the legislators who worked to get the bill passed and on the governor’s desk. The funding will work towards efforts to increase bike ridership and public transportation use across Illinois. The additional resources will substantially increase the size of the Illinois Transportation…
Starting July 1, 2019 drivers in Illinois will automatically be ticketed if caught texting, looking at social media, or even holding their phone while talking. Under the previous version of the law a police officer had the authority to issue a warning to a driver. Not any more. Now a police officer who catches someone using their phone in any way other than hands free is required to issue a traffic citation.  And it is not just phones. Here’s what Illinois law says about all the devices that are banned:  “Electronic communication device” means an electronic device, including but not limited…
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Ten different vendors are participating in Chicago’s e-scooter pilot program. Included in these ten are the companies Bird and Spin who were earlier entrants into the marketplace. The phrase “a Bird” is often used as a general term for an e-scooter, even those that aren’t the Bird brand. Both Bird and Spin use the same Xiaomi Mi Electric Scooters for their fleets of e-scooters. Remarkably, the “Mi Electric Scooter User Manual” makes several recommendations and identifies limitations that are incompatible with use on the often imperfect streets of Chicago. Since e-scooters are also operated amongst traffic, this puts not only…
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“Public transportation” has traditionally consisted of buses, subways and light rail systems. Just as every other aspect of modern life has been affected by technological advancements with smart phones and apps, access to transportation options has expanded. New types of “alternative transportation” allows for the rental of different types of vehicles. What began with rental bicycles that could only be accessed from a fixed dock has expanded into other forms of bicycle share programs (bikeshare) that do not utilize a dock and also the emergence of electric assist bikes (e-bikes) and now standing electric scooters (e-scooters).  Standing Electric Scooters Standing…
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The documentary team behind “Afghan Cycles,” a powerful story about women cyclists in Afghanistan, is looking for short videos from Chicago cyclists about what cycling means to you. The documentary is by Sarah Menzies. They are putting together a video segment in advance of the International Day of the Bicycle on June 3rd. Your video wants to hear about your name and your personal affiliation to cycling.  “Afghan Cycles” is by Sarah Menzies.  The documentary crew is asking you to email any 60 second or less videos to producer Caryn Capotosto at caryncappuccino@gmail.com. Caryn is a Chicago-area…
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Bike Lane Uprising, a volunteer effort among Chicago bicyclists to fight for safer bike lanes, held a “Day of Service” last Sunday. The day was a giant succeess. The “Day of Service” involved Chicago bicyclists volunteering to “adopt” a segment of Chicago’s bike lanes. The volunteers then documented the bike lane conditions and then submitting their findings to Bike Lane Uprising. All of this data will be presented to the Chicago Department of Transportation for the purpose of helping them identify which bike lanes need improvement. A remarkable 90% of Chicago’s bike lanes were adopted by volunteers. Keating Law Offices…
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The Ride of Silence – Chicago is tonight, Wednesday May 15th. Riders should gather at the Picasso at Daley Plaza in advance of leaving around 6:30 p.m. The ride moves silently and slowly as a group through Chicago. It stops along the way at Ghost Bikes to honor Chicagoans who lost their lives while cycling.  In addition to honoring the lives of these Chicago cyclists, the ride also serves to send a message to all Chicagoans that our city’s streets need to be safe for cyclists. The ride serves as a reminder that we can always work to improve the…
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Keating Law Offices is proud to co-host Bike Lane Uprising’s Day of Service. The Day of Service is an effort to document the conditions of bike lanes throughout the city and report the conditions to the City of Chicago. This effort will provide the City of Chicago legal notice as to any dangerous defects or conditions. The effect of the day of service will help the City of Chicago prioritize its efforts in maintaining bike lanes and lead to fewer dangerous conditions in Chicago’s bike lanes. The date for the Bike Lane Uprising Day of Service is May 19, 2019.…
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IN THE NEWS: Keating Law Offices attorney Mike Keating was quoted in the Chicago Tribune about the dangers of distracted driving. Distracted driving is an increasingly dangerous habit among many drivers. The dangers posted by distracted driving are particularly dangerous to vulnerable users of the roadway such as pedestrians and bicyclists. Here’s the quote from the Chicago Tribune: “Mike Keating, a personal injury attorney who often represents injured bicyclists, said that if any police agency does not enforce the laws against distracted driving, it defeats the purpose.”  “These laws have to act as a deterrent to keep people from texting on…
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The Chicago Department of Transportation is pushing the City of Chicago to implement changes that will allow for more e-bikes and e-scooters on the city’s streets and in our bike lanes. This is no doubt in large part due to the City of Chicago agreeing with Lyft for the ride share giant to take over the city’s successful Divvy bike share program.  At the March 2019 Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council meeting, CDOT officials and Lyft representatives discussed how Lyft will incorporate e-bikes into the Divvy fleet. Lyft has also played a role in pushing e-scooters onto Chicago’s streets. Theses proposed CDOT …
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Keating Law Offices attorney Mike Keating was invited by the American Association for Justice to speak to the attendees of the 2019 AAJ Winter Convention in Miami. Mike’s subject was Bike Share and the emerging threats posed by E-Scooters. The speech was entitled “Looking Beyond Automobiles: Bicycles and Electric Scooters.” Chicago’s Divvy program is one of the nation’s largest bike share systems.  Mike’s presentation was a part of a program of Continuing Legal Education where other trial lawyers from throughout the country learn about different areas of the law. This was a part of the convention’s lecture series, “Specialized Track:…
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Illinois Department of Transportation data shows dooring crashes on the rise across the state. In 2015 alone there were more than 300 doorings reported. This number, which only represents those doorings that made it onto a police report, nonetheless represented a 50% increase from 2014.  As part of an effort to fight the plague of doorings, the Illinois Secretary of State will now be required to include the “Dutch Reach” as a part of the Rules of the Road for Illinois motorists. The “Dutch Reach” is where a motorist opens the car door across their body with their right hand.…