Defense Litigation & Internet Attorney
in Chicago

Phone: (888) 327-5629
Fax: (312) 782-0040
Email: Contact Me

Paul B. O'Flaherty, Jr. is a managing partner with the Chicago law firm of Cheely, O'Flaherty & Ayres. He represents businesses, professionals, insurers and individuals in disputes giving rise to civil lawsuits involving toxic torts, product liability and personal injury defense. He also is a skilled Chicago computer attorney with experience navigating the recent legal developments in Chicago Internet Law and E-Commerce. Paul is a native Chicagoan, who has focused on litigation practice in Chicago and Illinois for over 25 years. During that time, he has represented clients in hundreds of cases in Illinois and federal trial courts, federal bankruptcy court, and arbitration forums. He is also an experienced appellate lawyer, who has participated in over 50 appeals and appeared repeatedly in the Illinois Appellate Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Paul's litigation experience extends to both commercial and tort disputes. On the commercial side, he has handled contract, employment, bankruptcy, trademark, consumer protection, class-action, insurance and reinsurance cases. His tort litigation experience includes the defense of toxic tort, product liability, medical malpractice and other professional malpractice matters, premises liability, defamation and Internet related litigation.

After attending Brother Rice High School in Chicago, Paul received his undergraduate degree, cum laude with highest distinction in History, from Dartmouth College in 1977. While at Dartmouth, he received commendation as a Rufus Choate Scholar for exceptional academic accomplishment. Returning to Chicago for his legal education, Paul received his law degree from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law in 1980, where he was a member of the National Moot Court Team. In 2007, Paul was awarded an LL.M. degree with honors in Information Technology Law by the John Marshall Law School.

Paul began his legal practice with Baker & McKenzie, a large international law firm headquartered in Chicago. He practiced there from 1980 to 1995, eventually becoming a capital partner in the firm. At Baker & McKenzie, Paul served on the Litigation Department Associate Training Committee, the Chicago Office Professional Development Committee, and as the Litigation Department's hiring partner. In 1995, he left Baker & McKenzie, attracted by the opportunity to create a smaller and more economical firm for serving his clients, and to practice with partners sharing his professional and personal values. His principal colleagues, partners Dan Cheely and Steve Ayres and counsel Anne Stinneford, also practiced previously with the Chicago litigation group at Baker & McKenzie.

Paul is a member of the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association (where he has served on the Judicial Evaluation Committee), the Defense Research Institute, and the Association for Conflict Resolution. Within those organizations, he is currently a member of specialty committee for Civil Litigation Practice, Business Litigation, Tort and Insurance Law, Internet and Computer Law, and Intellectual Property Law.

In addition to being an experienced and effective advocate in adversary proceedings, Paul holds a certificate In Mediation Training from DePaul University's Center for Dispute Resolution, and is a certified mediator in the Circuit Court of Cook County Law Division's Major Case Civil Mediation Program.

As an adoptive father, Paul has a strong interest in promoting adoption, and has served on the Pro Bono Legal Affairs Committee for the International Children's Alliance, an international adoption agency. He also currently serves on the Executive Board of Hinsdale Village Caucus a civic organization devoted to recruiting, evaluating, and supporting well qualified candidates for public office in Hinsdale, Illinois.

Litigation Experience

Class, Mass Tort, and Complex Litigation

Paul has considerable experience with the unique problems of defending multi - claimant litigation, arising in both class-action and multiple lawsuit settings. He has a track record of successfully attacking class-action cases at the threshold and defeating class certification, or securing outright dismissal of class complaints through careful analysis of pleading issues. In recent years, Paul headed the group of defense counsel who successfully secured dismissal of an attempt to create a class of future asbestos claimants in Cook County, Illinois. Similarly, a consumer fraud action filed against Rush Presbyterian St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago failed to survive the Motion to Dismiss prepared as an initial pleading by Paul and partner Dan Cheely.

Multiple lawsuits arising in mass tort, toxic tort, and other settings present different problems, frequently more difficult than class actions. While class actions can sometimes be "decapitated" by threshold legal defenses, multiple lawsuits are more like the mythical Hydra. Defending such cases requires the strategic vision to understand global issues and risks, sensitivity to the nuances of individual cases, meticulous attention to consistency in pleadings and discovery across cases and jurisdictions, timely and sound case handling judgments at both the global and individual levels, and when appropriate, skill in conducting sophisticated, interrelated settlement negotiations. Paul and his partners are comfortable with these complexities, having handled hundreds of such cases involving mass tort and toxic tort claims, in both the roles of coordinating counsel and front-line defense counsel.

Internet Attorney

Recognizing the revolutionary impact of computers and the Internet on business and legal affairs, Paul has pursued advanced postdoctoral studies in the field of Information Technology Law at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, culminating in receipt of an LL.M. degree in Information Technology Law with honors from that institution in 2007. To further his expertise as computer attorney in Chicago, Paul’s studies have included coursework on the subjects of Information Law and Policy, Cyberspace Law, Computers and the Law, Privacy Rights, Free Speech in Cyberspace, Information Technology in the Practice of Law, Intellectual Property in the Digital Environment, E-commerce, Electronic Discovery, Information Security, and Representing the Technology Client.

With the benefit of his specialized background in this area, Paul has represented clients in a variety of Internet-related disputes including Internet defamation, the ability of the State of Mississippi to regulate an out-of-state website operator, consumer fraud perpetrated via the Internet, and computer system and software litigation.

Toxic Torts

Paul brings great depth of experience to the defense of toxic tort lawsuits. He first became involved in the defense of asbestos cases in 1985, representing the Asbestos Claims Facility and the Center for Claims Resolution in Chicago. Since that time, he has represented ACandS, Inc., a national insulating company, Ingersoll-Rand Company, an industrial equipment manufacturer, and other clients in the defense of asbestos claims.

In addition to asbestos litigation, Paul has also successfully defended personal-injury claims arising from a variety of other alleged toxic exposures including latex, talc, formaldehyde, and other chemicals.

Medical Malpractice

The representation of physicians and other health professionals in defense of medical malpractice claims has been another significant focus of Paul's practice and litigation experience. Since the 1980s, he has been involved in the defense of over 100 such cases, for clients including the University of Illinois, the Illinois State Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and other health providers. In terms of subject matter, Paul has defended cases involving a wide variety of ethical specialties, including geriatric medicine, internal medicine, infectious diseases, obstetrics, gynecology, neonatology, radiology, transplant surgery, vascular surgery, cardiac and cardiothoracic surgery, pediatric surgery, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology and ENT surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, dentistry and oral surgery, and psychiatry.

Business and Commercial Litigation

Paul likewise his considerable background representing individuals, businesses, and not for-profit entities in business and commercial litigation. His experience extends to disputes involving contracts, employment, trademarks and copyrights, bankruptcy, consumer protection, insurance, reinsurance, and the control of corporate and not-for-profit entities.


Areas of Practice

• Internet and Computer Law
• Toxic Tort Litigation
• Employment Litigation
• Medical Malpractice Defense
• Products Liability
• Business Litigation

• 90% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

• Illinois, 1980
• U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 1983
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, 1986
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, 1991

• Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, Illinois
• John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois, 2007 LL.M.

• March 14, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America