Kelly Coakley Chicago

Kelly Coakley is a seasoned trial attorney with a steady courtroom presence for more than 25 years in Cook County. Throughout her career, she has developed a reputation for sound judgment, strong courtroom advocacy, and the ability to manage complex, high-stakes litigation. Kelly’s deep courtroom experience, combined with her strategic approach to case resolution, allows her to effectively advocate for clients in both trial and pre-trial settings.

Kelly has handled all aspects of litigation. Kelly personally tried over 50 felony jury trials to verdict, more than 500 bench trials, and over 1,000 contested hearings and motions. Her extensive trial background gives her a unique ability to evaluate cases early, develop effective strategies, and position matters for efficient resolution.

Prior to joining Ryan Law, Kelly served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County, the second largest prosecutor’s office in the country.

While in the Real Estate Tax Litigation Section, Kelly represented Cook County and its various taxing bodies in a wide range of real estate tax matters. Her practice included handling Property Tax Appeal Board cases, specific objections, tax sale litigation, and indemnity fund claims. Kelly has administrative hearing experience before the Property Tax Appeal Board and extensive trial court experience. She has also handled property tax appeals in both the Cook County Circuit Court and in the Appellate Court. Kelly defended Cook County in thousands of real property tax litigation matters involving tax assessment. Her work defending assessments included all property types: commercial, manufacturing, data centers, major office buildings, golf courses, department stores, shopping malls, historic freeze tax matters, special use properties, and environmentally contaminated properties. Kelly was vested with the authority to exercise independent judgement in developing litigation and settlement strategies while with Cook County. Prior to Kelly’s property tax practice work, she was a fierce advocate for crime victims. While in the Felony Trial Division. Kelly prosecuted thousands of complex criminal cases, including numerous murders, sexual assaults, armed robberies, reckless homicides, gun crimes and child abuse cases. She also held supervisory roles, mentoring and training new prosecutors and advising law enforcement on charging decisions.

Kelly’s solid reputation as a tenacious prosecutor earned her a position in the Special Prosecutions Bureau working on complex, multi-jurisdictional narcotics prosecutions. In that role, she worked closely with federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the DEA, FBI, ATF, Homeland Security, the Illinois State Police, the Chicago Police and various local police departments, targeting cartel and organized crime’s large-scale drug trafficking organizations. I enjoy the intensity of trial work. Being a member of the Ryan Law team allows clients to benefit from my reputation for trial readiness. I think trial readiness carries a premium. It affects outcomes across the docket, not just in the cases that go to hearing. Trial preparation acts as a force multiplier that moves the needle in cases and delivers superior results for our clients.