Meet Christopher C. Cortese

Christopher C. Cortese has devoted his entire career to representing seriously injured individuals and their families in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Mr. Cortese concentrates his practice in the area of construction site negligence, products liability, nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, vehicle negligence, and premises liability.

Mr. Cortese has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict and recovered substantial settlements on behalf of injured persons in both Illinois and Wisconsin. As a result of his work on behalf of clients through trial, mediation, and arbitration, Mr. Cortese was selected as an Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Mr. Cortese’s empathy and passion for representing men and women injured on construction sites and in the work place comes from growing up surrounded by family working in the trades. Additionally, during summers in high school and college, Mr. Cortese worked as a plumber’s apprentice on commercial high-rise construction sites in Chicago.

Mr. Cortese’s past experience gives him a unique perspective in his representation of injured plumbers, pipefitters, ironworkers, carpenters, electricians, masons, and laborers. This strategic advantage has helped Mr. Cortese recover millions of dollars on behalf of workers injured on the job.

Prior to joining Hurley McKenna & Mertz P.C., Mr. Cortese was a law clerk and trial lawyer at another prominent Chicago plaintiff’s personal injury firm. Mr. Cortese attended Loyola University Chicago School of Law where he focused on trial advocacy and was selected to the Dean’s List. Prior to attaining his law degree, Mr. Cortese graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he double majored in Writing-Intensive English and Spanish Language and Literature. Mr. Cortese grew up in the Portage Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side of Chicago and attended Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois. Mr. Cortese is a member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association of Justice, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Justinian Society of Lawyers.