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Experience You Can Rely On

Learn more about Sean Burke Law

Who you work with

When you call, you reach the lawyer handling the case

Sean Burke Law, LLC is a solo practice by design. Clients come here because they want direct access, clear answers, and consistent follow-through. If your case is accepted, Sean is the attorney managing the investigation, communicating with you, and preparing the matter for negotiation or trial.

This approach is especially important in medical malpractice and other serious personal injury claims, where records, timelines, and experts can decide the outcome.

Experience that shows up locally

Serving Lake County, Chicago and beyond

Sean has practiced independently since the mid-2010s and focuses on plaintiff-side injury work. His cases commonly run through Lake County and Cook County, with regular work tied to the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan and the Daley Center in Chicagoland.


For clients, that means you are working with someone who knows how these cases move locally, what documentation gets attention, and how to present a claim in a way that holds up under scrutiny.

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Sean C. Burke

How Sean Burke Law Is Different From Other Law Firms

If you’re injured because someone or some company wasn’t acting safely, the injuries can leave you in pain feeling lonely and frustrated. The person or business that harmed you won’t admit that they did anything wrong. You don’t know which doctors to see to get better. Insurance investigators call asking personal questions and then deny your claim.


If you’re seriously injured, I work to make those worries go away. I deal with the insurance companies for you. I know how to hold wrongdoers responsible. If they refuse to fix your harms and losses, then I AM ready for trial to win the compensation you deserve.


Unlike some law firms that sign up hundreds of cases and treat clients like a number, i work with a small number of seriously injured clients. I give each client personal attention from start to finish.


You will know that I take your case seriously.

I have successfully represented people from all walks of life including:


  • $1.865 million settlement for a man whose foot was
  • crushed by an 7,500 pound cargo pallet being transported by a forklift
  • operator.
  • $3.0 million settlement for the parents and brother of a four-year old girl who died from an untreated bacterial infection the day after her doctors released her from the hospital
  • $650,000 settlement for a woman who underwent surgery after a rear-end car crash increased the pressure on a spinal nerve in her neck
  • $250,000 settlement for a woman who tore the rotator cuff in her shoulder when a work van side-swiped her
  • $2.3 million settlement for the family of a woman who died during routine surgery to remove her gallbladder because the surgeon injected gas into her liver that stopped her heart
  • $365,000 settlement for a woman rear-ended by an 18-wheel tractor trailer
  • $375,000 settlement for a man who was not warned about the risk for total hearing loss before his ear surgery
  • $1.6 million jury verdict for an elderly woman who lost the use of her lower leg and foot after knee replacement surgery
  • $2.5 million settlement for an elevator mechanic injured on a construction site; recovery for a woman who suffered nerve damage in her hand during a routine CT scan;
  • A settlement worth $3.5 million for a window washer whose leg was amputated after a 30-foot fall
  • $500,000 for the adult children of a man who died from a bleeding ulcer that his doctors failed to diagnose

I have also helped numerous patients who have suffered nerve injuries during elbow, back and neck surgery.

I am a trial lawyer with more than 25 years of trial experience. One year after law school, I went to work as a prosecutor for the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office in Waukegan, IL where I tried felony cases ranging from drug deliveries to murder. As a prosecutor, I loved the trial work and how my job gave me the chance to help people harmed by serious crimes.


After five years, I left the prosecutor’s office to join a highly-regarded medical malpractice law firm in Chicago where I continued to try cases and help people harmed by others who didn’t take safety seriously. I later started my own law firm and I have worked to help the seriously injured ever since. I have won large verdicts and settlements in difficult cases involving medical malpractice, construction negligence and automobile crashes.


I have received Martindale Hubbell’s AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating, the highest rating available. I have been named an Illinois Super Lawyer each year since 2012.

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois, 1989
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 1989

Education

  • University of Illinois College of Law, J.D. – 1989
  • College of the Holy Cross, A.B. History – 1986

Recognition

  • Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating
  • Illinois Super Lawyer
  • Million Dollar Advocates Forum
  • Avvo.com Superb Rating

Professional Associations

  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • Illinois Trial Lawyers Association

Professional Recognition

Sean C. Burke was selected to the 2026 Illinois Super Lawyers list, a distinction awarded to a limited number of attorneys across the state based on peer recognition and professional achievement.


Super Lawyers selections are made through a multiphase process that includes independent research, peer nominations, and evaluations by practice area. The designation reflects consistent work in complex personal injury and medical malpractice matters, as well as respect earned within the legal community.


Sean Burke Law, LLC approaches recognition the same way it approaches legal work: as a responsibility to maintain high standards, careful preparation, and direct accountability to clients. This honor complements a practice built on referrals, courtroom experience in Lake County and Cook County, and one-on-one representation.


(Super Lawyers is a Thomson Reuters service. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of Illinois.)

Super Lawyers 2026
What you can expect working with us

Your case gets the time and attention it deserves

Sean Burke Law, LLC concentrates on a limited group of injury matters: medical negligence, car and truck crashes, unsafe premises, workplace injuries involving third parties, and animal attacks. The office does not take workers’ compensation claims, nursing home injuries, defective products, or police misconduct cases.


For complex malpractice claims, Sean may collaborate with a small network of experienced attorneys from other firms. That structure keeps the client relationship direct, while adding resources when a case requires additional support.

Clear communication, practical guidance, steady advocacy

Clients and referring attorneys value straight answers and a process that makes sense. You will get explanations without legal jargon, a realistic view of the strengths and challenges, and a plan for what happens next.