Michael A. Kelly
For four decades Mike Kelly has protected Californians from corporate greed, medical mistakes, injurious consumer products, utility caused wildfires, dangerous drugs and devices, truck and auto accidents and government wrongdoing. In the course of his work he has tried, settled, and arbitrated more than 250 personal injury and wrongful death cases where the recovery by his client exceeded $1 million. In the last five years he has been at the forefront of claims against corporate giants including Amazon, Kaiser, Tesla, PG&E, Southern California Edison and Uber. He is a co-lead liaison in the California Depo Provera litigation against Pfizer and the Paraquat litigation against Syngenta. He helped achieve the $13.5 billion resolution of the 2017 wine country wildfire lawsuits against PG&E and settled multiple wrongful death cases caused by Southern California Edison’s negligence in causing the Santa Barbara / Montecito mudslides. He currently sits on the plaintiff attorneys steering committee representing the interests of fire victims in the Los Angeles Eaton Fire litigation. A trucking safety advocate, in the last 5 years alone, he has recovered over 100 million dollars for the victims of negligent trucking companies.
He is a sought-after speaker and teacher, having presented more than 200 invited lectures, tutorials, seminars, and advocacy demonstrations across the United States, Asia, South America, the United Kingdom, and Eastern Europe.
Since 2020, Mike has been chosen among the northern California “Top Ten” Super Lawyers, ranking as the number one vote-getter four times. In 2023 and 2024, he was singled out by Best Lawyers as the Personal Injury “Lawyer of the Year” for San Francisco. A member of the prestigious Inner Circle of Advocates, he was inducted into both the National Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame and the LawDragon Hall of Fame in 2022. He has been appointed by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court to membership on the statewide CACI jury instruction task force for nearly 20 years.
He devotes much of his time to lawyer education, having presented more than 200 invited lectures, tutorials, and advocacy demonstrations across the United States. He is a founding executive board member of Trial School, a not-for-profit skills training organization that teaches trial techniques to lawyers who represent injured victims. He annually teaches a seminar for lawyers who represent medical malpractice victims injured by Kaiser and the Permanente Medical Group.
Doris Cheng
Doris Cheng has been ranked as one of the top 10 lawyers in Northern California. She is listed among the Best Lawyers of America®, LawDragon 500 Leading Lawyers, Super Lawyers® and San Francisco Best Lawyers. She was chosen as Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers of America for 2017, and in 2025 was profiled on the cover of Super Lawyers Magazine.
Specializing in complex injuries caused by third-party negligence, Ms. Cheng has obtained multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts on behalf of disabled plaintiffs. She obtained a $15,000,000 verdict on behalf of a young man who suffered brain injuries due to the delayed diagnosis of a stroke. She completed a $19,000,000 settlement for parents whose son was crushed by a defective gate. She secured a $19,000,000 settlement for wrongful death heirs against an auto manufacturer for a defective fuel line. She obtained a $9,000,000 award to care for a severely disabled boy in a wrongful life action.
A frequent guest lecturer and adjunct professor, Ms. Cheng has trained lawyers and judges nationally and internationally. As part of the Rule of Law Initiative, she has had the privilege of training trial lawyers and judges in Mexico, Kosovo, and Macedonia. She has also collaborated and trained with civil practitioners in Singapore and Belfast. She regularly directs trial skills training programs for criminal prosecution offices in Scotland and throughout the Caribbean Basin.
Ms. Cheng is the Program Director of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy’s Western Region Advocacy Teacher Training Program. She is a past recipient of the Robert E. Keeton Award for outstanding service by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and a past recipient of the University of San Francisco Professional Achievement Award. She is the inaugural recipient of the American Board of Trial Advocates’ Champion of Justice Award (2022).
Ms. Cheng is involved in local bar associations and community organizations. She was the 106th President of the Bar Association of San Francisco. She is a past President of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, San Francisco Trial Lawyer Association, and Justice and Diversity Center. She is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, American Board of Trial Advocacy, and International Academy of Trial Lawyers. She serves on the Kaiser Arbitration Oversight Board and is a Board Trustee of the University of San Francisco.
She is a co-author of the eminent Rutter Group California Practice Guide on Personal Injury, and the trial practice guide, Mastering the Mechanics of Civil Jury Trials.
Following the induction of new Fellows of The American College of Trial Lawyers, Doris Cheng gave a speech to all the new inductees about being awarded such an elite honor.