At Boston plaintiffs’ firm Jones Kelleher, attorneys Pat Jones, Tim Kelleher, and RobDeLello have worked together for almost 25 years and now bring 90 years of cumulative experience to their practice. It is their friendship and shared commitment to their clients that have propelled the firm (formerly the personal injury group at Cooley Manion Jones) to the top of this crowded field.
“One of the benefits of our 2014 reorganization is that we shed the perception of being a tort department inside a broad general litigation firm, and we became more identifiable as a standalone high-caliber personal injury firm,” says Jones, a four-time Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” award winner. Jones again received the “Lawyer of the Year” award in 2018, for his work in Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs in Boston.
Few attorneys have attained the level of success that Jones has achieved during his 40-year career: He has spearheaded some of the region’s most significant cases, served as president of both the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys and the Rhode Island Association for Justice, and contributed to numerous charities. Indeed, he recently oversaw a $1 million fundraising effort for Pine Street Inn, which assists New England’s homeless population and in the coming year celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Like Jones, Kelleher is a past president of MATA, where his defining program was a campaign to end distracted driving. He was also named the Best Lawyers Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs “Lawyer of the Year” in Boston for 2018. As chair of MATA’s Legislation Committee, Kelleher also served as a leader in legislative efforts to enact broad-based safety changes. He currently serves on the Massachusetts Joint Bar Committee on Judicial Appointments, which reviews judicial nominees.
“The work of Pat Jones and the impact he and other leaders of the bar have had on people’s lives is what first interested me in this area of law,” says Kelleher, whose work on construction site and product liability cases has resulted in recent recoveries of $7.5 million and just over $10 million.“I strive to be one of the best lawyers because I’ve seen what a difference we can make for people who have experienced a tragedy.”
Over the past few years, DeLello has also achieved a number of significant results, including $8 million and $7.5 million recoveries for individuals who were severely injured. A member of the MATA Board of Governors and its executive board, he is an active speaker on personal injury issues, has been featured in the MATA educational series at Suffolk University Law School, and was named a Best Lawyers 2018 Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs “Lawyer of the Year” in Boston.
“What allows us to work so well together is our common goal of helping our clients,” DeLello says of the firm’s success. “People in need know they can turn to us when they have experienced a devastating loss, and our adversaries know we will put all our resources toward maximizing our clients’ recoveries.”