What Kelley | Uustal does

Kelley | Uustal Trial Attorneys is a privately held personal injury litigation firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Founded in 2008 by Robert W. Kelley and John J. Uustal, the firm concentrates on catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases — including product liability, medical malpractice, automobile defect accidents, tobacco litigation, mass tort, class action, and commercial contingency litigation — that other firms decline to take. Its portfolio spans roughly 18 practice areas, with a self-driving vehicle/celebrity law/commercial contingency subset added in recent years and a referring attorney program generating inbound complex-case flow from peer firms.

The firm operates exclusively on a contingency fee basis: clients pay no upfront costs and the firm receives a percentage of recovery only upon successful resolution. Commercial contingency matters are accepted only when potential recovery reaches tens of millions of dollars, reflecting a deliberately high-stakes, low-volume case strategy. Service is delivered through a team of 12+ attorneys led by the two founders, with additional managing partners (Peter Spillis, Manny Serra, Michael A. Hersh) and several recently promoted partners (Fan Li, Matthew DellaBetta). Marketing and demand generation rely on landmark verdicts generating earned media (NBC, ABC, CNN, New York Times), structured referring-attorney relationships, content via the Personal Victory Stories platform, and active social media presence.

Across its history the firm reports over $1 billion in cumulative verdicts and settlements for clients, including a $300M verdict against Philip Morris (2014), $82.6M for Flo Rida against Celsius Holdings (2023), $60M against General Motors for a fire defect, $28.795M against R.J. Reynolds, and $27M in a pressure cooker product-defect settlement. The firm has been named DBR Best Personal Injury Firm for five consecutive years (2021–2025) and inducted into the DBR Personal Injury Firm Hall of Fame in 2023. Firm revenue is not publicly disclosed; cumulative case-fund economics imply multi-million-dollar annual gross recovery that fluctuates with verdict timing.

Name

Kelley | Uustal

Legal name

Kelley | Uustal Trial Attorneys

Website

https://kelleyuustal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kelley | Uustal is a Fort Lauderdale-based contingency-fee plaintiff litigation firm specializing in catastrophic injury, wrongful death, product liability, medical malpractice, mass tort, and tobacco cases against major corporate defendants for injured individuals and referring law firms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personal Injury Law

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Offices of Lawyers (54111)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Injury & Insurance Defense (BPAHAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Litigation & Dispute Resolution (BPAHAAAB)

Keywords

• Personal injury litigation
• Catastrophic injury law
• Wrongful death cases
• Product liability litigation
• Mass tort representation

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Lauderdale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Contingency Fee Legal Services: The firm operates exclusively on a contingency fee basis for personal injury, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and related litigation. Clients pay no upfront costs; the firm receives a percentage of the recovery only upon successful case resolution. For commercial contingency cases, they accept matters only when potential recovery reaches tens of millions of dollars.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kelley | Uustal Trial Attorneys is a personal injury law firm that provides legal representation on a contingency fee basis for catastrophic injury, wrongful death, product liability, medical malpractice, automobile defect, tobacco, mass tort, and class action cases. The firm takes on complex, high-stakes cases other firms decline, including commercial contingency matters with potential recovery in the tens of millions of dollars. Services are delivered through a team of over 12 award-winning trial attorneys headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Product overview

Kelley | Uustal Trial Attorneys is a specialized personal injury law firm offering a comprehensive portfolio of legal services focused on catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. The firm operates as a unified service practice rather than a platform with discrete modules, providing expertise across multiple interconnected practice areas including Product Liability, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury, Automobile Defect Accidents, Tobacco Litigation, Mass Tort, Class Action, Commercial Litigation, and Wrongful Death. The firm is particularly known for handling high-stakes cases against major corporations, having secured landmark verdicts exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars against companies such as Philip Morris, General Motors, and Celsius Holdings. The firm's service model is built on contingency fee arrangements for qualifying cases and includes a Referring Attorney Program for case referrals from other law firms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Product Liability Legal representation for individuals injured by dangerous product designs, manufacturing errors, and marketing defects, holding manufacturers accountable for negligence.
• Personal Injury Legal representation for victims injured due to someone else's negligence or wrongdoing, seeking compensation for wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering.
• Medical Malpractice Legal representation for patients injured or killed due to negligence of doctors or medical professionals, including incorrect diagnoses, surgical mistakes, and improper medication prescription.
• Automobile Defect Accidents Specialized legal representation for accidents caused by vehicle defects, utilizing forensic science to investigate whether safety systems functioned properly.
• Car Accidents Legal representation for victims of major crashes resulting in serious injuries requiring hospitalization or medical treatment.
• Tobacco Litigation Legal representation for individuals harmed by tobacco companies that intentionally designed cigarettes to addict smokers and concealed health risks.
• Celebrity Law Specialized legal services for celebrities facing potential lawsuits including defamation, publicity rights, and intellectual property matters.
• Self-Driving Vehicle Accidents Legal representation for victims of autonomous vehicle accidents involving Tesla and other manufacturers with alleged autopilot technology defects.
• Commercial/Business Litigation Legal representation for business disputes involving contracts, business torts, class actions, construction litigation, and intellectual property matters.
• Commercial Contingency Litigation High-stakes commercial cases handled on contingency fee basis when potential recovery reaches tens of millions of dollars.
• Mass Tort Litigation representing multiple individuals harmed by the same act or omission, including Camp Lejeune, Suboxone, Paraquat, Paragard, Exactech, IVC Filters, and Depo-Provera cases.
• Class Action Legal representation in class action lawsuits concerning consumer law violations, contract claims, product defects, negligence, and unfair business practices.
• Wrongful Death Legal representation for surviving family members when a person dies due to negligence or intentional wrongdoing, seeking compensation for financial and emotional losses.
• Brain Injury Legal representation for brain injury cases resulting from medical negligence, car accidents, workplace accidents, or other hazardous situations.
• Pedestrian Accidents Legal representation for pedestrians injured in South Florida, one of the most dangerous regions for pedestrian fatalities.
• Road Defect Accidents Legal representation for victims of accidents caused by defective roadways, guardrails, medians, or poorly designed roads and pedestrian crossings.
• Motorcycle Accidents Legal representation for motorcyclists suffering serious life-changing consequences from crashes, including broken necks, spinal cord damage, and traumatic brain injuries.
• Bicycle Accidents Legal representation for bicycle accident victims in Fort Lauderdale, which has the highest bike crash rate in the region.
• Road Construction Accidents Legal representation for accidents caused by lack of warning signs, dangerous pavement conditions, or failures in road construction and maintenance.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $1 billion in life-changing verdicts and settlements secured for clients
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Ron Simon & AssociatesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024National food safety law firm collaborating with Kelley | Uustal on Boar's Head Listeria outbreak lawsuit, combining expertise in food safety litigation

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Motley Rice: National plaintiff firm specializing in mass torts, product liability, catastrophic injury, and whistleblower matters, frequently taking on major corporations on contingency. Overlaps directly with Kelley | Uustal's tobacco, talc, and mass tort dockets.
• Sokolove Law: Mass tort and personal injury plaintiff firm that uses heavy TV/digital marketing to source cases on contingency. Comparable contingency fee model and mass tort focus, though with a more marketing-intensive intake approach.
• Weitz & Luxenberg: New York-based plaintiff firm with established mass tort, product liability, and personal injury practice operating on contingency. Overlaps with Kelley | Uustal's mass tort inventory and contingency fee approach.
• Napoli Shkolnik: Plaintiff firm focused on mass tort, personal injury, and consumer protection matters on contingency, with active dockets in pharmaceutical and environmental litigation. Comparable contingency-based mass tort practice.
• Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein: Plaintiff firm handling class actions, mass torts, and catastrophic injury cases on contingency with a strong record of nine- and ten-figure verdicts. Comparable in taking complex, high-stakes matters other firms decline.
• Morgan & Morgan: Largest plaintiff personal injury firm in the United States, operating on contingency fee basis across catastrophic injury, product liability, and mass tort matters with national advertising-driven intake. Most directly comparable peer in business model, client base, and contingency fee structure, though at vastly greater scale.
• Simmons Hanly Conroy: National plaintiff firm with major mass tort, asbestos, and catastrophic injury practices on a contingency fee model. Directly comparable contingency-fee structure and high-profile mass tort docket.
• The Lanier Law Firm: Houston-based plaintiff firm known for record-setting verdicts in pharmaceutical, product liability, and mass tort litigation on a contingency basis. Comparable in focus on high-stakes cases against major corporations and in producing landmark verdicts.
• Cellino & Associates (formerly Cellino Law): Personal injury plaintiff firm operating on contingency across catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, with strong regional brand recognition. Comparable contingency fee model and personal injury focus, though primarily East Coast regional.

Broad incumbents

• Robins Kaplan: National law firm with a substantial plaintiff-side practice in mass tort, class action, and catastrophic injury, alongside broader commercial and IP work. Comparable in catastrophic injury and mass tort matters but with a much wider practice portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/KelleyUustal
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/Justiceforall
• Facebookfacebook.com/KelleyUustal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kelley-uustal
• Instagraminstagram.com/kelleyuustal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kelley | Uustal