Sean FlahertyManaging Partner of
Keches Law Group 

“[Trial lawyers] see people in very tough situations. In part, our job is to help those people and their families,” said Sean Flaherty, managing partner of Keches Law Group (KLG) – one of the largest personal injury law firms in New England. “But there’s a second portion of what we do,” Sean explained. “And that is helping the people that we will never meet.”

Sean’s talking about the people who will benefit from legislation enabled through the hard work of trial lawyers across America. Trial lawyers like him. Because while helping just one individual is remarkable, initiating change that impacts the greater good and community is a whole different ball game.

Sean knows a thing or two about ball games. He actually helped rebuild the famed Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, when he was a Local 7 Union iron worker in the early 2000s. But when a debilitating on-the-job injury put Sean out of work, he found the law in more ways than one.

“George Keches, the founding partner of this firm, was my lawyer,” said Sean. “Because of that tough time, I decided that I wanted to go back to college, go to law school, and make a career in helping people that were injured.”

Today, Sean works alongside George Keches at their Bridgewater, Massachusetts–based contingency fee law firm, representing injured workers across all stages of workers’ compensation litigation.

“My grandfather was a long-standing member [of Local 7 Union] for more than 30 years, and my dad was also a long-term member,” Sean recalled. “It’s something that runs in my blood.”

A priceless perspective

Because of his roots in the Local 7 Steel and Iron Workers Union, as well as the work he completed as part of it, Sean feels a deep connection with his clients.

“You can’t forget it. You know what it’s like to be awaiting multiple operations; what it’s like seeing medical bills piling up [with] no funds to pay them,” Sean said. “But it’s allowed me to have the perspective that I have now, and to speak with my clients in a very informative way.  I’ve been them.”

One case Sean recalls involved his client, an iron worker, that was injured on a construction site. As his client looked up to watch a crane deliver steel to the structure, he unknowingly stepped through a hole and fell nearly 20 feet, causing significant injuries to his spine, leg, and shoulder.

“That [case] will always be memorable to me because I remember what it was like to fall, what it was like to wonder if you’re going to walk again,” Sean said.

The client’s injury wasn’t fatal, but it was costly. Fortunately, Sean was able to guide him through the legal aftermath of the injury, ensuring his family never missed paying a bill while he, the breadwinner, remained in the hospital. In fact, Sean and his law firm’s tireless work secured a settlement of more than $2 million for the family.

“To our clients, a settlement means having financial security for the rest of their lives,” Sean explained. “Our job is to make sure we uncover every stone and try to financially and medically assist our clients to the utmost so that they are in a far better position when they leave us than when we found them.”

To Sean, helping his clients to the utmost involves as much of being a trial lawyer as it does being human. That mutual understanding enables him to fiercely advocate for his clients every day. Oftentimes, a single day in court is all they have.

“I think the average trial lawyer bears that cross and understands that, although we may be back in the courtroom later that day, week, month, or year…that is our client’s only time to get justice,” said Sean. “That is the day to rectify the issues that happened in the past, as well as the issues that continue into the future.”

The greater good

Through every case he represents, Sean hopes it can help lay the groundwork for better worker’s compensation laws, and in turn, more safety at workplaces in general. But sometimes, the cases he takes transcend the workplace, affecting innocent bystanders.

In one such case in November 2022, Sean recalls an accident at a Massachusetts shopping center where a man drove his car through the plate-glass windows of an Apple Store – the same iconic windows present at all its locations. The perpetrator didn’t stop his car until he hit the back of the store, killing one person and injuring 22 others.

According to Sean, the only thing stopping that car was his client’s leg wedged in between the running engine and the back wall.

Since the day of the accident, Sean and his team have worked tirelessly to bring justice to those harmed. Part of that justice involved getting life-saving safety measures installed outside of the same Apple Store.

“We not only take care of the injured individuals, but also the millions of others that will come to that spot later, making sure the safety measures that should be there are there to protect us from another senseless accident,” said Sean.

Sean also safeguards families impacted by a loved one’s accidental death on the job. Namely, his law firm has been a driving force behind increasing the burial benefits a widow or widower receives in the state of Massachusetts.

“We were able to increase that amount so when a loved one is lost [during the scope of employment], the full cost of their burial is taken care of by the workers’ compensation company,” Sean explained.

A business-changing bank

A strategic partnership with Esquire Bank has enabled KLG to exceed industry demands, client inquiries, and law firm growth as a whole.

“The team at Esquire Bank is easy to work with and quick to pick up the phone, and they really understand the ins and outs of a contingency fee practice,” said Sean.

Prior to working with Esquire, KLG was not heavily involved in class action litigation or sexual assault litigation due to their notoriously high costs.

“Our relationship with Esquire Bank has allowed us to scale our practice and take on cases we would never have been able to take,” Sean said.

From his days spent as an iron worker rebuilding Gillette Stadium, to becoming one of the powerhouses behind KLG, the official law firm of the New England Patriots – Sean knows the value of growth firsthand. It’s how he’s been capable of helping so many in his community.  
 
“It’s important to me that we help more people because I, too, was an injured person,” said Sean. “I look at it as being able to help my younger self.”