Keith Short is a skilled and experienced litigator who has tried cases throughout Illinois and Missouri. Keith has litigated 26 jury trials in the last 10 years alone. He tried 7 cases in an 18 month span in 2023-2024, winning 6 of those 7 trials: 3 medical malpractice cases, a trucking accident, a car accident and a premises liability accident. Millions of dollars won. In that same time frame Keith settled 3 other medical malpractice cases, each over a million dollars and one being several million. His biggest case to date is $9.5 million. Keith has handled over 40 appeals before various Illinois Appellate Courts.
Keith has handled thousands of workers compensation cases, having tried over 200 and winning approximately 90% of the time. His first 6 years he was a defense lawyer representing some of the largest employers in the region. In 1999 he saw the light and joined one of the largest and most respected plaintiff law firms in St. Louis. The normal partnership tract was 10+ years. Keith was named a full partner after 2 years with the firm.
In 2011 Keith started his own firm with no clients, one part time assistant, a little bit of money and a lot of ambition. The firm has since added 6 incredible coworkers and 1 partner. Keith Short and Associates typically represents 250-300 clients at a time and tries to keep the number of medical malpractice cases to no more than 30…not an easy task as they are referred at least 10 cases a week. All cases come as referrals from other lawyers. Keith has represented 4 other local lawyers and has, many times, represented the families and friends of former opposing lawyers, the highest compliment an opponent can give.
Keith taught writing at the college level, was a City of Edwardsville elected alderman and was chosen as a member of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois’ federal mediation panel. Keith is certified as a mediator by Harvard and Northwestern Universities. Keith has been invited to speak at continuing education legal seminars throughout the St. Louis metro east and Washington DC, Chicago, Las Vegas and Marina Del Rey, California.
Keith and his wife Jennifer have 8 children and 7 grandchildren. Keith has been driven to compete in all aspects of life. He loves sports and has played plenty: football, baseball, track and field, racquetball and even has a black belt in tae kwon do. Still an adventurer, he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa and many of the 14ers in Colorado. Keith loves whitewater rafting, skydiving, and long-distance hiking. He golfs poorly. Keith loves his kids, grandkids, bullmastiffs and Jen, most of all.
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