Carla A. Colaianni

Carla Colaianni, a trial attorney at Smith LaCien LLP, has 15 years of practicing law as a plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer and Chicago accident attorney, concentrating in medical malpractice and personal injury combined with a probate and appellate practice. She has represented numerous plaintiffs at the appellate level in both the appellate courts of Illinois and the Illinois Supreme Court.

The Chicago personal injury lawyers at Smith LaCien have secured more than $2.5 billion in settlements and verdicts, and have more than 100 settlements and verdicts that exceed $1 million.

Carla began her professional career as a vocational training instructor at Refugee One, working closely with refugees and asylum seekers to help them gain employment. From that experience, she recognized the need for people to receive legal protections and left the organization to pursue a law degree.

After graduating from law school, she began working full-time for a Chicago personal injury law firm where she clerked as a law student. In 2014, she returned to her native New York to spend more time with her family. She started her own law firm, using her civil litigation experience to continue representing people who had suffered catastrophic injuries.

In June 2019, Carla joined a plaintiffs personal injury law firm in Yonkers, NY where she specialized in representing families whose children had experienced catastrophic birth injuries or who were childhood victims of sexual abuse. She returned to Chicago in early 2022 to join Smith LaCien.