Olivia P. Kelly is an attorney at Simmons Hanly Conroy where she focuses her practice on helping individuals and families impacted by mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

Based in the firm’s New York office, Olivia participates in every stage of litigation as an asbestos attorney but focuses on motions and appellate practice. She utilizes her skills in legal research and writing to strategize innovative ways to advocate and obtain successful results for her clients.

“Each client has a different story and set of circumstances that requires not only individualized attention to detail, but empathy and respect as well,” Olivia said. “Clients can expect all of this from me as we work together to secure the justice they deserve.”

Before joining Simmons Hanly Conroy, Olivia served as a Senior Appellate Court Attorney for the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department in Brooklyn, New York. The Second Department hears appeals from all trial courts across 10 counties in lower New York State. As a Senior Appellate Court Attorney, Olivia assisted the Justices of the Court by reviewing records for cases on appeal, conducting exhaustive research on the relevant laws, and issuing recommendations as to how cases should be resolved.  From working at the Second Department, Olivia not only gained valuable insight into the judicial process, but she also mastered the research and writing skills that are critical to obtaining an optimal trial result and defending that result, where necessary, on appeal.

Olivia graduated from the City University of New York School of Law. In law school, she served as Staff Editor of the City University of New York Law Review and as a student attorney in the Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic. She also worked as a legal intern at the Urban Justice Center’s Domestic Violence Project and the Legal Aid Society’s Office for the Aging. Olivia’s focus on helping others was cultivated by her mother’s example, who founded Family-to-Family, a non-profit hunger-relief organization, for which Olivia volunteers in her spare time.

“My decision to become an attorney stems from my experience growing up in a family that prioritized helping others,” she said. “Watching my mother engage in such important work inspired me to devote my own career to making a meaningful difference in others’ lives. I went to law school in order to learn how to use the law as a tool to most effectively carry out that goal.”

Olivia currently lives in New York City with her husband and their chocolate lab, Kona.

Olivia Kelly

Practice Areas:

  • Asbestos & Mesothelioma

Bar and Court Admissions:

  • New York, 2014
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, 2019
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 2019
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 2019
  • New Jersey, 2019

Recognition:

  • Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America®
    • Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, 2022-2025
  • National Trial Lawyers Association, Top 40 Under 40 Attorney

Publications:

  • History Needs No Defense: The Role of State-of-the-Art Evidence in Asbestos Trials, HarrisMartin Columns: Asbestos (October 2018)
  • Dangerous Denial: Illogical Defense Bar Commentary Ignores Well-Established Science that Chrysotile Asbestos Kills, HarrisMartin Columns: Asbestos (August 2020)

Affiliations:

  • New York State Bar Association
  • New York City Bar Association
  • New York Women’s Bar Association
  • Volunteer, Family-to-Family non-profit organization
  • Member of the New York City Bar Association’s Product Liability Committee
  • Adjunct Professor, City University of New York School of Law (Fall 2019)

Education:

  • State University of New York at Purchase, B.A. in Literature, 2010, Summa Cum Laude
  • City University of New York School of Law, J.D., 2013; Staff Editor of the City University of New York Law Review; Recipient of Ernesto Malave Merit Scholarship; Boyers, Davis and Brown Public Interest Law Fellow.