Michael Phelan: Focused on Winning

Mr. Phelan volunteers countless hours with organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), United Parents Against Lead to reduce the hazards of lead to children, and Northstar Academy, a Richmond non-profit shool for children with learning disabilities. Mr. Phelan is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of Northstar. The Board presented in January, 2010 the first annual Special Needs Forum for educators, health care providers, and parents of special needs children. Mr. Phelan is also on the board of the Commonwealth Community Trust, a nonprofit trust for people with disabilities, and the Richmond House, a group home for young adults.

Mr. Phelan and his wife, Laura, met at Ohio Wesleyan University, and have been married almost 25 years.  They have three children, and their eldest son graduated from Ohio Wesleyan.

Mr. Phelan's practice focuses on complex litigation, ranging from tractor-trailer truck and automobile accidents, traumatic brain injury cases, legal malpractice, lead poisoning of children, products liability, prescription drug and medical device cases, wills ane estate disputes, and business litigation. After his very first jury trial, a product liability case involving the construction of a bridge in Richmond, Virginia, Mr. Phelan won a $1 million dollar verdict for his client, and qualified for and is now a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.  Mr. Phelan was selected to the American Trial Lawyers Association 2007 Top 100 Trial Lawyers.  He was also selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in the fields of Personal Injury Litigation, Mass Tort Litigation and Product Liability Litigation (Copyright 2008 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, SC) and for includion in Virginia Super Lawyers.

Mr. Phelan has extensive trial experience in state and federal courts, and has gained a national reputation for handling complex brain injury, lead poisoning, pharmaceutical, medical device and toxic substance cases. He achieved one of the largest recoveries in the country in a benzene exposure case involving an oral dental adhesive. Mr. Phelan is the past Chair of the Product Liability Section of the Virginia Trial Lawyer’s Association and has lectured at the Section’s annual retreats, at the 2006 ATLA Pharmaceutical/Medical Device seminar, and at many other seminars on numerous litigation topics.

Since 1996, Mr. Phelan has maintained an AV rating from the Martindale-Hubbell National Law Directory. This rating is based upon an extensive and confidential peer review by members of the bar, and is the highest rating available for legal ability and ethical standards. He also serves as an elected board member on the Virginia Trial Lawyer’s Association’s Board of Governors.
 

• $3,500,000.00 recovery on behalf of brain damaged former school teacher in motor vehicle case
• $3,500,000.00 on behalf of children brain damaged by lead poisoning
• $2,850,000.00 recovery in a products liability case for a woman who developed pre-leukemic disease from benzene-containing medical device
• $1,650,000.00 for a child brain damaged by take home exposure to lead from mother’s factory job
• $1,550,000.00 for siblings brain damaged by lead paint
• $1,500,000.00 for man who suffered mild traumatic brain injury and depression following commercial van collision
• $1,250,000.00 verdict in a Fen Phen diet drug trial
• $1,000,000.00 for child brain damaged by lead in soil
• $1,000,000.00 verdict in products liability case for bridge construction worker who suffered orthopedic injuries in a bridge collapse
• $900,000.00 settlement for a woman struck in the head by a promotional tent that a radio station failed to secure.
• $850,000.00 for a man rear-ended by a pickup truck that aggravated pre-existing back problems and suffered post-concussive symptoms
• $825,000.00 for a man assaulted by a bouncer resulting in mild traumatic brain injury
• $750,000.00 verdict for a man involved in a motor vehicle accident with a hit and run driver
• $550,000.00 for a woman who suffered a fractured calcaneus (heel) in a crash with a commercial truck
• $210,000.00 jury verdict in a John Doe case in which the highest settlement offer was $40,000.00.  Not all cases are big cases, but some must be tried to verdict in order to obtain fair compensation.

• “Federal Preemption: The Bush Administration’s Attempted Executive Branch Tort -Reform,” The Journal of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Spring 2007.
• “Current Issues in Pharmaceutical Litigation,” Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Products Liability Retreat, November 2005.
• “The Discovery of Information Concerning Other Similar Accidents, Incidents, or Occurrences,” Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Product Liability Retreat, October 1999.
• “The Admissibility of Evidence Concerning Other Similar Accidents, Incidents, or Occurrences,” Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Product Liability Retreat, October 1998.
• “Federal Preemption,” Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Products Liability Retreat, September 1996.

• J.D., University of Richmond School of Law, 1987 (Law Review and Moot Court boards)
• B.A., Ohio Wesleyan University,cum laude, 1984 (Omicron Delta Epsilon Honors Society)

• Virginia, 1989
• Massachusetts, 1987

• Northstar Academy (Chairman, Board of Directors)
• Commonwealth Community Trust board member
• Richmond House board member
• United Parents Against Lead
• Mothers Against Drunking Driving

• Richmond Bar Association
• Virginia Bar Association
• Massachusetts Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• American Association for Justice
• American Trial Lawyers Association
• Southern Trial Lawyers Association
• Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (Member, Board of Governors; Past Chair, Products Liability Section)
• Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Inn of Court Master of the Bench

• The 2007 Top 100 Trial Lawyers in American Trial Lawyers Association
• Best Lawyers in America 2009 to present
• Super Lawyers 2009 to present
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum