Overview
Mike is a shareholder and a former President of the firm. He is a native of Alton, Illinois and an alumnus of the University of Illinois. As an undergraduate at Illinois, he was Phi Beta Kappa and completed his degree in 1980, magna cum laude. He earned his law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1983.
Mike devotes his practice to the representation of employers, insurance carriers, and third-party administrators in workers' compensation matters throughout the state. He is the author of several published law review articles on workers' compensation topics, and he is a frequent lecturer on this topic. He serves as an adjunct professor of workers' compensation on the faculty of Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in Lansing. He is also a faculty member of the Michigan State University School of Human Resources and Labor Relations Department, where he teaches a wide array of workers' compensation topics throughout the United States in the Executive Education program. He has also served as an adjunct instructor of business law at University of Illinois and Michigan State University.
Mike is admitted to practice in Michigan and Illinois. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and the Ingham County Bar Association, and he is listed in Best Lawyers® in America. He resides in Grand Ledge, Michigan where he is a trumpet player of average ability in the Grand Ledge Community Band.
Honors & Recognitions
State Bar of Michigan, Workers’ Compensation Section Hall of Fame, 2022
Ingham County Bar Association, Theodore W. Swift Civility Award, 2018
AV® Preeminent™ Martindale-Hubbell
Best Lawyers® in America - Workers' Compensation Law - Employers, 2005-2025
ABA College of Workers' Compensation Attorneys
Former Foster Swift Collins & Smith Executive Committee, President
Michigan Lawyers Weekly's "Leaders in the Law" Class of 2020
Affiliations
Memberships & Affiliations
Legal Affiliations:
- ACADEMIC POSITION: Western Michigan Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Adjunct Professor for Workers' Compensation Law
- ACADEMIC POSITION: Michigan State University, Instructor for Human Resources Executive Education, School of Labor and Industrial Relations
- American Bar Association
- State Bar of Michigan
- State Bar of Illinois
- Ingham County Bar Association
Community Involvement:
- Grand Ledge Community Band
Communications
Recent Blog Posts
Health Care Law Blog
Michigan Workers' Comp Defense Blog
- New Law Expands First Responders Presumed Coverage Fund
- Michigan Legislature Considers New COVID-19 Presumption Bill
- COVID-19: Is It An Occupational Disease or Personal Injury – And Does It Really Even Matter?
- COVID-19 Related Paid Leave Tax Credits Extended Into 2021
- Appeals Court Rejects Comp Benefits in ‘Special Mission’ Case
- Recent Michigan Supreme Court Decision Affects Workers' Comp COVID-19 Rebuttable Presumption
- The Anticipated Rise in At-Home Work Injury Claims During the Coronavirus Pandemic
- Updates to Workers' Compensation Issues Raised by Coronavirus and New Emergency Rules for "First Responders"
- Michigan's Emergency Rules Give Personal Injury Presumption to "First Response Employees" with COVID-19
Publications
- The Workers' Compensation Issues Raised by Coronavirus Pandemic and Michigan's Newly Promulgated Emergency Rules for "First Response Employees", Foster Swift Workers' Compensation Update, March 20, 2020
- The Difficult Intersection of Workers’ Compensation, FMLA and ADA when an Employee gets Sick or Injured, Foster Swift Employment Labor & Benefits News, October 1, 2018
- Are Interns Injured on the Job Entitled to Michigan Workers’ Compensation Benefits?, Foster Swift Employment Labor & Benefits Law News, May 29, 2018
- Workers' Compensation Facilitation - The New Trial?, Foster Swift Employment, Labor & Benefits News, November 17, 2016
News & Events
Speaking Engagements
- Sexual Harassment in Workers' Compensation, Stop Before You Crash: Workers' Compensation and Employment Law, March 22, 2017
News
- Foster Swift Attorneys Named 2025 Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers in America, August 15, 2024
- Foster Swift Attorneys Named 2024 Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers in America, August 17, 2023
- Foster Swift Attorneys Named 2023 Best Lawyers in America©, Best Lawyers in America, August 18, 2022
- Foster Swift Attorneys Named to 2022 Best Lawyers in America©, August 19, 2021
- Workers' Compensation Issues in the Media, Business Insurance and Work Comp Central, October 9, 2020
- Foster Swift Attorneys Named to 2021 Best Lawyers in America©, August 20, 2020
- Workers’ Comp Defense Blog Provides Michigan Case and Legislative Updates, April 13, 2020
Practice Areas
Education
University of Illinois College of Law, J.D., 1983
University of Illinois, B.A., 1980, magna cum laude
Bar and Court Admissions
Illinois
Michigan
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan