Michael is a partner in the Providence office of Morrison Mahoney. He concentrates his practice exclusively in the area of Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation and chairs the firm’s Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Practice Group.

Michael represents employers in the defense of workers’ compensation matters across a wide variety of industries, including but not limited to, assisted living, grocery, home improvement, transportation, retail, telecommunications, and manufacturing, among many others. He appears regularly before the Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Court and has successfully argued cases before the Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Appellate Division. Michael also works with third-party administrators and insurance carriers in all aspects of workers’ compensation claims, both litigated and non-litigated.

Michael also has extensive experience defending liability cases. Prior to joining Morrison Mahoney, he was in-house defense counsel for the second-largest property and casualty insurer in the United States. His practice focused on the representation of individual and commercial clients in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut general liability matters, and at one point involved leading a team of fourteen attorneys in litigating hundreds of Connecticut liability cases.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

  • Lead counsel in Phillips v. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Inc., App. Div. No. 17-00738 (April, 2020) obtaining reversal of trial decision in death claim on basis of Going and Coming rule
  • Successfully argued Going and Coming case before the Workers’ Compensation Appellate Division in Patricia Brown v. KNC Management Enterprises, Inc., App. Div. No. 13-00798 (November, 2019)
  • Obtained very favorable settlement of less than $200,000 in workers’ compensation suicide claim with potential multi-million dollar exposure for large self-insured employer following extensive expert discovery and trial testimony

Noteworthy Accomplishments, Honors & Awards

  • Elected by his peers to The Best Lawyers in America© Insurance Litigation (2022-2023)
  • Rhode Island
  • Massachusetts
  • Connecticut
  • Rhode Island Bar Association
  • Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Bench/Bar
  • B.A. — Bryant University
  • J.D. — Roger Williams School of Law
  • Presents regularly on Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation law to claims adjusters remotely and at claims offices across the Northeast
  • Participates in career services events and classroom projects for alma mater Bryant University