Michael is a member of the Casualty Department and co-chair of the firm's automobile liability practice group. He focuses his practice in the areas of personal injury defense, no-fault litigation, insurance fraud litigation, product liability and insurance coverage. In his career, Michael has handled thousands of general liability casualty litigation matters involving evaluation and resolution of personal injury claims. His no-fault experience has also enabled him to handle arbitrations involving medical necessity of treatment, improper billing of medical providers, and insurance fraud issues. Michael has handled hundreds of bus and trucking matters involving liability and PIP issues. He has represented bus lines and other companies that owned mini buses. Michael has also handled several trucking matters involving common law negligence and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act.
Michael graduated from Kean University and Seton Hall University School of Law, where he received his juris doctor in 1989. Following law school, Michael served a one-year judicial clerkship with The Honorable Carol A. Ferentz, Presiding Civil Judge, Superior Court of New Jersey, Civil Part, Newark, New Jersey. Michael then served as an assistant corporation counsel for the city of Newark, New Jersey, where he was trial counsel on numerous tort claims act cases filed against Newark, New Jersey's largest city.
Before joining Marshall Dennehey, Michael defended doctors, lawyers and public entities from negligence claims and further defended general liability and insurance coverage claims.
Michael is a graduate of the American Inns of Court and a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Essex County Bar Association.
Year Joined
1998
Thought Leadership
On The Pulse...The Relationship Between the Handling Attorney and the Claims Professional in Auto Liability
Scranton
Roseland
Automobile Liability
March 1, 2016
By John T. McGrath, Esq. & Michael R. Speer, Esq.* Defense Digest, Vol 22, No. 1, March 2016
Classes/Seminars Taught
Several seminars given to insurance claim professionals in areas of New Jersey Tort Claims Act, New Jersey No-Fault Act, Ambulatory Surgical Centers and Medical Malpractice Defense.
