Mike Kessler was a member of the Law Review and graduated from Albany Law School in 1972. He is one of only eight attorneys in New York State, and only 150 in the United States who is Board Certified in Medical Malpractice Law by the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys. For many years Mike has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® , New York Superlawyers.®, and he has been listed as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America” by the National Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Kessler limits his practice to representing individuals who have suffered catastrophic injuries.
Since 1991, Mr. Kessler has recovered more $150 million for clients in personal injury cases, including recoveries of more than $2 million in thirty cases, fourteen of which the recovery was over $5 million, eight of which the amount was greater than $8.5 million, and three where his clients received more than $10 million.
In Auer v. State of New York, Mike won a $19.1 million verdict which The New York Law Journal stated was “at least $7 million” larger than any verdict ever rendered in the Court of Claims.” In 2001 the Appellate Division upheld and increased that judgment to $19.85 million, making it by far the largest personal injury judgment ever upheld by the Third Judicial Department, one of the largest ever upheld in New York State, and one of the few cases of this magnitude where the damages were increased on appeal.
The Albany Times Union described Holt v. AMCH as “the largest award…in a medical malpractice suit in [Albany] county’s history…” The New York Law Journal called Cole v. State of New York “the largest malpractice judgment ever awarded against the State in the Court of Claims.” In 1995, Mr. Kessler tried a medical case in Pennsylvania for a month before it was settled for an amount reported to be the largest malpractice settlement ever paid in that state.
Mike has been an invited to lecture to legal, judicial and medical audiences in twelve different states, three foreign countries, and five international cities. He has given Grand Rounds for the Department Obstetrics and Gynecology at Albany Medical Center Hospital, He has been invited to lecture at the Albany Law School, and for American Association for Justice (AAJ), North American Brain Injury Society (NABIS),New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYTSLA), Brain Injury Association (BIA), Brain Injury Society of New York State (BIANYS) and Capital District Trial Lawyers among a number of other professional organizations.
Mr. Kessler has also appeared as a guest commentator on personal injury law on Court TV, and his articles have been published in Trial Magazine and Trial Lawyers Quarterly. He is a recognized authority on Article 50-A and 50-B of the CPLR and his 1990 monograph on this subject correctly predicted the eventual Court of Appeals decisions on the effect of inflation on plaintiff’s recoveries. His 1997 post graduate article on the use of scientific literature at trial was published in the Albany Law Review.
Mike has made presentations on the life expectancy of catastrophically injured children both at NYU Hospital and at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He has spoken on the life expectancy defense before the Australian Lawyers Alliance, the Queensland Australia Law Society, The Pan European Organization of European Lawyers (PEOPLE) Joint Conference, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, BIA, AAJ, NABIS, and BIANYS, and the Birth Trauma Litigation Group of AAJ. His chapter on this subject appears in the textbook “Pediatric Life Care Planning and Case Management.”
Mr. Kessler also has presented to a national conference of emergency medicine physicians on avoiding malpractice claims in the ER, and in 2012 he was the primary author of the first comprehensive law review analysis of the New York State Medical Indemnity Fund, “The New York State Medical Indemnity Fund: Rewarding Tortfeasors Who Cause Birth Injuries, by Rationing Care to Their Victims,” published in the Albany Law Journal of Science and Technology.
Mike has also been invited to speak to the New York State Office of Court Administration and the Association of Supreme Court Justices of New York State on structured settlements. His book, Protecting the Catastrophically Injured Personal Injury Plaintiff’s Recovery: The Benefits and Risks of Structured Settlements and Their Alternatives in a Changing Economy, was published in 2010 by the New York State Bar Association.
Mr. Kessler is admitted to practice in New York and Pennsylvania, as well as the United States Supreme Court. He is a Diplomate of the National College of Advocacy. Mike is a member of AAJ and served as Chairman of their Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group as well as on the Executive Board of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group. He is a Charter Member of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers and currently serves on its Board of Directors. He was previously elected to the House of Delegates of NYBSA and was a Director of the Capital Region Affiliate of NYTSLA. He is a member of BIA, NABIS, and served on the Board of Directors of BIANYS.
Mike is also a proud member of the Association of Surfing Lawyers.
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