Michael A. Pope is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Firm’s Chicago office. He heads the Firm’s international Product Liability Practice Group.
Michael was named the Leading Products Liability Lawyer in Illinois by Who’s Who Legal in 2005, and was named a leading lawyer in general commercial litigation and products liability by the 2006 edition of Chambers USA. He has a national practice in product liability matters, including the defense of class action lawsuits. He has also been honored as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in the State. A frequent lecturer on toxic torts and the trial of complex cases, he taught products liability at IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law for five years. He is currently representing State Farm and Coca Cola in class action litigation in Illinois, and various Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in the HMO class action MDL in Miami, Florida.
Michael also has extensive experience in handling reinsurance disputes, in the interpretation of excess and umbrella liability insurance policies, and in professional liability and complex business litigation.
Michael is the immediate past president of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, the official liaison between practicing lawyers and the federal judges in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. He is also a former chairman of the board of trustees of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. He heads the Defense Research Institute’s Task Force on Mass Torts, and is a past president of Lawyers for Civil Justice, a national coalition of corporations and trial lawyers interested in improvements in the civil justice system. In that role, he testified before the Federal Advisory Committee reviewing proposed rules changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure relating to electronic discovery.
Michael has served as president of the International Association of Defense Counsel, the oldest professional association of trial lawyers practicing in the defense of civil litigation. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is the Vice Chair of its Judiciary Committee. He is also a fellow of the International Society of Barristers and of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Since 1996, he has been a member of the American Law Institute. Michael is a member of the Chicago Bar Association (Board of Managers, 1987-1990), the Illinois State Bar Association (Chair, Special Committee on Discovery Reform, 1994-1995), the American Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute (Board of Directors, 1993-1995), and the Product Liability Advisory Council.