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As the youngest winner ever of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles’ prestigious Trial Lawyer of the Year award, Michael Alder has distinguished himself as one of the top trial attorneys in California. He has been named one of the Daily Journal’s Top 20 Lawyers Under the Age of 40 in California, and has been selected by Los Angeles magazine as a Southern California SuperLawyer in 2004, 2005, and 2006 (each year he has been eligible). He has been nominated as the Consumer Attorneys of California’s California Trial Lawyer of the Year, is a long time member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), and has received commendations from the U.S. Congress, California Senate, California Assembly, California Lieutenant Governor and Los Angeles City Council for his trial work. |
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The reason for the accolades is simple: results. Since founding AlderLaw in 2000, Mr. Alder has won dozens of jury trials and negotiated scores of six and seven figure settlements on behalf of his clients. Notable verdicts include a $4 million verdict for the wrongful death of a 17-year-old girl in an automobile accident caused by a “phantom” vehicle (the “phantom” driver was identified and found to be 100% responsible for the accident), a $4.2 million verdict for a schizophrenic woman who received serious burns after being caught in an apartment fire, and a $908,000 verdict for a major league umpire who injured his pinky finger in a rear end accident. Additionally, in the first eight months of 2007 alone, Mr. Alder has settled eight separate cases for amounts exceeding $1 million, including two defective smoke detector cases for $6.2 million and $3 million respectively.
Mr. Alder grew up in southern Louisiana, attending Louisiana State University and graduating from LSU Law School in 1992. After clerking for The Hon. Lenore Prather, Presiding Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, he began his career at the Los Angeles offices of the late David M. Harney, a legendary California trial lawyer. He then moved on to work for and be mentored by Michael J. Piuze, one of the best trial lawyers in the country. While working for Mr. Piuze, Mr. Alder played an important role in the firm obtaining several seven and eight figure verdicts and settlements. A long-time board member of the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) and the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), Mr. Alder is now a leader of both organizations. He is currently on the CAALA Executive Committee serving as Secretary and will be President of that organization in 2012. In 2006, he was elected by CAOC to become one of nine members of the Board of Directors for Southern California, after serving as the PAC Chairman for Southern California during the 2005-06 election. Mr. Alder has given nationwide seminars on litigation and published multiple articles on litigation strategy and practice. He has been a speaker at multiple continuing education seminars and regularly speaks at CAALA’s annual Las Vegas convention on topics ranging from advanced trial skills to the use of technology in the courtroom. For the past several years, he has given the Plaintiff’s Opening or Closing Statement Demonstration at the ABOTA Jack Daniels Trial School, which teaches hundreds of young trial lawyers about trial work. For the past two years, he has been plaintiff’s trial counsel in Loyola Law School’s Mock Trial Symposium, streamed live across the country. Mr. Alder is a founder of Trial Lawyers Charities, a charity begun by lawyers in Los Angeles dedicated to helping people in the community with financial or legal needs. |
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