Michael Hersh is a founding partner of Hersh Kirtman Injury Law. He dedicates his practice entirely to representing and helping those who have been injured, suffered harm, or lost loved ones because of the negligence or wrongdoing of others. Michael has successfully obtained numerous seven and eight-figure jury verdicts and settlements, achieving justice for his clients, while helping them recover funds for needed medical care and future financial security.
The Path
Michael began his career at an international law firm representing Fortune 500 companies in complex commercial and business disputes. Despite a long record of legal successes, Michael always felt something was missing; a human connection and the feeling that he was truly helping people. In what became a pivotal moment in his career, Michael represented a financial institution in a case involving an elderly couple who had been defrauded by a sham lending company. They had acted in good faith, but were victims, and were about to lose not only their savings, but also their home. Michael couldn’t help but see the injustice in the couple’s situation. Michael orchestrated a creative resolution whereby the bank was satisfied, and the couple was able to keep their home, providing them the unexpected residential security they deserved.
He decided then that he wanted his career focus to be on people; on assisting those who have been hurt, harmed, and suffered loss.
Michael joined a prominent South Florida personal injury firm where he rose to become the managing partner, handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. He focused on a small volume of cases fighting the largest institutional defendants on behalf of clients who had suffered the most severe and unfortunate losses.
Michael also supplemented his experience by attending and graduating from the Trial Lawyers College, one of the country’s premier trial schools taught and attended by the nation’s foremost litigators and trial instructors. There, Michael fine-tuned his trial techniques and honed his ability to learn and tell his clients’ stories, a critical skill necessary to convey his clients’ experiences and losses completely and effectively.
Eventually, Michael fulfilled his dream of opening his own law firm when he and Ian Kirtman founded Hersh Kirtman Injury Law. Together, Michael and Ian help a wide range of clients who have suffered injury and loss resulting from medical malpractice, motor vehicle accidents, unsafe premises, road construction defects, sports injuries, dangerous and defective products, and other matters.
Driven to Help and Succeed for Clients
Determined to succeed for his clients, Michael has successfully obtained more than $100 million in jury verdicts and settlements. Some notable results include:
- $35 million jury verdict for a Navy veteran who suffered catastrophic injuries in a car crash, leaving him paralyzed.
- $27 million for a young child who suffered severe burns and partial loss of limbs when a defective pressure cooker exploded.
- $23 million jury verdict for a man who suffered a severe brain injury after falling from a tree due to defective equipment.
- $8.75 million medical malpractice settlement for a client who suffered a severe brain injury due to hospital negligence.
- $4.5 million for a client who suffered severe orthopedic and head injuries due to defective road construction.
- $3.1 million for injuries and a wrongful death following carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from a defective car and defective home construction.
- $3.1 million for a client who suffered severe orthopedic injuries due to defective construction and maintenance of traffic.
Michael has also successfully handled several class action and insurance bad faith claims. In 2016, Michael was appointed co-lead counsel of a nationwide class of more than a million owners of Ford Explorer vehicles with defects causing occupants to be exposed to exhaust and carbon monoxide.
In recognition of his abilities and successes, Michael has been named to the List of Florida Super Lawyers® Rising Stars since 2014, selected as a Best Lawyer in America, and named the Daily Business Review’s 2018 Most Effective Lawyers in Product Liability and the Daily Business Review’s 2020 Most Effective Lawyers in Personal Injury.
Education
- University of Pennsylvania, BA, Magna Cum Laude
- University of Florida Levin College of Law, JD, Magna Cum Laude
- Florida Law Review, Notes and Comments Editor
- Order of the Coif
- Graduation Student Commencement Speaker
- Ralph R. Bailey Academic Scholarship Recipient
Organizations
- Broward County Trial Lawyers Association – Executive Board Member
- FISP – Florida Initiative For Suicide Prevention – Board Member
- Broward Bar Association
- Florida Justice Association
- Leadership Broward Class XXXI
- Leadership Fort Lauderdale
- Anti-Defamation Glass Leadership Institute
Publications
- “Florida’s Free Kill Law – Why It Has To Go” Daily Business Review, August 26, 2022
- “The Florida Supreme Court Curtails the Rights of Medicare Recipients” Daily Business Review, June 14, 2022
- “Greatest Lesson in 2021: Being in the Office Together, as One Group, is Crucial to Office Culture” Daily Business Review, December 21, 2021
- “Accountability a must to Lower Astounding Number of Construction Site Injuries, Deaths” Daily Business Review, March 20, 2020
- “2020 Outlook: How Technological Advances Are Changing the Legal Landscape” Daily Business Review, December 31, 2019
- “Transformer Semi-Trucks? The Increasing Interest in Self-Driven Vehicles” Daily Business Review, April 25, 2017
- “Trucking-safety Rules in Peril” The Miami Herald, June 23, 2014
- “Deadly Efficiency” Daily News New York, June 18, 2014
- Letter to the Editor, Chicago Tribune, June 17, 2014
- “Do Not Allow Motor Carrier Profits to Endanger Any More Lives” Sun Sentinel, June 16, 2014
- “Do Not Allow Motor Carrier Profits to Endanger Any More Lives” World News Network, June 16, 2014
- “Confidentiality Provisions Should be Read Closely” Daily Business Review, March 7, 2014
- “The Standard Corporate Defense: Blame the Victim” Daily Business Review, October 28, 2014
Article References
- “These Attorneys Want You to Be Aware of a Tactic Insurers May Use to Reduce Medical Evidence” Daily Business Review, June 16, 2022
- “Broward Jury Returns $35 Million Verdict for Paralyzed Navy Veteran: I’m Living a Terrible Nightmare” Daily Business Review, July 20, 2021
- “Port St. Lucie man awarded $35 million following Broward County crash that left him paralyzed” TC Palm, July 15, 2021
- “‘More and More Disgruntled’: Lawyers Seek to Manage Client Expectations Amid Pandemic” Daily Business Review, March 26, 2021
- “Personal Injury: A Worker’s Disabling Fall Ends Up in Litigation for Seven Years” Daily Business Review, December 7, 2020
- “Wife of Ex-Panthers Star Luongo Sued in Pedestrian’s Personal Injury Case” Daily Business Review, January 30, 2020
- “A Lawsuit Involving a Florida Hockey Star and Injuries – But It’s Not What You Think” Daily Business Review, January 28, 2020
- “Pressure Cooker Explosion That Severely Burned Toddler nets $27 Million Settlement” Daily Business Review, December 10, 2018
- “Broward Lawyers Negotiate $27 Million for Toddler Burned in Pressure Cooker Explosion” Daily Business Review, November 20, 2018
- “Ford Agrees to Settle Over Explorer Exhaust Leaks” Daily Business Review, April 12, 2016
Presentations/Lectures
- “Highway to Punitive Damages,” Florida Justice Association, 2021
- “Your Case is Over Once the Jury is Sworn,” Broward County Trial Lawyers Association, 2021
- “The Anatomy of a Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Case: Hidden Dangers and ‘Death Traps’,” Florida Justice Association, Workhorse, 2016
- “Litigating Sports Related Head Injuries: From the Will Smith Movie ‘Concussion’ to the One Billion Dollar Settlement,” Broward County Bar Association, 2017
- “Closing Argument,” Masters of Trial, Broward County Bar Association, 2017
- “Zoom for Lawyers,” Broward County Bar Association, 2020
- “Understanding Referral Fees: Ethical Considerations,” Cuban American Bar Association, 2016
- “Seven Apps to Help You Work More Efficiently,” Florida Justice Association, Webinar, 2017
- “Understanding Referral Fees: Ethical Considerations,” Broward County Bar Association, 2015
