Geoff Michael is a member of the Product Liability Litigation group, which recently received a Band 1 ranking from Chambers USA (2023). He represents clients in complex civil litigation, including product liability litigation, mass tort litigation, and federal multidistrict litigation. The Legal 500 commented that clients view him as having a "brilliant legal mind" but also being "very practical."
Geoff has been trial counsel in multiple high-stakes jury trials and numerous bench trials, and counsel responsible for appellate issues preservation, motions practice, and legal strategy at dozens of multi-week jury trials. He has briefed and argued dozens of appeals in state and federal court, often obtaining reversals of millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages awards. Geoff also has extensive experience in managing the defense of mass tort litigation; contesting personal jurisdiction; litigating over stays of judgments pending appellate review; opposing burdensome requests for depositions of company officers and representatives; and litigating the propriety and amount of requests for attorneys' fees and costs.
Geoff graduated from Yale Law School, where he was an Editor for the Yale Law Journal. He clerked for the Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr., on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and for Justice Alito during the 2007 Term of the United States Supreme Court.
Experience
- Philip Morris USA Inc. in successful appeal obtaining reversal of $25 million in compensatory and punitive damages in a wrongful death action. Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Duignan, --- So. 3d ---, 2023 WL 3260144 (Fla. 2d DCA 2023).
- The Conservancy of Southwest Florida in successful appeal obtaining reversal of a grant of summary judgment. Conservancy of Sw. Florida Inc. v. Collier Cnty., 352 So. 3d 481 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022).
- Philip Morris USA Inc. in successful appeal obtaining reversal of $12.7 million in compensatory and punitive damages in a personal injury action. Brown v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 38 F.4th 1313 (11th Cir. 2022).
- Philip Morris USA Inc. in successful appeal obtaining reversal of $550,000 in sanctions. Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Cohen, 340 So. 3d 498 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022).
- Philip Morris USA Inc. in successful appeal obtaining reversal of $5.3 million award of attorneys’ fees and costs. Philip Morris USA, Inc. v. Naugle, 337 So. 3d 13 (Fla. 4th DCA 2022).
- Philip Morris USA Inc. in successful appeal defending disqualification of opposing counsel. Canta v. Philip Morris USA Inc., 245 So. 3d 813 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017).
- Atlantic Richfield Co. in successful appeal defending summary judgment in its favor in a case brought by individuals under Price-Anderson Act (PAA) and Atomic Energy Act (AEA), seeking to recover damages resulting from radiation exposure. McMunn v. Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc., 869 F.3d 246 (3d Cir. 2017).
- Philip Morris USA Inc. in successful appeal defending summary judgment in a FOIA action. Rozema v. United States Dep't of Health & Human Services, 682 Fed. Appx. 72 (2d Cir. 2017).
- Philip Morris USA Inc. in successful appeal defending dismissal of over 500 cases brought as personal injury actions after the smoker had passed away. In re Engle Cases, 767 F.3d 1082 (11th Cir. 2014).
Recognition
Credentials
Education
- J.D., Yale Law School, 2000
- B.A., Wake Forest University, 1997, summa cum laude, with Honors in Politics
Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- New York
Clerkships
- Supreme Court of the United States, The Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, The Honorable Samuel A. Alito, Jr.