Mike represents individuals who have been the victims of a personal injury, a car or tractor-trailer crash, the wrongful death of a loved one or medical malpractice.
Mike was born and raised in the Kansas City area and graduated from Bishop Miege High School in 1988. He then moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts to attend college at Harvard University, where he was also the starting left guard for the varsity football team. After graduating from Harvard in 1992, Mike worked for three years before returning to law school at the University of Kansas.
At KU, Mike wrote for the University of Kansas Law Review. He was also the teaching assistant for former KU Dean Stephen McAllister. Mike graduated from KU in 1998 as one of the top five students in his class. It was at KU that Mike met his current law partner Rachel Smith.
After law school, Mike worked for some of the largest firms in Kansas City, where he spent several years defending cases involving car wrecks, tractor-trailer crashes, medical malpractice and nursing home neglect. He was also very involved in insurance coverage litigation to determine the scope of an insurance company’s obligations under its insurance policies. This experience gave Mike an insight into the tactics insurance companies use to defend, delay and deny serious personal injury cases.
In 2002, Mike joined The Sly James Firm, where he stopped defending insurance companies and limited his practice to representing injured individuals. Mike practiced with Sly James until 2011, and was ultimately made a partner at the firm.
At the Sly James Firm, Mike represented real people injured in car wrecks, semi truck crashes, electrical shock incidents, and by medical malpractice and nursing home negligence. Mike was able to help his clients obtain a number of six and seven figure verdicts and settlements.
After Sly James became the Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri in 2011, Mike chose to leave the Sly James Firm to become a partner at Smith Coonrod Mohlman, LLC. Mike will continue to represent people injured in automobile collisions, tractor-trailer wrecks and other personal injury cases.
Mike has repeatedly been named a Missouri and Kansas “Super Lawyer” – an honor limited to only 5% of the lawyers in a given jurisdiction. He has also been named to the Kansas City Business Journal’s “Best of the Bar” list, which recognizes outstanding lawyers throughout the Kansas City area as chosen by their peers. Mike was also invited to join The National Trial Lawyers: Top 40 under 40 – an invitation extended only to attorneys who exemplify superior qualifications, trial results and leadership as young trial lawyers. Mike is frequently requested to speak to other attorneys on topics regarding litigation strategy and trial tactics. He has also been asked to get involved in cases all over the United States, and he has tried a number of cases in both state and federal courts throughout the country.
In addition to his legal practice, Mike is very involved in community service. He is currently Chair of the Board of Directors for Mental Health America of the Heartland (MHAH). MHAH is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons with mental illness, through advocacy, education and support. Mike is the former president of Missouri Watch, a consumer rights organization dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals from wealthy special-interest lobbies. He is also the former chair of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s Nursing Home Negligence Committee.
Outside of work, Mike tries to spend as much time as he can with his wife Jodie and his children: Samantha, Zachary and Elise.