Michael D. Huber is a founding member and managing partner with extensive trial experience in state and federal courts throughout the country. He has been awarded the highest possible Martindale-Hubbell distinction by both peers and the Judiciary (AV Preeminent). Mr. Huber has over 35 years of experience in the prevention, supervision, preparation and trial of complex tort and commercial litigation throughout the United States, concentrating in catastrophic loss cases. Mr. Huber received his juris doctorate with honors from the Indiana University School of Law. He has consistently been selected as an Illinois Leading Lawyer in both Product Liability and Medical Malpractice Defense, and as an Illinois Super Lawyer by Law & Politics Magazine in Defense Litigation. He is a Charter Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America, and the American Academy of Trial Counsel. Mr. Huber is a frequent presenter and writer for various medical groups, the Defense Research Institute, the Trucking Industry Defense Association and the International Association of Defense Counsel, having served as a faculty member for the IADC Trial Academy. His presentations at legal and business conferences span a wide array of topics including complex commercial, professional, medical, transportation, construction and products liability defense, jury trial innovations, limiting damages and preventative law techniques. Mr. Huber also serves in the capacity of private mediator and arbitrator in a wide variety of actions and as an expert witness in bad-faith and professional liability matters.
Admissions
- Illinois
- Indiana
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court Western District of Wisconsin
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Indiana
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Indiana
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, Trial Bar
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Illinois
- United States Supreme Court
Education
- Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, IN, J.D.
Honors: Cum Laude
Honors: Member, National Moot Court Team - Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN, B.A.
Honors: Cum Laude
Major: History
Papers and Published Works
- Different Roads to Deep Pockets Preventing Alternative Routes of Liability Against 3PLS, with Zachary Shook, TIDA, Spring 2015 – Click to read.
- Show Me the Contract: The Nonsensical Need for Contractual Privity on a Construction Site to Obtain Additional Insured Status, with Zachary Shook, DRI The Critical Path, Winter Issue 2014 – Click to read
- “Unlike,” “Delete Post,” “Delete Photo” and “Delete Comment:” The New Buzzwords in Twenty-First Century Spoliation, and Their Impact on the Trucking Industry, with Eryk J. Wachnik, TIDA, 2013-Click to read.
- Big Brother Riding Shotgun: Future Fourth Amendment Challenges to the FMCSA’s Looming EOBR Requirement, with Zachary Shook, TIDA, 2013 – Click to read »
- A Game of Chicken: Insurers Facing Exposure Under the MCS-90, Co-author with Antonio J. Fricano, DRI In Transit, Volume 15, Issue 1 (April 2012). – Click to read »
- STAMP Guarantees – Do They Really Guarantee Anything: An Argument for Enforcement Provisions, November 2001. – Click to read »
- Addressing the Emergent Reinsurance Claims Challenge: Proactive Loss Exposure Analysis and Response, with James Horstman, September 2001. – Click to read »
- From Explosion to Verdict: Controlling Damages in Propane Explosions and Severe Burn Injury Cases, with Stephen Heil, September 2001.
- Contractors Beware! Revised OSHA Rules Offer No Safety for Defendants, with Stephen Heil, August 2001. – Click to read »
- Reviewing the Game Films: Mistakes to Avoid in the Preparation of the Damages Case from Claim Inception to Closing Argument, Co-authored with Lori E. Iwan. Defense Research Institute, Slam Dunk Defensive Skills to Minimize Damages from Claims through Appeal, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2001. – Click to read »
- Expect the Expected: Managing the Jury’s Expectations in Product Liability Cases, Co-authored with Lori E. Iwan, For The Defense, April 2001. – Click to read »
- COURTROOM 2000 – Mastering the Medium of the Millennium, For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, April, 2000. – Click to read »
- The Sins of the Fathers: Offensive Collateral Estoppel Revisited (Co-Author), For The Defense, Defense Research Institute, October, 1999.
- Another Settlement Caution:Stickler v. Am. Augers, Inc. – Click to read »
- Real Estate Agents & Brokers Liability in Illinois – Click to read »
Representative Cases
- Lembcke v. Guynn
- Custer v. Sullivan
- Hallowell v. Thilenius
- Quinonez v. Barajas
- Rangel v. Brookhaven
- Chapa v. Adams
- Vesa v. Grimaldi
- Goff v. Coach Travel
- Stallings v. Black & Decker
- Timmerman v. Golden Eagle Ferry
- Orthopedic Bone Screw Litigation
Classes/Seminars Taught
- Speaker at Rush University Medical Center Anesthesia Department CME Seminar, Risk Management, “Out of Bounds,” Chicago, Illinois, November 19, 2019.
- Speaker at Rush University Anesthesiology Department Risk Management CME Seminar on “Sound Medicine: The Impact of Communication in Healthcare,” November 14, 2018.
- Speaker at Rush University Medical Center Anesthesia Department CME Seminar, Chicago, Illinois, October 27, 2016.
- Speaker at Rush University Medical Center Anesthesia Department CME Seminar, Chicago, Illinois, October 29, 2015.
- Faculty member/speaker at William Scholl College/Rosalind Franklin University Seminar, “Podiatric Malpractice – Revisited III,” Lake Forest, Illinois, October 19, 2015.
- Speaker at the FDCC/IADC Joint Law Firm Management Conference in Chicago on “Demystifying the Billing Audit Bogeyman,” May 14, 2015.
- Faculty member/speaker on “Podiatric Malpractice – a Review” at the Annual Meeting of the Illinois Podiatric Medical Association in Lincolnshire, Illinois, October 10, 2015.
- Faculty member/speaker at William Scholl College/Rosalind Franklin University Seminar, “Podiatric Malpractice – Revisited II,” Lake Forest, Illinois, November 3, 2014.
- Faculty member/speaker at the Illinois Podiatric Medical Association Annual Meeting to the Illinois Society of Podiatric Medical Assistants, “Professionalism in the Age of Social Media,” October 17, 2014.
- Speaker at Rush University Medical Center Anesthesia Department CME Seminar, “Technically Speaking…When Medicine & Technology Collide,” Chicago, Illinois, September 10, 2014.
- Faculty member/speaker at the Illinois Podiatric Medical Association Annual Meeting to the Illinois Society of Podiatric Medical Assistants, “To Malpractice or to not Malpractice, that is the Question,” September 14, 2012.
- Faculty member/speaker at St. Joseph’s Hospital CME Seminar, “Avoiding Podiatric Malpractice,” Chicago, Illinois, February 16, 2011.
- Faculty member/speaker at St. Joseph’s Hospital and St. Anthony Hospital Combined CME Seminar, “To Practice or to Malpractice? That is the Question. Avoiding Podiatric Malpractice,” Chicago, Illinois, October 6, 2010.
- Panelist/speaker at Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Risk Management CLE Seminar, Illinois Update, “Preventing Legal Malpractice Claims & Ethics Complaints in Your Law Practice,” Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 27, 2009.
- Panelist, Masters Forum Mock Trial, International Association of Defense Counsel Annual Meeting, July 3-8, 2004, The Homestead, West Virginia
- Panelist/speaker at Trucking Industry Defense Association’s inaugural seminar on Defending Cases in Bad Venues (Judicial and Jury Hell Holes), Houston, Texas, January 2004.
- International Association of Defense Counsel, Trial Academy Faculty, 2003.
- COURTROOM 2001 – Courtroom Technology for the 21st Century, Defense Research Institute, 2000 Products Liability Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, January, 2000.
- COURTROOM 2000 – Mastering the Medium of the Millennium, Defense Research Institute, Mid-Year Meeting, Chicago, IL, September, 1999.
- Real Estate Broker’s Liability in Illinois, Willis Corroon Claims Seminar, Nashville, TN.
- Insurance Coverage Issues in Broker’s Liability Cases, Willis Corroon Claims Seminar, Nashville, TN.
- Defending Commercial Bus Overturn Accidents, Lancer Insurance Claims, Cleveland, OH, 1998.
- Defending First Party Fraud and Arson Claims, Allstate Insurance Company, Special Claims Unit Seminar, Indianapolis, IN, 1997.
Professional Associations
- Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
- Indiana Society of Chicago
- American Trucking Associations “ATA”
- American Academy of Trial Counsel “AATC”
- Transportation Lawyers Association “TLA”
- National Association for General Contractors & Home Builders, Inc.
- International Association of Defense Counsel “IADC”
- Indiana State Bar Association
- Defense Research Institute “DRI”
- Trucking Industry Defense Association “TIDA”
- Leading Lawyer Network
- Member, Trial Law Institute
- Member, Diversity Law Institute
Honors and Awards
- A.M. Best Company’s Directory of Recommended Insurance Attorneys
- Martindale-Hubbell Peer and Judiciary Review Preeminent Rating (Highest Rating)
- Named a “Top Lawyer” by the Leading Lawyers Network in Professional Malpractice
- Recognized as a 2020 Top Rated Lawyer by Corporate Counsel and The American Lawyer magazines
- Selected by Law & Politics (Chicago magazine and Illinois Super Lawyers magazine) as an Illinois “Super Lawyer” in Civil Defense Litigation
- Selected by American Lawyer Media and Martindale Hubbell as a “Top Rated Lawyer” in Technology Law
- Selected by American Lawyer Media and Martindale Hubbell as a “Top Rated Lawyer” in Litigation
- Selected by America’s Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators as an exceptional Civil Defense Litigator
- Senior Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America “LCA”