Michael A. Pope is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Firm’s Chicago office. He heads the Firm's International Product Liability Practice Group.
Michael was named the Leading Products Liability Lawyer in Illinois by Who’s Who Legal in 2005, and was recognized in the 2010 and 2011 editions of The Best Lawyers in America in bet-the-company litigation, commercial litigation and mass tort litigation. He is also ranked in the 2010 and 2011 editions of Chambers USA for being one of the leading lawyers in the field of litigation. He has a national practice in product liability and consumer fraud matters and has organized products liability prevention programs for many client companies. He has repeatedly been honored as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Illinois and as one of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators. He is currently representing Exxon Mobil in class action litigation in Illinois, and numerous Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in an ERISA class action in Chicago. He has recently represented McDonald’s in an MDL action involving the marketing of its French fries, as well as Coca-Cola and State Farm in various class actions in Illinois.
Michael has extensive experience in handling reinsurance disputes, in the interpretation of excess and umbrella liability insurance policies, and in professional liability and complex business litigation. He is also active in ADR and serves as a mediator and an arbitrator on major disputes involving these subjects.
Michael is past president of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, the official liaison between practicing lawyers and the federal judges in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. He is also a former chairman of the board of trustees of the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada. He heads the Defense Research Institute’s Task Force on Mass Torts, and is a past president of Lawyers for Civil Justice, a national coalition of corporations and trial lawyers interested in improvements in the civil justice system. In that role, he testified before the Federal Advisory Committee reviewing proposed rules changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure relating to electronic discovery.
Michael has served as president of the International Association of Defense Counsel, the oldest professional association of trial lawyers practicing in the defense of civil litigation. He is a fellow of three peer review professional organizations of trial attorneys: the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is also a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Federal Bar Association (Board of Directors, 2006-2008), and the American Law Institute.
Education
- Northwestern University School of Law, J.D. (cum laude), 1969
- Loyola University Chicago, B.S., 1966
