Michael A. Akselrud

Michael proudly fights for clients who have been harmed by corporate negligence and other wrongful conduct. In this capacity, he has worked on various federal and state court mass tort litigations.
K.G.M. v. Meta & YouTube

Currently, Michael is part of the Lanier Law Firm’s social media addiction lawsuit legal and trial team. Michael leads the committee for the bellwether trial discovery pools and was responsible for securing key witnesses at trial. Acting as what he calls a “utility player,” Michael contributed across multiple facets of the litigation, including managing pre-trial discovery disputes on behalf of all bellwether plaintiffs, pre-trial work up of specific bellwether trial cases, and various trial roles from jury selection and strategy to preparing witnesses for testimony.
Ingham v. Johnson & Johnson

Michael was an integral part of The Lanier Law Firm trial team that achieved a groundbreaking verdict in which a jury awarded $4.69 billion to 22 women and their families who alleged that decades of daily use of Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE: JNJ) asbestos-laden talcum powder products caused their ovarian cancer. Michael now oversees all case management for talcum powder-related claims, from the initial stages of case workup through final resolution.
Michael led witness preparation and case development for bellwether candidates within coordinated multidistrict discovery pools, including identifying and retaining expert witnesses and building out the specific causation theory for cases in various litigations, including in MDL No. 2855, 3M Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2326, In Re: Boston Scientific Corp. Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation and MDL No. 2327, In Re: Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation. Michael’s work helped build a strong record that supported the litigation team’s strategy across all cases.
Michael was part of the document review team for MDL No. 2299, In Re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, combing through records to flag key evidence and issues affecting the case — work that contributed to the firm’s landmark $9 billion punitive damages verdict against Takeda Pharmaceutical and Eli Lilly, secured by Mark Lanier in April 2014.
Michael also supported case management and settlement work on two major medical device mass torts: MDL No. 2244, In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, and MDL No. 2197, In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation.