Michael Lyons

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Michael Lyons is one of the founding partners of Lyons & Simmons and concentrates his practice on representing plaintiffs in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases as well as “bet the company” complex business disputes. Lyons has a national reputation for achieving outstanding results for his clients by displaying a mastery of the facts and law while utilizing creativity, tenacity, and cutting-edge technology.

Over the past 20+ years of practice, Lyons has tried cases to juries, judges, and arbitrators throughout the state of Texas and all over the country. In the process, Lyons has obtained verdicts, awards, and settlements totaling over a billion dollars on behalf of his clients—many involving high profile, high exposure matters.

Lyons has extensive trial experience in cases involving catastrophic personal injuries, wrongful death, and product liability. Lyons’ cases are as diverse and extensive as his approach to his cases. He has handled cases involving: brain and spinal cord injuries, electrocutions, aviation disasters involving helicopters and airplanes, trucking accidents, construction site accidents, industrial accidents, motor vehicle products liability, pharmaceutical, and medical device products liability, large business disputes involving breach of contract, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duties, medical malpractice, high profile contract disputes involving college football coaches and celebrities, and fire and explosion cases.

In 2023, Lyons was part of a trial team that secured an $860 Million jury verdict for the family of a victim killed when a tower crane collapsed and fell onto an apartment building in Dallas, Texas. The incident and the trial was a national news story. In 2022, Lyons was named to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in In Re: Astroworld Festival Litigation related to the tragic events involving the deaths of 10 people at the Astroworld Festival Concert in 2021. Lyons is among a handful of attorneys selected for the Plaintiffs’ leadership of this mass casualty litigation. In December of 2022, Lyons obtained a $10.1 million verdict in an emergency room delay case that was streamed live by Courthouse View Network. It was tabbed by CVN as one of the “Top 10 Most Impressive Plaintiff Verdicts of 2022.

Lyons has obtained exceptional results for clients in just the recent past:

• $860 Million – Wrongful Death, Construction Disaster
• $70 Million - Wrongful Death, Negligent Security/Operations
• $60 Million - Wrongful Death, Worksite Explosion
• $37.5 Million - Wrongful Death, Trucking Crash
• $33 Million – Wrongful Death, Fire / Explosion
• $25 Million - Oilfield Disaster
• $25 Million – Wrongful Death, Workplace Accident
• $15 Million – Wrongful Death, Aviation Disaster
• $14 Million – Wrongful Death, Aviation Disaster
• $10.5 Million - Workplace Injury, Electrical Shock
• $10.1 Million – Medical Malpractice, Hospital Emergency Room Delay
• $10 Million – Business Dispute, Breach of Fiduciary Duties
• $9 Million – Wrongful Death, Industrial Plant Accident
• $7 Million – Burn Injuries, Defective Cell Phone / Lithium Ion Battery failure
• $6 Million – Negligent Supervision, Motor Vehicle Fatality
• $6 Million – Wrongful Death, Negligent Entrustment
• $4 Million – Mild Brain Injury, Trucking Accident
• $4 Million – Sexual Assault, Negligent Hiring / Supervision
• $4 Million – Wrongful Death, Rig Fire
• $ 4 Million – Wrongful Death, Fire / Explosion
• $3.5 Million – Wrongful Death, Workplace Forklift Accident
• $2.5 Million – Breach of Contract, College Coach Contract Buyout
• $2 Million – Breach of Contract, Commercial Management Agreement

Lyons has earned the respect of his peers through the relentless pursuit of justice for his clients. In 2021, Lyons was honored by the Dallas Trial Lawyers’ Association with the John Howie Award, which is given annually for the “courageous pursuit of justice in the face of adversity”. Lyons was given the award, in part, for taking a very difficult liability case to trial in one of the most conservative venues in Texas that involved the deaths of three African American children. The verdict is believed to be the largest in history for a wrongful death personal injury case in Midland County, Texas. Lyons has been recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the top lawyers in the country as a “Trailblazer” award recipient. He has regularly appeared on Thomson Reuters Texas Super Lawyers listing (2005, 2008-2023), including being selected among the Top 100 attorneys in Dallas/Fort Worth (2018-2023) and the Top 100 attorneys in the state of Texas (2021-2022). He was recognized on the 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America listing, an honor reserved for the top 500 attorneys in the country. He also has earned Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers (2020-2023) and Best Lawyers in America (2019-2023) recognition. He was honored as a “Best Lawyer in Dallas” by D Magazine in 2005, 2011, 2013, 2015-2017, and 2019-2023 and is one of only a select few attorneys to earn recognition for both personal injury and commercial litigation. Lyons has been recognized as a member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forums, was named a Lifetime Achievement member of America’s Top 100 Attorneys for Texas, and was named among America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators in North Texas for 2017-2022. He has attained an AV® Preeminent™ peer-review rating from Martindale-Hubbell consecutively for 15 years, signifying the highest level of professional excellence based upon peer-review evaluation from lawyers and judges who have observed his legal skill and ethical standards.

In addition to pursuing outstanding results on behalf of clients, Lyons has invested significant time in the service of his community as a leader within the Dallas Bar Association and as a leader in his community. In 2008 Lyons was recognized by Dallas CBS affiliate KTVT Channel 11 as a "Texan with Character" for his philanthropic work in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex with children who were victims of abuse or neglect. In 2010, he was elected as a Fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation, and in 2015, Lyons became a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

BAR ADMISSIONS

• Texas
• New Mexico
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas

EDUCATION

• South Texas College of Law
  • J.D. cum laude - 1999
  • Honors: Order of the Lytae
  • Law Review: Corporate Counsel Review, Assistant Editor
• The University of Texas at Austin
  • B.A. - 1995

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

• Obtained a $10.1 Million verdict against a hospital for emergency room delays that left the client a paraplegic. The verdict was recognized as one of the Top 10 Most Impressive Plaintiff’s Verdicts of 2022 according to Courthouse Viewing Network who live streamed the entire trial.
• Obtained a $5.9 Million verdict in one of the most conservative venues in the state of Texas representing the largest verdict in a personal injury case in Midland County history.
• Obtained the largest combined settlement in history for the state of Oklahoma for a wrongful death case involving an adult wrongful death decedent.
• Following a trial, obtained a $2.5MM judgment in representation of publicly traded company where physician group sued for $2.6MM+ over alleged breach of management agreement. All claims were dismissed by the physician group and a judgment was awarded for the defendant company plus attorneys’ fees.
• Obtained a successful settlement in complex business tort case involving $500 million in alleged damages involving large aviation manufacturer and claims of breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy.
• Representation of hundreds of investors in complex securities action involving oil and gas investor scam resulting in $21.5MM disgorgement order obtained by the Securities and Exchange Commission against the perpetrators and the investor clients receiving a collective 60% interest in the oil and gas company after the perpetrators were removed through successful appointment of a Ch.11 Trustee.
• Co-lead counsel where multi-million-dollar plaintiffs’ verdict was obtained following several week trial involving catastrophic, disfigurement causing electric shock injuries in premises liability case.
• Obtained a $2MM judgment against large, international insurance company stemming from improper denial of UIM claim involving wrongful death victim.
• Lead Plaintiffs’ counsel in a multi-party commercial construction defect case involving large national general contractor, and complex engineering and design defect allegations. Resulted in a high-value settlement and one of the “Largest Texas Settlements” reported by Verdict Search in 2013.
• Representation of brain injury victim stemming from intoxicated and distracted driver of a commercial truck. Multi-million-dollar settlement obtained.
• Representation of the family of wrongful death victim involving negligent entrustment, hiring, retention and training. Multi-million-dollar settlement obtained.
• Tried multiple pharmaceutical product liability lawsuits to verdict involving claims for design and marketing defects in venues in Texas and throughout the United States.
• Following trial, obtained a substantial judgment for plaintiff surety in complex construction lien dispute between two national construction bond insurers.

PUBLISHED WORKS

• Michael P. Lyons, Robert Hirschhorn & Michael S. Fechner, Jr., Trying Cases in Today’s Cultural Landscape, Advanced Civil Trial CLE, Texas State Bar CLE (2022).
• Michael P. Lyons, Character Evidence, Subsequent Remedial Measures, and Offers of Settlement, How of Offer and Exclude Evidence, Univ. of Houston CLE Program (2008).
• Michael P. Lyons, Conduct, Character, and Remedial Measures—The Article IV Rules of Evidence”, Advanced Evidence and Discovery, Univ. of Houston CLE Program (2008).