Michael Lyons has earned the reputation as one of the preeminent plaintiffs’ trial attorneys in the United States based upon his track record for incredible results. With over 26 years of experience, Lyons has represented victims of catastrophic personal injuries and wrongful death in complex cases from coast to coast. He is both relentless and tenacious in the representation of his clients but is also one of the most creative and innovative trial lawyers in the country—utilizing cutting-edge technology, both in the development and presentation of evidence to juries but also in the evaluation and assessment of his cases. Just since 2023, Lyons has amassed verdicts and settlements that exceed $1 billion.
In 2021, Lyons led a trial team of Lyons & Simmons attorneys against DanCar Energy Construction, LLC and obtained what is believed to be the largest wrongful death verdict in the history of Midland County—one of the most conservative venues in Texas or the country. In 2022, Lyons was lead counsel in what was dubbed, “One of the Most Impressive Plaintiffs’ Verdicts of 2022” by Courthouse Viewing Network when a Dallas County jury rendered an eight-figure verdict for the plaintiff against Texas Health Flower Mound Hospital in a hospital medical malpractice case that was streamed live around the country.
The case involved emergency room malpractice which carried the heightened standard of proof of “willful and wanton” negligence—an incredibly difficult burden to meet. It was the second largest medical malpractice verdict in Texas for 2022. In 2023, Lyons was part of a trial team that obtained an $860M verdict against the multifamily development company Greystar in Dallas County stemming from the collapse of a tower crane that hit an apartment complex, tragically killing a young woman. The verdict was the sixth largest in the entire country for 2023 and the second largest in Texas. In 2024, Lyons was co-counsel in a transportation related wrongful death case against Oncor Energy that claimed the life of a California man who was a professional truck driver. The $37.5M verdict was the largest motor vehicle verdict for Texas and in the top 20 overall in the state for 2024. In 2025, Lyons led a trial team of Lyons & Simmons lawyers to obtain a $109.5 million verdict in Bexar County, Texas against CPS Energy for a gas explosion that resulted in catastrophic injuries to his clients. The verdict is believed to be the largest negligence verdict in Bexar County history and one of the largest verdicts in Texas for 2025.
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 headlined by Travis Scott in November of 2021. Lyons was among a handful of attorneys selected for the Plaintiffs' leadership for this mass casualty litigation and was substantively involved day-to-day in the overall case development.
Lyons has obtained exceptional results for clients in just the recent past:
- $860 Million – Wrongful Death, Construction Disaster
- $109.5 Million – Burn Injury, Fire / Gas Explosion
- $70 Million - Wrongful Death, Negligent Security/Operations
- $67.5 Million – Burn injury, Fire / Explosion
- $60 Million - Wrongful Death, Worksite Explosion
- $37.5 Million - Wrongful Death, Trucking Crash
- $33 Million – Wrongful Death, Fire / Explosion
- $30 Million – Wrongful Death, Trucking Crash
- $25 Million - Oilfield Disaster
- $25 Million – Wrongful Death, Workplace Accident
- $15 Million – Wrongful Death, Aviation Disaster
- $14 Million – Wrongful Death, Aviation Disaster
- $12.5 Million – Wrongful Death, Trucking Crash
- $12.5 Million – Personal Injuries, Construction Accident
- $10.5 Million – Wrongful Death, Negligent Undertaking
- $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 based upon amassing incredible verdicts and large settlements for his clients. In 2021, the Dallas Trial Lawyers’ Association honored him with the John Howie Award which is given annually for the “courageous pursuit of justice in the face of adversity” for taking an extremely difficult liability case to trial in one of the most conservative venues in Texas involving the deaths of three African American children. Lyons’ work on behalf of plaintiffs has been recognized in multiple years by the National Law Journal as a national finalist for the Elite Trial Lawyer awards and was also recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top lawyers in the country. Lyons has regularly appeared on Thomson Reuters Texas Super Lawyers Listing (2005, 2008-2025) and has been named as one of the Top 100 Lawyers for Texas by that same publication for multiple years (2021, 2022, 2024, 2025) in addition to being selected among the top attorneys in Dallas/Fort Worth (2018-2025). He was recognized on the 2024 and 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America listing, an honor reserved for the top 500 attorneys in the country regardless of specialty. He has also earned Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers (2020-2025) and Best Lawyers in America (2019-2025) recognition in multiple practice areas. He was honored as a “Best Lawyer in Dallas” by D Magazine in 2005, 2011, 2013, 2015-2017, and 2019-2025 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 2017-2024. He has attained an AV® Preeminent™ peer-review rating from Martindale-Hubbell consecutively for over 17 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.

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 became a Fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation, and in 2015, Lyons became a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.
Lyons joined the Board of Directors for the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association in 2022. In 2025, Lyons became the Vice President of Finance for the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and presently serves in a leadership role on the Executive Committee of that organization.
Lyons also serves in a leadership role for The University of Texas at Austin, serving on the Advisory Committee for the Longhorn Foundation (2019-present) as well as for the College of Liberal Arts. Lyons serves as a member of the Deloss Dodds’ Leadership Committee for the Athletics Department (2019-present) and has served in a leadership role for both the UT System Chancellor and the President.
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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
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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
- South Texas College of Law
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REPRESENTATIVE CASES
- Obtained an $860M verdict as part of a trial team who represented the family of a victim killed by tower crane collapse in Dallas County, Texas.
- Obtained a $109.5M verdict of two victims severely injured by a gas line leak and home explosion in Bexar County, Texas.
- Obtained a $37.5M verdict as part of a trial team who represented family members of a man killed by an Oncor Energy truck driver when he slammed into his disabled vehicle on the shoulder of I-635 in Dallas County, Texas.
- 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.
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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).
- April 26, 2023 – Texas Lawbook – Work of Michael Lyons included in “Dallas Jury Awards $860M in Wrongful Death Case Involving Crane Collapse.”
- April 26, 2023 – NBC 5 – Attorney statement included in “Jury Awards More than $860 Million to Family of Woman Killed in 2019 Crane Collapse.”
- April 27, 2023 – Dallas Business Journal – Work of Michael Lyons included in “Dallas Jury Awards $860M in Wrongful Death Case Involving Crane Collapse.”
- April 27, 2023 – Telemundo – Work of Michael Lyons included in “En Dallas: Familia de una mujer que murió tras colapsar una grúa, gana demanda millonaria.” (“In Dallas: Family of a Woman Who Died After a Crane Collapse Wins a Million-Dollar Lawsuit.”
- Michael P. Lyons, Conduct, Character, and Remedial Measures—The Article IV Rules of Evidence”, Advanced Evidence and Discovery, Univ. of Houston CLE Program (2008).
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HONORS AND AWARDS
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2024-2025)
- Lawdragon Top 500 Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers (2020-2025)
- Lawdragon Top 500 Plaintiff Financial Lawyers (2021-2024)
- The Best Lawyers in America (2019-2026)
- John Howie Award, Dallas Trial Lawyers Association (2021)
- Best Lawyers in Dallas, D Magazine (2005, 2011, 2013, 2015-2017, and 2019-2025)
- National Law Journal “Trailblazer” award (2020-2021, 2023)
- Texas Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters (2013-2024)
- Texas Super Lawyers, Top 100 Dallas/Fort Worth (2018-2024)
- Texas Super Lawyers, Top 100 for State of Texas (2021-2022)
- Super Lawyers Rising Star, Texas (2005, 2008-2013)
- Best Lawyers Under 40, D Magazine (2005)
- Fellow, Dallas Bar Foundation
- Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
- Top 100 Lawyers in America, Lifetime Achievement Member
- Top 100 High Stakes Litigators in America for North Texas
- Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
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PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS & MEMBERSHIPS
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Executive Committee, VP of Finance, 2025
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, Board of Directors, 2021-2024
- State Bar of Texas, Member
- American Bar Association, Tort and Insurance Practice Section, Member
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
- American Association of Justice, Leadership Forum Member
- North American Brain Injury Society, Member
- America's Top 100 High Stakes Litigators®, Member
- Texas Exes, Dallas Chapter, Board of Directors, 2001 – 2007
- The Chancellor’s Council of The University of Texas System, Member
- Deloss Dodds’ Leadership Committee, Athletics Department, The University of Texas (2019- present)
- Advisory Committee, Longhorn Foundation, The University of Texas (2019- present)
- Campaign Ambassador Committee, “What Starts Here”, The University of Texas (2021-2022).
- College of the State Bar of Texas

Recent Recognitions

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