Michael W. Calder

Mike, an attorney at Perry Calder, devotes his career to protecting and pursuing the rights of those injured in medical malpractice, wrongful death, catastrophic injury, motor vehicle collision and serious personal injury cases. In doing so, he has developed a reputation as a skilled advocate not only because he has achieved significant financial recoveries for many injured individuals, but also because he has delivered closure to emotionally frustrating chapters in his clients’ lives. Mike has tried many cases to verdict, including a medical malpractice case in a county that had not seen a verdict in favor of a patient in nearly a decade. In that case, Mike delivered his clients a $2,000,000 verdict against a physician and the hospital where he practiced. Mike also served as co-counsel in a medical malpractice arbitration that resulted in an award of nearly $6,000,000. In 2022, Mike obtained a $19,000,000 verdict following a jury trial in Westmoreland County, the largest verdict in the county’s 250-year history, and a $6,250,000 verdict that included a $5,000,000 punitive damages award in Allegheny County. In June of 2024, Mike tried a medical malpractice case to verdict in Fayette County and the jury returned a verdict of $9,500,000, the largest medical malpractice verdict in county history. These results are in addition to the great many other cases Mike favorably settled at various points along the way to trial.

Mike was a long-time member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County, where he served as a subcommittee chair on the Membership Committee. The Academy of Trial Lawyers is an invitation-only organization limited to 250 exceptional trial lawyers in Allegheny County. Additionally, each year between 2012 and 2022, Mike’s peers selected him for recognition as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Star – an honor bestowed upon less than 2.5 percent of eligible Pennsylvania attorneys. In 2023 and 2024, Mike was recognized as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer. Attorneys throughout Allegheny County recently elected Mike to serve a three-year term on the Judiciary Committee of the Allegheny County Bar Association, where he will be tasked with evaluating judicial candidates in upcoming elections.

As an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Duquesne University School of Law, Mike has lectured students on medical malpractice litigation. He has also lectured on medical malpractice/personal injury negotiation as well as trial technique and expert witness examination. Each year, Mike volunteers his time with a mock trial class at his alma mater, North Allegheny Senior High School. Mike has lectured on the subject of the Pennsylvania Peer Review Protection Act for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) program and he was asked to speak on the subject of medical malpractice arbitrations in a Pennsylvania Association for Justice CLE. From 2012 – 2017, Mike served on the Board of Governors of the Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association; an opportunity that allowed him to interact with lawyers from across Western Pennsylvania for the purpose of advancing the rights of those injured due to the negligence of others. A dedicated servant to his community as well, Mike served two consecutive terms as the Mayor of Export Borough from 2010 until 2018.

Mike lives in Franklin Park with his adopted senior rescue dog, Camper.

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