Member Profile: Michael E. Upchurch

	Michael E. Upchurch Frazer Greene Upchurch & Baker 104 Saint Francis Street Suite 800 Mobile, AL 36602 Tel: (251) 431-6020 Fax: (251) 431-6030 Website: www.frazergreene.com	View Printable Resume GoogleMaps for this Location View Available Dates Calendar

ADR Services Include:

Mediation; Arbitration; Special Master

ADA Disability Admiralty Anti-Trust Appellate Automotive Civil Rights Class Actions Commercial/Business Community Associations Condominiums Construction Consumer Fraud Contract Disputes Debt/Foreclosure EEOC Employment Engineering Environmental Family Businesses

Franchise Health Care Industrial Insurance Intellectual Property Labor/Unions Landlord/Tenant Legal Malpractice Lemon Law Local Government Media & Communications Medical Malpractice Mergers & Acquisitions Natural Disasters Non-profit Organizations Nursing Homes Partnerships Personal Injury Pharmaceuticals

Police Premises Liability Product Liability Professional Liability Professional Malpractice Professional Negligence Real Estate Securities Shareholder Disputes Software Technology Title Disputes Torts Transportation Trusts / Estates Utilities Workers' Compensation Wrongful Death

BIOGRAPHICAL:

     Mr. Upchurch is a certified mediator and since 1995 has mediated approximately 1000 disputes of all types, in state court, federal court, administrative proceedings and prior to litigation.  Mr. Upchurch  also is a certified and experienced arbitrator, including for the American Arbitration Association.  Mr. Upchurch also mediates cases on appeal for the Alabama Supreme Court, and remains up to date with respect to appellate decisions and precedent. 

      Mr. Upchurch's mediation experience includes resolving disputes and litigation involving, and between, governmental agencies and departments such as ADEM, the Alabama Attorney General,  and the United States Department of Justice.      

     Mr. Upchurch's mediation approach is to be aggressive and relentless in moving the parties toward compromise. Mr. Upchurch has an interventional style, and emphasizes efficient, paced negotiations and exchanges of offers. 

     Mr. Upchurch maintains an active trial practice in addition to his mediations.  This enables Mr. Upchurch to provide insight to the parties and counsel regarding jury pools, judges, recent verdicts and evidentiary rulings and practices, and to better understand the pressures, challenges and potential hazards faced by the parties to the disputes he mediates and the lawyers representing them.   

     Mr. Upchurch has been trying lawsuits, primarily for defendants, since 1983. He has tried many cases of every type to jury verdict in state and federal court, including product liability, professional liability, employment, commercial, white collar criminal, environmental, medical negligence, personal injury, maritime and breach of contract. Mr. Upchurch has successfully represented clients in many high-exposure lawsuits, including in toxic tort cases, an admiralty case with a claim exceeding $200 million, and many cases involving catastrophic injury, including quadriplegia, brain damage, and amputation.  

EDUCATION:

• University of Virginia, J.D., 1983
• James Madison University, B.A., 1980, Summa Cum Laude.
• Officer, United States Army National Guard (Artillery) (1980-1986) (Distinguished Military Graduate: 1980).

Memberships & Affiliations

     Mr. Upchurch is a former Vice-President and Director of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association, the original Co-Chair of the Mobile Bar Association Diversity Task Force, and a member of the Alabama Academy of Attorney Mediators, the Litigation Counsel of America, the International Association of Defense Counsel, American Inns of Court, the Defense Research Institute, the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, the International Society of Barristers,  and the Professional Liability Defense Federation. Mr. Upchurch is a regular faculty member and speaker at the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association Bibb Allen Trial Academy held each year in Birmingham, Alabama, and the current Vice-President of the Mobile Bar Association. Mr. Upchurch writes a regular column with advice for young lawyers in the Alabama Defense Lawyer s Association Journal. Mr. Upchurch also is a frequent speaker at seminars and meetings on a variety of topics associated with litigation, including mediation, arbitration, trial tactics and healthcare defense. Mr. Upchurch was a featured speaker at the Defense Research Institute "Diversity for Success" Seminars in Chicago in 2008 and 2009, and was a speaker at the Alabama Bar Association Annual Meeting in Summer, 2009, also on diversity. Mr. Upchurch was a speaker on "Trying the Unwinnable Case," Litigation Council of America, Renaissance Symposium II, WaterColor, Florida, in March 2011. Mr. Upchurch also is a regular speaker at healthcare provider meetings, and recently was the dinner speaker for the 2010 Congress of Clinical Rheumatology. .

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