Michael J. Cawley is a Partner in the Philadelphia office.  His practice focuses on the litigation and trial of complex professional liability, including legal malpractice issues, insurance coverage/reinsurance, bad faith, product liability and employment matters.

Michael's career is noteworthy for several specific cases.  He tried to verdict the first SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) lawsuit in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  The SLAPP suit involved charges that the client, a landfill operator and its successor company, Waste Management, wrongfully used civil proceedings against a citizens' group in an effort to intimidate the group's members and deter them from exercising their First Amendment Right to protest the expansion of the landfill.  After a seven-week trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants.

Michael served as trial counsel for the insurer in the Kvaerner Metals Div. (US) v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. et al. litigation in which the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania reversed a Superior Court opinion and reinstated the award of summary judgment to National Union.  The ruling is significant since it reaffirmed the long standing principle in Pennsylvania that the duty to defend under a general liability policy is determined by reviewing the complaint against the policy and holding that damage to the insured's work product does not constitute third-party property damage.

He has handled consumer credit matters for lenders, including issues arising under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.  He has also addressed other compliance issues dealing with federal and state laws governing consumer credit.

A featured lecturer with the continuing education series sponsored by the Insurance Society of Philadelphia, Michael has written articles on various topics including insurance broker liability; the tripartite relationship between insurer, insured and defense counsel; and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  He was a speaker at the 2004 Mealey's Reinsurance Summit in Boston and Mealey's Advanced Insurance Coverage-Top 10 Issues seminar in January 2007.

Michael was elected to membership in the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) in 2005.  He received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell in 2001.