William H. Michelson, Esq. practices in many fields of civil litigation and business representation, but specializes in legal and medical malpractice litigation. He also handles construction litigation, insurance law, real estate law and planning & zoning. But he also enjoys doing such work as wills, contracts and counseling in many kinds of legal matters. He primarily represents plaintiffs, but the practice is not limited to that, and he also has extensive experience defending those same kinds of cases.
Mr. Michelson is a Certified Civil Trial Attorney who has handled almost 100 civil jury trials and several dozen appeals. Only 2% of the lawyers in New Jersey have received this title, an honor bestowed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey to those who demonstrate superior ability and extensive experience in civil trial practice.
His office is located in an obscure but pleasant New Jersey suburb called Fanwood, which is in Union County; the county seat is Elizabeth. Fanwood is next to the much larger city of Plainfield, where Mr. Michelson lives and is heavily involved in public life. He serves on the Planning Board there and is a City/County Republican Committeeman, as well as being Vice-Chairman of Netherwood Heights Historic District and a longtime active member of several other civic organizations.
The firm regularly handles litigation in several counties of Northern and Central New Jersey, and occasionally also in United States District Court. It also frequently handles cases in the Appellate Division and Supreme Court of New Jersey.
Since Mr. Michelson practices primarily in the field of professional negligence, he also serves as an expert witness in legal malpractice and ethics cases handled by other attorneys, and represents both attorneys and other licensed professionals in ethical and disciplinary proceedings.
Mediation and arbitration have become increasingly popular, as an alternative to traditional litigation, since they tend to produce much faster and cheaper justice for people on both sides of disputes. Mr. Michelson has extensive experience in these fields as well.
The firm's philosophy is to provide responsive, personal service to clients while always telling them what they need to know, not necessarily what they want to hear. Many law firms, in their quest for business, tend to give their clients unrealistic expectations of what they can achieve. While it is never possible in the practice of law to predict events with certainty, Mr. Michelson believes that the happiest clients are those who have been told the truth, and have been kept informed of what was happening with their cases.