Michael Alder’s entry into plaintiff’s work wasn’t planned at all — it started in a tiny 700-person Louisiana town with preacher-teacher parents, took a surprising turn on a fraternity lawn, and ultimately led to a clerkship with a Mississippi Supreme Court justice who changed everything by sharing war stories after hours. That exposure to real trial practice, plus a single job offer from legendary med-mal lawyer Dave Harney in Los Angeles, set him firmly on the plaintiffs’ side.

Michael talks openly about getting fired, firms collapsing, and starting his own practice out of his house with one case while his then-wife’s entertainment law income kept them afloat. There was no “burning bush” moment — just necessity, training, and a willingness to try “anything that moved,” which led to eight, nine, ten-plus trials a year and a reputation built on reps, not branding.

“I’ve always felt like we all can rise together. I’m very much a true believer in giving unconditionally without asking anything back. It’s good life. It’s good karma. It’s good business. It’s just good.”

That philosophy underlies everything from his relationships with referring lawyers to his and his wife Gina’s heavy community work — from pro bono services for the Latino community to COVID food relief and rapid-response aid during the 2025 Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires.

He’s equally blunt about the damage done by mill and billboard firms that oversell injuries, pad demands with diagnoses they don’t understand, and leave clients with pennies on the dollar. That behavior, he says, feeds the dark defense narratives that portray plaintiffs, lawyers, and doctors as crooks — a tactic he faced head-on in a recent Santa Barbara trial where the defense opened by attacking “astronomical” asks.  

For his "Closing Argument," Alder speaks directly to lawyers and staff about perspective. He urges firms to see frequent calls as signals of fear, not annoyance; to stop calling cases “dogs”; and to remember that “Obstacles are not in the way. Your ability to solve and get through those obstacles is the way to help the person who has relied on you to help them.”

Key Takeaways

- Building a successful plaintiff practice often comes from necessity, repetition, and saying yes to trial opportunities rather than from a perfect, pre-planned career path.

- Genuine generosity — handwritten notes, remembering personal details, showing up for community — can be a more powerful business driver than any billboard or ad campaign.

- Reframing “difficult” clients and cases through empathy and fiduciary duty turns frustration into purpose and leads to better outcomes for both clients and lawyers.

- Treating obstacles in a case as the actual work — not as an excuse to give up — is central to honoring the trust injured people place in their legal team.

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