Written by: HAYLEY R. GOODMAN
Michael A. Haggard, J.D. ’95, always knew that he wanted to be a trial lawyer. The managing partner of The Haggard Law Firm in Coral Gables, Haggard is a leading plaintiff’s personal injury attorney in Florida and nationally. For the past 15 years, he has focused his practice on negligent security cases, drowning cases, and working with crime victims.
Even though Haggard and the rest of the graduating class of 1995 had to start their first year of law school six weeks late due to Hurricane Andrew, he had a wonderful experience in law school and was able to sharpen his trial and oral advocacy skills through his participation in Moot Court and Mock Trial. Trial law had always been on his radar, given that his father is also a top plaintiff’s attorney. At Miami Law, Haggard got his first real taste of trial advocacy as a Certified Legal Intern at the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office through Miami Law’s externship program. Haggard recalls the incredible experience that he had as a 3L trying cases with the Office and learning to think on his feet. He stated that a supervisor came into the office on his first day and asked, “Who wants to go to trial today?” Haggard volunteered, and he picked his first jury that day. Following his CLI experience, Haggard began his career as an attorney with the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office, where he served as an Assistant Public Defender for two years and tried 25 cases.
After working for the Public Defender, Haggard worked for a small personal injury firm before he joined The Haggard Law Firm. Early on in his career, he gained national recognition when he secured two verdicts over $100 million. These cases concerned horrific pool accidents in which children suffered permanent brain damage. The verdicts that the jury issued in these cases were some of the highest ever in Florida, with one of them breaking a record at the time it was issued. A couple of years later, he received another verdict worth over $100 million for a negligent security case.
The verdicts that Haggard and his firm receive for their clients are life-changing, compensating them for the medical expenses, lost wages, and their pain and suffering. However, working on behalf of victims is about more than just money–often it can be about “life and death.” Haggard recounted a young Tunisian cruise ship worker that he represented. This young man was shot, and his injuries affected his spinal cord, rendering him a quadriplegic. After he was injured, he was forced to return to Tunisia, where he received wholly inadequate medical care. Haggard stated, “If we won, he would be able to come back and be saved. His tracheal tube had not been changed in 4 years and was tied together by fishing wire.” Haggard and his team won, after which his client was immediately transported via air ambulance to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery and received the care that he desperately needed.
Furthermore, Haggard’s work for individual plaintiffs has led him to pursue legislative reform on state and national levels. Haggard has represented three of the Parkland families who lost loved ones in the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He and the families have traveled to New York, Washington D.C., and Tallahassee to lobby for gun reform. Additionally, he represented the family of Virginia Graeme Baker. In this case, 7-year-old Graeme drowned in a hot tub when she got entrapped by the drain’s suction. Following her death, the victim’s family successfully lobbied the United States Congress to pass a law (now known as the Virginia Graeme Baker Act) that requires pool and hot tub manufacturers to require anti-entrapment measures.
Of course, representing victims and trial law in general is a lot of pressure and hard work. Sometimes filing a civil lawsuit is the only form of justice that the victims and their families can achieve. At times, the State Attorney’s Office is unable to prove its criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt against the perpetrator of an incident, resulting in a not guilty verdict. Then it is up to Haggard to help victims get justice in the civil case. Other times, Haggard’s work on the civil side actually helps the prosecutors and police with their investigations and can help them to identify an assailant.
Despite the pressures of his job, Haggard loves his career and the work that he does. His advice for law students is to learn from experienced practitioners, particularly through online and in-person seminars that are hosted by various attorneys and firms about different aspects of the profession. For future litigators, he stresses how important it is to get to know all of the parties in the courtroom including the judges, bailiffs, court reporters, and opposing counsel, as those will be the people you see day in and out during trial and throughout your practice. Finally, Haggard states that “your career should be something that you love…if you love it, it’s not work but a calling.”
To read more about Michael A. Haggard and his firm click here.
