JULES OLSMAN:
 
JULES OLSMAN




 
 
 
 
 
President of Olsman, Mueller, Wallace & MacKenzie in Berkley. Olsman has 31 years of experience in all aspects of personal injury litigation, including medical malpractice, nursing home liability, police misconduct, product liability, workplace injury, and trucking and automobile accident cases in numerous states. Olsman and his firm were associated counsel in the Agent Orange litigation that involved toxic exposure of Vietnam veterans to the defoliant. He successfully represented the plaintiff in a 2004 Michigan Supreme Court case that helps protect the rights of nursing home residents and victims of medical negligence. Prior to attending law school, he taught high school English in the Detroit Public Schools. He has testified many times before the Michigan legislature on long-term care issues. Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed him to serve on her task force on elder abuse. He served 2001-06 on the board of governors of the American Association for Justice and was a founding member of the association’s nursing home litigation group. A past president of the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association, Olsman was also chair of the negligence section council of the State Bar of Michigan and a member of its civil procedure committee. He is a director of the Oakland County Bar Association and recently chaired its case evaluator selection committee. He is legislative counsel for and on the executive board of Citizens for Better Care, one of the oldest nursing home advocacy groups in the country. Olsman frequently lectures on nursing home and assisted living liability as well as other issues involving personal injury cases. He has authored numerous articles in publications such as Trial Magazine and Michigan Lawyers Weekly and has written and contributed to the Institute of Continuing Legal Education’s “Torts: Michigan Law and Practice.” He also edited “Liens in the Michigan Personal Injury Case” and has written extensively on Medicare and other health care liens and their impact on personal injury cases. He was named one of the Best Lawyers in America in 2007 and 2009 and Lawyer of the Year in 2002 by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Olsman has been ranked at the highest level of professional excellence by Martindale-Hubbell and as one of the top 100 lawyers in the Detroit area by dbusiness magazine in 2009. Elected to the Huntington Woods City Commission in 2009, Olsman received his bachelor’s degree in English from Wayne State University and juris doctorate from the Detroit College of Law.


WHERE BORN: “Detroit.”

MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS: “Overall, I had an uncle who was the dean of the school of business at Western, Arnold Schneider, who was an extremely important role model for me. I was a law clerk with Barry Baldman when I was in law school and learned a great deal from him. Also labor attorney John Lyons who I worked for while I was in law school.”

LAST BOOK READ: “The Politician by Andrew Young. It’s a book about Senator Edwards.”

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME: “Blunt, straight-forward, and hard-working.”

WHERE MY FIELD/INDUSTRY IS HEADED: “Personal injury litigation is becoming very highly specialized. People tend to become good at one particular type of case. You don’t see as much crossover as you used to – someone doing one type of case one week and another the next. In medical negligence, the law has become so technical and demanding, that people who tend to specialize become more proficient and others tend to shy away. In regards to the national health bill in coming years, there may be more practice standards for physicians, and it’s not clear how that will impact litigation on behalf of injured persons. Alternative dispute resolution will continue to grow and become more important.”

FAVORITE TECHNOLOGICAL GADGET: “iTunes on my iPod and iPhone.”

FAVORITE PLACE: “Pinehurst, North Carolina.”

FAVORITE HOBBIES: “Golf and traveling with my family.”

FAVORITE FOOD: “Piedmontese beef because of its health benefits.”

MY HIDDEN TALENT: “An interest in James Joyce.”

HOW I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED: “As someone who made a positive difference in our profession and enhanced the remedies for injured victims, particularly seniors in long-term care litigation.”


Grant Thornton Website At the annual awards reception in April 2014, one Leader & Innovator from the previous 12 months will be selected as the Grant Thornton Leader & Innovator of the Year.