Arizona State Bar Certified Specialist in Injury and Wrongful Death

Martindale Hubbell Peer Review Rating: Preeminent 5 out of 5 – AV (highest ranking available)

Education 

• J.D., University of Arizona College of Law, 1975 

• B.S., Arizona State University

Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice 

• Arizona State and Federal Courts

Awards and Special Recognition 

• Recognition of 50 Years of Distinguished Service by the Arizona State Bar, 2025

• Lifetime Recognition of Service from Arizona Association for Justice, 2023

• Arizona Association for Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year for 2011-12

• Past President of the Arizona Association for Justice, 2004-05

• Lawyers of Distinction in Medical Malpractice for 2001-2005

• Arizona's Finest Lawyers 

• Arizona Super Lawyer

Professional and Bar Association Memberships

• Member and Past President of American Association for Justice

• Member of the Arizona Association for Justice

• Member of the American Board of Trial Advocates

• Member of the Melvin M. Belli Society

H. Micheal Wright was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona and attended Arizona State University where he received a degree in business administration. He then attended the University of Arizona College of Law and received his Juris Doctorate in 1975. He began practicing in Mesa with a local law firm specializing in Personal Injury Litigation and tried his first jury trial one week after admission to the Arizona Bar in 1975. In 1977 he moved back to Tucson and worked for a prominent trial lawyer, Paul G. Rees, Jr., until 1981, also specializing in Personal Injury Litigation.

In 1981 he returned to his hometown of Mesa where he opened his own law practice. He continued to specialize in Personal Injury Litigation and was given the highest rating by an attorney rating service in 1986. This rating is based upon lawyer peer review and is the highest rating for legal ability and ethics, a rating that is given to approximately the top 5% of lawyers nationwide. In 1985 he was awarded Certification as a Specialist in Injury and Wrongful Death by the State Bar of Arizona Board of Legal Specialization with the first group of lawyers given the opportunity to be recognized as having specialized knowledge and experience in this field of practice. In 1985 he formed a partnership with J. Robert Tolman and continued practicing in Personal Injury Litigation. In 1991 he was hired to serve as lead trial counsel for the firm of Solomon, Relihan and Blake in Phoenix where he practiced until 2000 when he returned to private practice in Mesa. Mr. Wright became a shareholder with the firm of Udall Shumway in May of 2001. In 2003 he was appointed a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. In late 2025 he recently formed

his own firm with his son Lincoln, Wright Elder Injury Law.

Over his 50 years of practice, Mr. Wright has handled many types of cases, including cases involving product liability, medical malpractice, insurance bad faith, vehicular collisions, defective premises design and construction, defective highway design and maintenance, and many other types of cases. He developed special expertise in brain and spinal injury, accident reconstruction, hazard and risk assessment and has been invited to speak at many seminars for trial lawyers over the years. He has served as an expert witness in legal malpractice cases and as a Judge pro tempore for the Superior Court. He has been on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Association of Justice (formerly known as the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association) since the early 1980s and served as that organization’s President in 2012-13. Mr. Wright is one of only three Arizona attorneys to be inducted into the prestigious Belli Society. The Belli Society’s purpose is to promote the international exchange of ideas among trial lawyers through meetings and education. He has also published papers on issues related to Personal Injury litigation, including such subjects as: “The Intentional Act Exclusion,” Summation, March 1981; “Determining Damages Under the Seatbelt Defense,” Trial, Fall, 1993; “Recognizing Liability in Nursing Home Cases,” Advocate, Nov. 1999; “The Lawyer’s Role in Diagnosing Injuries,” Advocate, March 1993; “The Non-Party at Fault Defense,” Arizona Attorney, Jan. 1995; “Use Reasonable Care in Referring to the Standard of Care,” Advocate, Nov. 2002; “Overcoming a Speculative New Defense in Pressure Ulcer Cases”, National Nursing Home Litigation Group newsletter, 2010; “Pressure Ulcer Claims”, a presentation at the 2010 American Association for Justice National Nursing Home Litigation Group Seminar, and at the AAJ New Jersey Boardwalk Conference.

He has handled over one hundred trials in personal injury cases, along with many arbitrations, and other types of hearings, and he has represented over a thousand personal injury plaintiffs over the past 50 years. For the past 30 years he has developed expertise in handling Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect cases and remains heavily involved in such work and consults regularly with other lawyers about such claims. Mike Wright’s long career, expertise and professional manner have won the respect of fellow lawyers, both on the plaintiff as well as the defense side. He is recognized for his substantial knowledge in medical and safety matters. He remains devoted to the highest purpose of the law: to promote safety and to obtain fair redress for victims of negligence and defective products and practices. He is a lawyer on the side of people.

Particular Areas of Expertise:

• Medical Malpractice

• Nursing Home / Elder Abuse 

• Personal Injury and Wrongful Death 

• Product Liability

• Commercial Trucking Liability 

• Construction Liability