Michelle M. West
Attorney Profile
Top Rated Personal Injury Attorney in Newport Beach, CA
Selected to Rising Stars: 2010 - 2011
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Michelle M. West is a partner at Robinson Calcagnie, Inc. focusing her practice on trucking accidents, automobile collisions, unsafe premises cases, traumatic brain injury, amputation, spinal cord injuries and other catastrophic personal injury and products liability matters. Ms. West generally handles cases that involve matters including defective products, dangerous public and private property conditions, industrial and construction accidents, carbon monoxide poisoning, cruise ship injuries, unsafe working conditions and motor vehicle accidents. She is dedicated to serving clients throughout the State of California and across the country with the assistance of local counsel. Ms. West dedicates her practice to making places and products safer and obtaining recovery for those injured by unsafe products, practices and premises.
Ms. West has committed herself to advocating on behalf of those injured by the recklessness or negligence of others. She reviews each case from every angle, works with forensic and other professional experts, and employs numerous resources in order to help her clients obtain financial compensation for their losses. Ms. West has recovered seven and eight-figure settlements and verdicts on behalf of numerous clients. Her dedication to providing quality, professional representation while maintaining the highest standards of legal ethics helped her to receive the highest possible rating of AV Preeminent* from Martindale-Hubbell.
Beyond her work in the courtroom, Ms. West is active in the legal community. She is a member of numerous professional associations, including the Orange County Bar Association, the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, the Consumer Attorneys of California and the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles. Michelle West is a proud Board Member of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Charities (an organization dedicated to improving the lives of those in need in Los Angeles) and the Western Trial Lawyers Association. Ms. West is the President of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Charities which was formed in 2020 and completed numerous services projects in 2021 in the Orange County area and gave away close to $100,000 in its first year of active operation to Orange County charities. She also serves as the Founding Member of OCTLC which includes a group of lawyers who donated $10,000 to get the organization up and running to help the OC Community.
In 1999, Ms. West graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in history from California State University Long Beach. She went on to earn a Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law, graduating cum laude and in the top 10 percent of her class. She is a 50 for 50 Member of the Pepperdine University School of Law to provide exceptional students seeking to attend law school at the University.
To keep mentally sharp and agile to be the best lawyer for her clients, Ms. West continues to train her body. She is an avid runner and has completed about 100 marathons, over 35 double-century bike rides (200 miles or more), multiple century rides, over ten full Ironman triathlons, and she attempts and often completes 100 mile races, including the Badwater 135 mile race which goes from Badwater Basin in Death Valley up to highest location in the contiguous United States, Mt. Whitney. Ms. West has completed Badwater 4 times.
As a daughter of a Marine, who grew up in a small town in the Southern California desert town of Yucca Valley, sharing a small home with her 8 brothers and sisters, she knows how to work well with others and can successfully lead a team as well as being part of one.
*AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.
- 60%Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff
- 40%Personal Injury - Products: Plaintiff
Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury - Plaintiff, Wrongful Death, Construction Accident, Brain Injury, Trucking Accidents, Premises Liability - Plaintiff, Motor Vehicle Defects, Medical Devices, Pharmaceutical
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2016 - 2022
- Rising Stars: 2010 - 2011
Top Lists
- Top 50: 2022 Women Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2022 Orange County Super Lawyers
- Top 100: 2021 Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2021 Women Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2021 Orange County Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2020 Women Southern California Super Lawyers
- Top 50: 2020 Orange County Super Lawyers
Additional Sources of Information About Michelle M. West
Visit my FindLaw® profile
About Michelle M. West
First Admitted: 2003, California
Professional Webpage: https://www.robinsonfirm.com/our-attorneys/michelle-west/
Pro bono/Community Service
- Orange County Trial Lawyers Charities (OCTLC). President. 2020, 2021.
- Silver Level Honorary Board Member of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Charities (LATLC)
Educational Background
- California State University at Long Beach, cum laude
Bar/Professional Activity
- Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, Member
- Orange County Trial Lawyers Charities (OCTLC). President (2021-2022).
- Board Member of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Charities (LATLC).
- Western Trial Lawyers Association (WTLA). Board Member and Executive Committee. Secretary (2022).
- Los Angeles County Bar Association, Member
- ABOTA National Trial College, Fellow, 2014
- Consumer Attorneys of California, Member
- Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, Member
- United States District Court‚ Central District of California
- Orange County Bar Association, Member
- Women’s Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Member
- California, 2003
Scholarly Lectures/Writings
- Don’t turn away that skylight case just yet: A skylight often constitutes a dangerous condition; here’s how to prove it, ADVOCATE (Journal of Consumer Attorneys Associations for Southern California) March 2015
- Invisible Injuries - Getting the Money Your Client's Need for their Catastrophic Brain Injury, Author and Presenter, TBI Med Legal, Invisible Injuries - Getting the Money Your Client's Need for their Catastrophic Brain Injury, Legal, 2021
- Updates on utilizing these cases for proving your clients' cases and getting your evidence in. , Author and Presenter, Consumer Attorneys of the Inland Empire , Howell, Pebley and Sanchez, Legal, 2021
- Assisting Lawyers in fulfilling their obligation to serve their community and do pro bono hours by assisting in setting up local trial lawyers charities, Author and Presenter, How to Start Your Own Local Trial Lawyers Charity, Western Trial Lawyers Association, Legal, 2021
- Assisting those who are attempting to help clients with injuries due to defective pharmaceutical and medical devices. , Author and Presenter, Consumer Attorneys of Los Angelese, Product Liability - Update regarding recalls of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, Legal, 2021
- How critical safety features may not be known and understood by lawyers, but theories to consider to obtain recovery for your injured client. , Author and Presenter, LawdiGras, Auto Products: Side Impact Curtain Airbags and Head Restraints, Legal, 2021
- How utilizing the stories, messages and photos of your clients' loved ones, assists in telling your client's story. , CAOC - Author and Presenter, Trial Tactics: Telling Your Client's Story, CAOC - San Francisco Seminar, Legal, 2021
- Utilizing the latest laws to access your client's medical records for no or low cost to help get that case to the finish line. , Author, Getting Your Clients Medical Records for Free, The Gavel, OCTLA Publication, Legal, 2020
- Presentation: Wage and Hour Class Actions from the Plaintiffs’ Perspective; Wage & Hour Conference, Los Angeles Athletic Club, California, Jan. 2014
- VOIR DIRE: “Panning for Gold” © William D. Shapiro, Esq. and Michelle M. West, Esq., presentation for San Francisco Consumer Attorneys of California Convention, November 2012
- Amelia Earhart’s Crash In a Court of Law Today, Invited Speaker on Aviation Law at Luncheon of Zonta International, Laguna Niguel, California, Jan. 2011
- Protecting Precious Cargo: Rear Seat Safety‚ ADVOCATE (Journal of Consumer Attorneys Associations for Southern California) [with Raymond P. Johnson], Sept. 2007
Honors/Awards
- Presidential Award for Exceptional Service to the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Charities, LATLC , Presidential Award for Exceptional Service , 2019
- President's Award for Service, LOS ANGELES TRIAL LAWYERS CHARITIES , Presidential Award for Exceptional Service , 2021
- Presidential Award for Exceptional Service to the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Charities. , Presidential Award , Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Charities, 2020
- AV rating, Martindale-Hubbell
- Cum laude, Pepperdine University School of Law
- Witkin/West Group award for Academic Excellence
- Southern California Rising Star in 2010 and 2011
- Editor, Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal, Pepperdine University School of Law
- CALI Excellence for the Future Award
- Southern California Super Lawyer, 2016
- Member, Moot Court Board, Pepperdine University School of Law
Verdicts/Settlements
- Confidential v. Confidential. Amputation. Product Liability. $2,000,000., 2021
- Premises. Wrongful Death. $800,000. Confidential v. Confidential., 2021
- Trucking collision. $6,000,000. Confidential v. Confidential. , 2016
- Premises Liability. Brain Injury. $1,000,000. Confidential v. Confidential. , 2018
- Confidential v. Confidential. Product Liability. Brain injury. $3,000,000., 2017
- Judgment. $8.58 million. Brain injury. Riverside County., 2021
- Premises/Construction incident. Confidential v. Confidential. $390,000., 2019
- Confidential v. Confidential. RV collision. $800,000. , 2020
- Confidential. Trucking collision involving motorcycle. $250,000., 2021
- Confidential. Trucking collision. $250,000., 2021
- Confidential v. Confidential. Trucking collision. Wrongful Death. $1,000,000., 2018
- Confidential v. Confidential. Product Liability. $1,300,000., 2018
- Premises Liability. Brain Injury. $1,000,000. Confidential v. Confidential. , 2021
- Confidential v. Confidential. Catastrophic injury. Product Liability. $2,000,000., 2021
- Rear-end collision resulting in spinal injuries to client. Resolved within one year of incident for $10,900,000., 2019
Last Updated: 5/15/2022