Practice Areas: Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury; view more
Licensed in Michigan since: 1982
Education: The Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Call today:
313-524-8570
McKeen & Associates, PC
Penobscot Building, 645 Griswold StreetSuite 4200
Detroit, MI 48226 Visit website
Details
Brian J. McKeen is the founding partner of McKeen & Associates, P.C., a Detroit-based personal injury and medical malpractice law firm serving clients in Michigan and nationwide. Over the course of his career, Brian has become both a powerful advocate for his clients and one of the foremost medical malpractice and birth injury attorneys in Michigan. Since 2001, in fact, McKeen & Associates has generated the year's top verdict in Michigan four times, including a record medical malpractice verdict of $55 million in 2001.
Brian is a 1982 graduate of Thomas M. Cooley Law School and has been an active member and leader in various legal associations throughout his career. He currently sits on the executive board of the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ) and the Board of Governors of the American Association for Justice (AAJ). For AAJ, McKeen serves as the chair of the Professional Negligence Section and co-chair of the Birth Trauma Litigation Group. He is also a former co-chair of the AAJ's Medical Negligence Exchange Group. He is a frequent lecturer for both organizations and has authored numerous articles.
Practice areas
Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff, Personal Injury - General: PlaintiffFocus areas
Birth Injury, Brain Injury, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury - Plaintiff, Wrongful Death
- 90% Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff
- 10% Personal Injury - General: Plaintiff
First Admitted: 1982, Michigan
Professional Webpage: https://www.mckeenassociates.com/attorney/brian-j-mckeen/
- American Judicature Society
- The Inner Circle of Advocates
- Federal Bar Association
- State Bar of Michigan
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1985
- Oakland County Bar Association
- State Bar Appellate Court
- Detroit Bar Association
- Detroit Barristers Association
- Incorporated Society of Irish/American Lawyers
- Member, Board of Governors, American Association for Justice
- U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1982
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, State Bar of Michigan, Negligence Law, Arts, Communications, Entertainment and Sports Sections
- Metropolitan Detroit Bar Association
- Detroit Bar Association, Public Speakers Bureau, Board of Directors
- International Society of Primerus Law Firms
- Melvin M. Belli Society
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, 1982
- Board of Directors, Michigan Association for Justice (Executive Board)
- Board of Directors, American Prepaid Legal Services Institute, 1983 - 1985
- Wolverine Bar Association
- Oakland County Bar Association, Medical Legal Committee
- $1,350,000.00 - Learning disabilities, decreased IQ and global neurological injury caused by failure to perform a ceesarean section in response to repetitive deep variable decelerations on fetal heart monitor.
- $22,000,000.00 - Birth Trauma
- $3,360,000.00 - Internal medicine doctors, nurses, and neurosurgical staff failed to take the proper steps to allow performance of an MRI to confirm a suspected spinal epidural abscess (SEA) in a young man with a history of injection drug use. Due to the delay in performing the MRI there was a delay in performance of surgery once the patient developed signs and symptoms of spinal cord compression. The delay in performing surgery resulted in the patient developing permanent paraplegia from the level of C-7 down. The patient now requires 24 hour, round-the-clock care.
- $55,000,000.00 - Infant respiratory arrest
- $15,800,000.00 - Cord compression resulting in severe hypoxic ischemic injury
- $3,500,000.00 - Failure to operate on subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and hemorrhagic stroke causing persistent vegetative state.
- $11,000,000.00 - Postpartum hemorrhage resulting in arrest causing quadripareses and cortical blindness
- $1,800,000 - Failure to respond to victim of car accident's hyponatremia after traumatic brain injury (TBI) causing cerebral edema, brainstem herniation, Duret hemorrhage and death.
- $8,500,000.00 - Perforation of spinal cord during surgery resulting in quadriplegia
- $1,375,000 - Permanent paralysis caused by inappropriate surgical positioning for tracheal resection procedure in terminally ill cancer patient.
- $35,000,000.00 - Hypoxic Ischemic brain damage suffered at detox clinic
- $6,000,000.00 - Pediatricians and pediatric nurses failed to correctly monitor a newborn’s blood sugar and allowed the baby to be discharged before it was proven that the baby could maintain adequate blood sugar levels on oral feedings alone. As a result of the failure to keep the baby and continue to monitor the baby developed severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) while at home. The hypoglycemia resulted in permanent brain injury and developmental delays.
- $19,800,000.00 - Delay in delivery causing meconium aspiration syndrome
- $1,800,000.00 - Emergency medicine and obstetric staff failed to promptly evaluate the status of an unborn baby following a motor vehicle accident involving the baby’s mother. The accident contributed to the development of a placental abruption which, over time, deprived the baby of blood and oxygen. The delay in evaluating the baby resulted in a delay in recognition of fetal distress and delivery by c-section. The delay in delivery caused permanent brain injury, cerebral palsy, and developmental delays.
- $4,000,000.00 - Failure to diagnose and treat subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), causing life-long paralysis and other brain damage.
- $11,000,000 - Delay in diagnosing fetal distress
- $2,600,000 - Failure to give mother options as to screening for Group Beta Streptococcus (GBS) combined with negligent uterine hyperstimulation during labor, causing catastrophic brain damage and cerebral palsy (CP).
- $8,500,000.00 - Airway obstruction, anoxic brain damage
- $1,650,000 - Failure to perform cesarean section given signs and symptoms of placental abruption and nonreassuring signs of fetal distress on fetal heart monitor, causing spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy (CP).
- $6,000,000.00 - An obstetrician and obstetrical nurse failed to recognize that use of Pitocin was causing too frequent uterine contractions which in turn caused the fetus to be less able to tolerate the stress of labor. Rather than perform a c-section (which the mother consented to) the doctor and nurse continued to administer Pitocin until the baby developed severe bradycardia (low heart beat) which caused permanent brain injury, cerebral palsy, and developmental delays.
- $22,000,000.00 - Preterm Labor
- $2,600,000.00 - An obstetrician and obstetric nurses failed to recognize the need for delivery by c-section based on abnormal fetal monitor tracings and possible infection. Due to the delay in delivery the child experienced lack of blood and oxygen prior to birth which caused injury to the brain. Following delivery, neonatologists failed to properly resuscitate the child and failed to control seizure activity which contributed to the child’s brain injury. The child has permanent brain injury, cerebral palsy, and developmental delays as a result of the improper care.
- $4,875,000.00 - Brain damage and cerebral palsy (CP) caused by failure to diagnose and treat twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS)
- $12,000,000.00 - Traumatic vacuum delivery
- $2,750,000 - Failure to suspect or rule out active labor in high risk mother expecting twins, causing cord compression and cerebral palsy (CP) in one twin.
- $9,000,000.00 - Failure to timely diagnose and treat a splenic artery bleed
- $1,750,000 - Failure to diagnose hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) which resulted in atypical global neurological deficits in the absence of cerebral palsy.
- www.mckeenassociates.com
- dBusiness Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit, 2015
- Leaders in the Law, 2014
- Best Law Firms (U.S. News), 2015
- Named in Top 100 Lawyers in State of Michigan
- Society of Barristers, Thomas M. Cooley Law School
- dBusiness Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit, 2013
- Weidman & Wysocki Award, 2010
- Best Lawyers in America, 2014
- Dedicated Service and Outstanding Leadership for the Personal Injury Institute at the 2015 Primerus Global Conference, Primerus, 2015
- The Inner Circle of Advocates
- Michigan Lawyers Weekly "2006 Lawyers of the Year"
- dBusiness Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit, 2014
- Dan Cullen Memorial Award, 2013
- Best Lawyers in America, 2015
- Moot Court Competition, Thomas M. Cooley Law School
- dBusiness Top Lawyers in Metro Detroit, 2012
- Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, B.S. in Business Administration and Political Science, 1978
- 3rd Annual Seminar in the Snow - Moderator - The Myth of Junk Science, MTLA, 1993
- 12th Annual Seminar in the Snow - Speaker - Medical Malpractice Update, MTLA, 2002
- MAJ - New Ways to Succeed Speaker - Techniques to Maximize Economic and Non-Economic Damages, MAJ, 2003
- 13th Annual Seminar in the Snow - Speaker - Medical Malpractice Update, MTLA, 2003
- 14th Annual Seminar in the Snow - Speaker - Medical Malpractice Update, MTLA, 2004
- AAJ Litigating Medical Negligence and Injured Infant Cases Seminar - Speaker The Infant Life Care Plan - Providing for the Life Long Needs of a Child, AAJ, 2010
- AAJ Trial Institute - Faculty, 2010
- Pan European Organization of Personal Injury Lawyers (PEOPIL) - Theories of Hospital Liability in U.S. Courts, Pan European Organization Of Personal Injury Lawyers, 2010
- Litigating Medical Negligence and Injured Infants Case Seminar, AAJ
- Lecturer on Hospital Liability, Medical Negligence Information Exchange Group, 2010
- MAJ Winning Strategies for Your Med Mal Cases - Speaker - Closing Argument (An Actual Live Presentation of a Closing Argument), MAJ, 2010
- 21st Annual Seminar in the Snow - Speaker - Using the Rules of the Road When Taking Depositions, MAJ, 2011
- AAJ Litigating Medical Negligence and Injured Infant Cases Seminar - Speaker - Effective Techniques in Depositions, AAJ, 2011
- 66th Annual Rapid Fire Seminar - Speaker - Cross Examination of Doctors - Rules of the Road , MAJ, 2011
- Law Journal: Michigan Bar Journal, Current Law Notes Staff
- Law Review: Pillar, Cooley Law School Newspaper, Contributor
- Storytelling to Engage the Jury's Imagination - Moderator, MAJ, 2013
- Voir Dire Seminar - The Importance of Attorney Conducted Voir Dire, Motions in Limine and Preserving the Record, MAJ, 2013
- 8th Annual Bench & Bar Seminar - Moderator, MAJ, 2015
- Nuts & Bolts for a Successful Mediation - Evening Forum Moderator, MAJ, 2015
- Medical Malpractice Seminar, Establishing/Formatting Rules of the Road for your Case, MAJ, 2014
- 70th Annual Rapid Fire Seminar - Modern Voir Dire, MAJ, 2015
- 69th Annual Rapid Fire Seminar - Hard Hitting Closing Arguments, MAJ, 2014
- 11th Annual Seminar in the Snow - Litigation Strategies and Techniques Speaker - Evaluating and Preparing Medical Malpractice Claims, MTLA, 2001
- 68th Annual Rapid Fire Seminar - Reptile Theory and Counter Inoculation, MAJ, 2013
- Meadowlands Seminar. Speaker - Effective Opening Statements, New Jersey Association For Justice, 2009
- Seminar Moderator, MAJ, 2012
- Lecturer on Medical/Obstetrics and the Law, Boston University School Of Medicine And The Center For Human Genetics, 2007
- MAJ - Seeking Recovery for Medical Malpractice in Michigan: Is there Light at the End of the Tunnel? Speaker - Cross-Examination, Michigan Association For Justice, 2009
- Trial Institute - Keys to Success, MAJ, 2012
- 2009 IAJ Annual Convention - Speaker - It Can Happen in Iowa: Identifying Jurors Who Will Think Big, Iowa Association For Justice, 2009
- New Lawyers Workshop - Taking Expert Deps as Cross Exam, MAJ, 2011
- 2005 ATLA Annual Convention, Toronto, Ontario - Speaker - Chain of Command, ATLA - Professional Negligence Section, 2005
- Deposing the Defense Medical Examiner/Trial Deposition of Expert, AAJ, 2015
- 15th Annual Seminar in the Snow - Speaker - The Winning Edge in Medical Malpractice Litigation, MTLA, 2005
- 71st Annual Convention - Cross Examination, MAJ, 2016
- MAJ - It's All About the Jury. Speaker - Juror Persuasion, Michigan Association For Justice, 2007
- 9th Annual Bench & Bar Seminar - Co-Host/Moderator, MAJ, 2016
- MTLA 62nd Annual Convention - Speaker - Trial Techniques to Maximize Non-Economic Damages, MTLA, 2007
- Decision Making and Errors in the Emergency Room - Faculty, AAJ, 2015
- MAJ - The Nuts & Bolts of Personal Injury Practice Speaker - Medical Malpractice, MTLA, 1998
- Advanced Medical Trial Skills College - Faculty, AAJ, 2016
These comments were made by fellow attorneys during the annual nomination process.
“very experienced and thorough”
“Brian is a relentless and fierce advocate for his clients in medical malpractice cases.”
“Excellent medical malpractice lawyer”
Office location for Brian J. McKeen
Penobscot Building, 645 Griswold Street
Suite 4200
Detroit, MI 48226
Phone: 313-524-8570
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