Laurel F. McGiffert

Laurel F. McGiffert is a senior trial attorney and currently serves as a member of Plunkett Cooney's Board of Directors. She concentrates her practice primarily in the areas of medical liability, labor and employment law, municipal law and general litigation.

In addition to her successful trial practice, Ms. McGiffert has extensive experience representing clients involved in Michigan's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system. She also has the distinction of serving as an independent arbitrator and mediator in ADR hearings.

Ms. McGiffert has represented most major hospitals in the Detroit metropolitan area, and she is frequently asked to present seminars to clients and healthcare organizations on such topics as nursing documentation and legal issues associated with emergency nursing care, informed consent and record keeping. Ms. McGiffert has also participated in grand rounds for a major local hospital, participated in educational mock trials and lectured at trial skills seminars sponsored by such organizations as the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

For more than 15 years, Ms. McGiffert has been an instructor on numerous topics for the Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), including but not limited to, motion and discovery practice, deposition skills, anatomy of a lawsuit, practical evidence, demonstrative evidence, ultimate trial notebook, and common settlement and trial problems.

Representative Client Work

• Extensive trial experience in medical liability, employment, municipal and other litigation matters
• Defends numerous hospitals, doctors and other healthcare professionals in medical malpractice lawsuits
• Extensive medical malpractice expertise in claims involving surgery, psychiatry, pathology, hematology, emergency medicine care, gynecology, etc., encompassing hospitals, clinics, and physicians’ offices, as well as emergency medicine (ER), inpatient and outpatient medical care
• Defends both public and private employers in labor and employment matters, including trials and arbitrations
• Successfully arbitrated an employment matter involving claims of alleged discrimination and harassment in excess of $6,000,000, obtaining a judgment of no cause of action on behalf of a large private employer
• Successfully tried an employment matter involving claims of alleged harassment and significant damages, obtaining a no cause of action judgment on behalf of a municipal employer
• Successfully tried an alleged wrongful death case brought by the estate of a minor who committed suicide, obtaining a judgment of no cause of action for the defendant, a large private retail company

Professional Affiliations

• Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association
• Wolverine Bar Association
• D. Augustus Straker Bar Association (Former member)
• State Bar of Michigan (Ethics Committee, 1989-1993)
• American Bar Association
• Association of Defense Trial Counsel
• American Inns of Court  (Former member)
• American Defense Trial Attorneys Association (Former member)

Community Involvement

• Wayne County Easter Seal Society (Board of Directors, 1982-1990; President, Board of Directors, 1988-1990)
• CATCH - Caring Athletes Team for Children’s and Henry Ford Hospitals (Board of Trustees, past member)
• Gracious Savior Lutheran Church (Board of Directors – Treasurer, 1983-1995)

News

• Three shareholders elected to Plunkett Cooney’s Board of Directors