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David T. Tirella
  • Litigation Attorney

Location:

Detroit, MI

Phone:

Fax:

313-961-5985

Email:

“I have always had a strong desire to help others find their voice and justice.” David Tirella

David Tirella is a senior trial attorney at McKeen & Associates. He has spent the past 30 years practicing law in Michigan and Florida as a trial attorney helping medical malpractice, personal injury and crime victims. David is most proud to have achieved multi-million-dollar jury verdicts in three different areas of law - medical malpractice, automobile accident and premise liability.

David joined McKeen & Associate in 2015, and within weeks was presenting medical malpractice cases to juries across Michigan and, in so doing, distinguished himself professionally and received several recognitions including: Super Lawyers-Michigan; The Trial Lawyers Top 100; National Association of Distinguished Counsel; Top Michigan Lawyer; Crain’s Top Lawyers- Michigan and Top Florida Lawyer.

Prior to joining McKeen, David practiced law in Florida for twenty-five years, handling varied litigation cases including medical malpractice, personal injury and criminal matters. In his early legal career, David worked as the Assistant State Attorney in Tampa, Florida, and was a Governor-appointed Special Prosecutor as well as a Florida Bar Grievance Attorney. He is board certified as a civil trial lawyer and civil pre-trial practice attorney.

David earned his law degree at the Cumberland School of Law, Samford University, and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School where he teaches classes on medical malpractice and expert witnesses. He is licensed to practice law in Michigan and Florida.

When not practicing law, David enjoys teaching, travel, golf and spending time with family.

Areas Of Practice

  • Medical Malpractice
  • Wrongful Death
  • Catastrophic Spinal Cord Injury

Certified Legal Specialties

  • Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer, National Board of Trial Advocacy , 2006
  • Board Certified Civil Pretrial Practice , National Board of Trial Advocacy , 2012

Bar Admissions

  • Florida, 1989
  • U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida, 1990
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 1994
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 2007
  • Michigan, 2015
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, 2015

Education

  • Cumberland College of Tennessee School of Law, Lebanon, Tennessee
    • J.D. - 1989
    • Honors: Member, Cumberland Trial Advocacy Board
  • Florida State University
    • B.S. - 1986

Published Works

  • Case Law Update: The Four Ps of Expert Witness Selection , The Practical Lawyer 2013
  • Editorial- Bully Law The Florida Bar News 2008
  • Jeff’s Law- Forward written and published in Bully Beware! by Dr. Matteson 2008
  • A Paralegal's Role in Expert Witness Selection
  • The National Paralegal Reporter 2007
  • Winning Strategies: the 4 Ps of Expert Witness Selection , The Florida Bar Journal 2006

Classes/Seminars

  • Adjunct Professor of Law , Stetson University College of Law Gulfport, Florida , 2008 to Present
  • Expert Witnesses: From Selection to Presentation , Advanced Expert Witnesses- LLM Advocacy Program
  • Adjunct Professor of Law-Medical Malpractice , Thomas M. Cooley Law School Tampa, Florida , 2014
  • Adjunct Instructor-Torts & Personal Injury , University of Miami, Paralegal Program Tampa, Florida , 2004 to 2008
  • Adjunct Instructor-Criminal Law and Procedure , American Institute for Paralegals Tampa, Florida , 1995
  • First Do No Harm, USF Medical School AMA Chapter Luncheon 2015
  • Daubert and Expert Witnesses, Stetson University College of Law 2014
  • Effective Trial Prep & Use of Experts, National Seminar 2014
  • Expert Witness: The Initial Phone Call, SEAK Orlando, Florida 2014
  • Fla Stat. 766.102, Medical Jurisprudence, Stetson College of Law 2014
  • Professionalism in the Law, Thomas Cooley Law School (Tampa) 2014
  • Fla Stat. 766.102, Medical Jurisprudence, Stetson College of Law 2013
  • Voir Dire, Trial Advocacy Class, Stetson University College of Law 2012
  • Medical Experts, Physical Examination Class, Stetson College of Law 2012
  • How to Handle Trick Questions, SEAK Naples, Florida 2011
  • Expert Witnessing, St. Petersburg Paralegal Association 2010
  • Trial Advocacy Class, Stetson University College of Law 2010
  • Closing Arguments, Stetson University College of Law 2009
  • The Impact of Bullying, Florida Matters University of South Florida 2009
  • Selection of Experts, Trial Skills Excellence in Advocacy Workshop 2009
  • What is a 4P Expert Witness? Stetson University College of Law 2008
  • Litigation Skills for Legal Staff in Florida 2008
  • Direct and Cross of Expert Witnesses, Lawyer Lecture, Stetson Law 2008
  • American Judicial System, University of South Florida- Criminology, 2008
  • Auto Claims and Trials: Winning, Defending and Understanding Coverage 2008
  • 17th Annual National Expert Witness Conference, Massachusetts 2008
  • Cyber Bullying & The Law, International Cyber Bullying Confer., New York 2008
  • Prosecuting and Defending Catastrophic Injury Cases 2008
  • Direct and Cross Examination of Expert Witnesses, Stetson College of Law 2008
  • Expert Witness Selection, American Assoc. for Paralegal Ed, Maryland 2007
  • The Importance of Expert Witnessing, Stetson University College of Law 2007
  • Accident Litigation 2007
  • Litigation Skills for Legal Staff in Florida 2005
  • Presenting Soft Tissue Injury Cases 2004
  • Litigation Skills for Legal Staff in Florida 2004
  • Making Sense of Medical Cases in Florida: A Paralegal's Guide
  • Litigation Skills for Legal Staff in Florida 2003

Honors and Awards

  • Selected as one of “Tampa’s Top Rated Lawyers” published in Legal Leaders for medical malpractice
  • 5 Years of Dedicated Service Award- given by Stetson College of Law for teaching
  • Nationally selected for inclusion in Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers
  • 10 AVVO Legal Rating
  • Selected in '09 as one of Florida “Star Search Lawyers” published in Florida Super Lawyers under PI and medical malpractice
  • AV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
  • Master rated, Tampa Bay Inn of Court
  • The Florida Bar Grievance Committee 13-D
  • Member, Million Dollar Advocates Forum, 2000
  • Florida Governor Appointed Special Prosecutor
  • Court Appointed Special Assistant Public Defender
  • Who's Who in America Law Schools
  • Who's who in American Law
  • Who's Who in America
  • Invited to give testimony in support of Florida House of Representatives HB669 - School Safety Anti Bullying Bill, March 25th, 2008
  • Invited to give testimony in support of Florida Senate SB790 - Criminal Justice Committee, April 18th, 2008

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Michigan Association for Justice , 2015
  • American Association for Justice , 2015
  • Tampa Bay Trial Lawyers Association , 2007 to 2010
  • Florida Justice Association, 2003 to 2009

Practice Areas