top of page
Work Comp Attorney Michael Wallace headshot

Michael R. Wallace 
Attorney at Law

Partner
Location: Merriam, Kansas
Phone: 913-362-5400
Fax: 913-362-4244

Michael R. Wallace is proud to have devoted his entire legal career to representing injured workers and their families. Mike paid his way through undergraduate and law school while working on the assembly line at the General Motors Fairfax Plant in Kansas City, Kansas. He has been practicing workers' compensation and personal injury law in Kansas for nearly four decades.  He graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1976. He then earned his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Kansas School of Law, graduating in 1980. After passing his bar exam that same year, he retired from General Motors and began practicing law. Since that time, he has been representing injured workers on both sides of the state line for nearly 40 years. 

He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America since 1995. He has been honored as a Best Lawyer of Kansas City by Ingram's magazine and annually in Super Lawyers of Missouri and Kansas, as well as being selected as one of the Top 100 Injured Workers' Attorneys by The Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group. His law firm has also been recognized as one of the Best Law Firms by US News & World Report.

Mike is a member of The American Association for Justice (formerly The Association of Trial Lawyers of America). He is a sustaining member of The Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, and the Workers Injury Law and Advocacy Group. He is a charter member of the Board of Governors and State Captain for the Workers Injury Law and Advocacy Group. He is a Fellow in the College of Workers Compensation Lawyers. He is also a member of the Kansas, Johnson and Wyandotte County Bar Associations.

Mike has served as an officer in both The Kansas Trial Lawyers Association and The American Association for Justice. He has held numerous offices in the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, including Chair of the Workers Compensation and Workplace Injury Section in 1991-1992, and as the ATLA Governor and State Representative for the State of Kansas. He also serves as a Special Administrative Law Judge in the State of Kansas.

Mike has authored various publications on workers' compensation. He has presented lectures for the Kansas Division of Workers' Compensation and the Kansas Bar Association. He has made presentations on workers' compensation law at various medical seminars, including presentations at the University of Kansas Hospital and Spelman Memorial Hospital. He has lectured at the KTLA Southern CLE in Cancun, Mexico, and co-chaired various workers' compensation seminars.

Mike was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas. His passion for representing injured workers began while "working the line" at General Motors. He is deeply indebted to the many co-workers who helped him while he was attending school. It is a debt that he attempts to repay daily by providing the highest quality legal representation to those same workers on a case by case basis. Mike and his wife, Mary, reside in Overland Park, Kansas. He is an active member in his church. He enjoys spending his free time chasing his seven grandchildren from event to event.

ABOUT MICHAEL


Areas of Practice

Workers' Compensation

Personal Injury

 

Litigation Percentage

100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation


Bar Admissions
Kansas, 1980


Education
University of Kansas School of Law, Lawrence, Kansas
J.D. - 1980
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
B.S. - 1976
Major: Education


Published Works

  • Attorney Fees in Workers' Compensation - The North Wind is Beginning to Blow, KTLA Journal, Vol. II, No. 3, 1988

  • New KSA 44-503(g): Has the Immunity Windfall for Statutory Employers Been Curtailed, KTLA Journal, Vol. XXIII No. 6, 14, 2000 


Classes/Seminars

  • Recent Developments in Workers' Compensation, Kansas Bar Association, 1987

  • Employee's at Risk: Workers' Compensation Under the New Law, 1988

  • Ethics Under the New Workers Compensation Act, Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, 1994

  • Kansas Division of Workers Compensation Annual Seminars

  • Guest Lecturer and Advisory Panei Discussion Member, University of Kansas

  • Hospital/Spelman Memorial Hospital

  • People's Law School, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, 1999 - 2000

Past Employment Positions
General Motor Corporation, Auto Worker, 1968 - 1980

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Special Administrative Law Judge, 2003 - Present

  • College of Workers Compensation Lawyers, Fellow, 2010 - Present

  • Kansas Association for Justice, Board of Governors, 2014 - Present

  • American Association for Justice, Member, 2014 - Present

  • Kansas Bar Association, Member, 2014 - Present

  • Wyandotte County Bar Association, Member

  • Johnson County Bar Association, Member

  • American Bar Association, Member

  • Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Sustaining Member

  • Workplace Injury Litigation Group, Charter Member/Board of Directors, 1995 - Present

  • Kansas Inn of Court, Charter Executive Committee Member, 1992 - 1993

  • ATLA Workers' Compensation Committee, Chairman, 1991 - 1992

  • ATLA Workers' Compensation Section, Vice-Chairman, 1990 - 1991

  • ATLA Workers' Compensation Section, National Secretary, 1989 - 1990

  • Workers' Compensation Editor, KTLA Journal, 1987 - 1988

  • Workers' Compensation Editor, KTLA Journal , 1988 - 1989

  • KTLA Workers' Compensation Committee, Chairman, 1987 - 1988

  • KTLA Workers' Compensation Committee, Chairman, 1988 - 1989

  • Kansas State ATLA Delegate

  • ATLA State Legislative Outreach Committee, Member, 1999

  • ATLA Speakers Bureau/Peoples Law School Committee, Member, 1999

Honors and Awards

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated

  • The Best Lawyers in America, 1995 - 2014

  • Best Lawyers of Kansas City - Ingrams, 2014

  • Best Law Firms - US News & World Report, 2012 - 2014

  • Super Lawyers of Kansas and Missouri

  • The Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group - Top 100, 2014

 

bottom of page