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Mike Morse, a personal injury attorney who frequently runs TV commercials, some of them with his mother, is being accused by the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission of misconduct. The state agency alleges Morse used unethical practices to sign up an accident victim who suffered traumatic brain injury, and then overcharged her.
A formal complaint filed last June by the state commission accuses Morse's private investigator Kenneth Jackson of showing up unsolicited to the hospital room of accident victim Felicia Denson at Sinai Grace Hospital in Detroit on Nov. 10, 2010 and signing her up as a client. The investigator said that Denson's co-worker "Jackie" sent him to give information about the no-fault law, but the complaint said there was no co-worker by that name.
Mike Morse
Denson was outside her house on foot when she was deliberately run over and seriously injured by a motorist on Nov. 4, 2010.
The complaint says it's against the law to "solicit a person injured as a result of an accident...for the purpose of representing that person in making a claim for damages...is guilty of a misdemeanor." It goes on to accuse of him of engaging in "false and misleading" acts.
The case is set to heard on March 1 by the Attorney Discipline Board. If the three-person panel finds misconduct, it holds a hearing to determine discipline which could often involves a reprimand, suspension, disbarment, or probation.
Interestingly, Morse's current TV commercials say it's illegal to be solicited by a stranger for legal representation.
"You're being conned — that's a crime," Morse says in his ad. "Call the police, and if you need further help, call me at 855-MIKE-WINS."
This story was first reported by the JC Reindl of the Detroit Free Press.
Kenneth Mogill, an attorney representing Morse in the grievance case, denies all the allegations against his client, according to the Freep.
"Michael Morse expects the complaint to be dismissed because he did nothing wrong," Mogill said in a written statement to the Free Press. "The Grievance Administrator admits that he (Morse) had no personal involvement in the 2010 events that are at issue, and his law firm fully complied with all its ethical obligations."
Last November, in a hearing in the grievance case, Mogill said, according to the Feep: "There's no claim, again, that Mr. Morse knew at any particular point in time, or at all, what Mr. Jackson was allegedly doing in the hospital room."
The investigator, Jackson, earned about $500,000 "assisting" Morse from 2010-2015, the complaint said.
When Jackson showed up at the hospital, he had an "attorney packet," and got Denson to sign papers for a "no-fault only contingency fee agreement" for Michigan personal injury protection benefits, also known as PIP benefits, the state complaint alleges.
"The signed agreement Mr. Jackson procured from Ms. Denson is false and misleading," the complaint said, citing a number of reasons.
It went on to say that a pre-suit contingent fee of 33 1/3 percent of Denson's care benefits and replacement services and 20 percent of her medical mileage and wage loss was "disproportionate to the nature and extent of the legal services provided."
Jackson, owner of K. Jacks Investigative Consulting, told the Freep last week that he visited Denson only after hearing from a mutual acquaintance that she was interested in legal information.
"When I went to this lady's room, it was at the request of an associate of hers that knew me," Jackson told the paper. "Because I work for a few attorneys, they called me and asked me if I could go and see her.
To Read the Attorney Grievance Commission Complaint Click Here.
