MyMAJ
Lawyers Helping Michiganders Since 1945
Corporate greed and the pursuit of profit at all costs have led to an unsafe environment for many in Michigan. Whether it’s a bad employer, failed product, unsafe drug or drunk driver, trial lawyers are the first—and often, only—line of defense holding corporations, insurance agencies, and other bad actors accountable through the civil court system.
Established in 1945, the Michigan Association for Justice (MAJ) is a non-profit membership association dedicated to advancing the needs and interests of trial lawyers in the relentless pursuit of a fair and effective legal system.
With more than 1,300 members from all corners of the mitten in firms of every size, MAJ is Michigan’s most connected organization of trial lawyers—all working daily to represent injured Michiganders, strengthen public safety and protect your right to a trial by jury.
MAJ Mission Statement
The Mission of the Michigan Association for Justice is to promote a fair and effective justice system. We aim to support the work of attorneys in their efforts to ensure that any person who is injured by the misconduct or negligence of others can obtain justice in Michigan’s courtrooms, even when taking on the most powerful interests.
MAJ Code of Conduct
In the representation of clients and otherwise in the practice of the profession as trial attorneys, MAJ members shall abide by the following principles:
Embracing our commitment to protect the rights of our citizens to pursue fair and just representation in and access to our civil justice system, to defend the right to trial by jury, to assiduously adhere to the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct, and to conduct ourselves with the highest degree of civility towards one another, the bar, the bench and our community, we pledge to:
- Zealously represent the best interests of our clients with the highest ethical standards of the profession.
- Not prosecute or counsel any action, or assert any claim or defense, which is false, frivolous, or clearly without merit.
- Engage only in advertising that fully complies with the attorney ethics rules of the jurisdictions in which the member is admitted or where the advertising is placed, by not engaging in any form of false, misleading, or deceptive advertising.
- Not, directly or indirectly, initiate in-person or verbal contact with any injured party or aggrieved survivor, either personally or through a representative, without a specific request by the injured party or aggrieved survivor, for the purpose of attracting cases.
- Not initiate press contact following a disaster or incident that resulted in injury or death for the sole purpose of attracting cases.
- Not directly or indirectly participate in any formal or informal network, business relationship or other arrangement for the referral of cases to the attorney which the attorney knows or should know violates the provisions of this Code, the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct, and/or other laws and regulations, and shall not accept any referral of any case from such network, business relationship or other arrangement.
- Disclose and explain the fee to be charged to the client and how it is calculated; the handling of costs while the case is pending and on resolution; and, if contingent upon recovery, memorialize the fee clearly in a written fee agreement.
- To the extent consistent with state law or Rules of Professional Conduct, include no mandatory binding arbitration clauses in retainer or fee agreements with clients relating to disputes between the attorney and client.
- Accept only cases and legal matters for which the attorney or co-counsel possesses the requisite knowledge, skill, time and resources to prosecute diligently and competently.
- Disclose to retained clients in writing the intention to refer their case to another attorney or to engage the services of another attorney to represent their interests, and to obtain the consent of the client prior to making such referral or engaging the other attorney.
- Communicate promptly, frankly, and fully with clients when they inquire about their cases and at other times as appropriate to keep them informed about the progress and status of their cases.
Adopted by the Michigan Association for Justice Executive Board on December 16, 2015.
History of MAJ
MAJ Members have been fighting for justice for 81 years!
A History of Justice
For 81 years, Michigan Association for Justice members have been fighting for justice.
In the halls of the State Capitol and in courthouses across the state, MAJ has fought, and won, in the name of justice, equality, and the integrity of the American jury system.
It was here in Michigan that a small group of Worker’s Compensation attorneys in Detroit formed what would eventually become both the Michigan Association for Justice and the American Association for Justice.
It was back when WWII was drawing to a close that Sam Charfoos, the very first President of our association, decided that he could “wait no longer for a plaintiff’s lawyer organization to just happen.” Charfoos brought together 20 Workers’ Compensation and Negligence attorneys into a group that within the year would become the genesis --“Chapter I”-- of what was then called the “National Association of Compensation Claimant Attorneys.”
The genius and dedication of the many thousands of MAJ members who have followed these pioneers helped create the trial bar as we know it today.
Since then MAJ has grown to a prominent, statewide organization of 1300 members, dedicated to the preservation of civil justice. MAJ seminars, forums, document banks, and library of publications help our dedicated members advocate for their clients. And MAJ’s work in our state’s Capitol makes certain that those who place profit over people can not tilt the scales of justice in favor of the rich and powerful.
And MAJ does more. Our 47-year-old People’s Law School program has taught tens of thousands of Michigan citizens about our legal system and their civil justice rights. The MAJ Lids for Kids helmet safety campaign has fitted more than 10,000 children with bike safety helmets, earning MAJ recognition from the Governor, the Legislature, and mayors of cities across the state as well as the police and public safety community.
MAJ’s members can be proud that they are part of this legacy, and part of an ongoing movement that has helped to create the safer, fairer, more just and responsible modern world in which we live today.
A Dream Realized
"I had not reached my teens when inwardly I vowed that I would be a lawyer and decided, naively, that I would serve mankind. By 1929, at 21 years of age, I was a lawyer having gone four years to evening law school and worked in factories in the daytime. Up to 1929, Detroit lawyers' representation in workers' compensation cases were rare. My practice had the effect of attempting to restore workers' compensation to the employers' promised 'no-fault.'
The year was 1944 and World War II was still aflame. After one year of foot soldiering in the States, I returned to work consumed with the idea that I could wait no longer for a plaintiffs' lawyer organization to just happen and that it was up to me. I started with about 20 workers' compensation specialists. We all did some negligence work which, then, on the whole, was less desirable than compensation cases.
In 1946, at one of our regular meetings, Ben Marcus introduced Sam Horovitz of Boston. Ben continued on with Sam to Portland, Oregon, for a Workers' Compensation Commissioners Convention. When he returned I agreed with him and Horovitz to expand nationally. We were now Chapter I of the National Association of Compensation Claimant Attorneys (NACCA, now ATLA.)
For over two centuries, society's injured and maimed were expendable. They were ignored for the good of the "Industrial Revolution" and "progress." Improved workers' compensation and NACCA-ATLA were dramatic breakthroughs in compelling society and especially industry to be more adequately responsible. My naive youthful dream has been realized"
-Samuel Charfoos, MAJ's First President (1945-1949)
