Michael J. Piuze, 1944-2020

Michael J. Piuze, a zealous plaintiffs' attorney who won eye-popping verdicts against tobacco companies, was described by attorneys he mentored over 40 years as one of the greatest litigators they have known.

Piuze died Saturday of cancer, his family said. He was 75.

"Mike had a reputation for taking cases no one else would touch and knocking them out of the park," said Gary Dordick, a longtime friend and neighbor of Piuze. "There are a lot of trial lawyers who try cases, but they cherry pick them to make sure they have a good chance of winning," he said.

Piuze had a blunt, matter-of-fact demeanor,developed by growing up in the working class city of Worcester, Massachusetts. His short stint in a Florida jail for a traffic violation led him to pursue a career in law.

After ditching a two-pack-a-day smoking habit, Piuze started suing cigarette companies, winning cases by using information that had already been publicly available. In 2001 he set a record at the time for securing a $3 billion verdict on behalf of a smoker against Phillip Morris. The next year he broke that record when a jury ordered the company to pay $28 billion, the largest punitive damage award against a single plaintiff at the time.

Those verdicts would eventually be slashed, but it prompted the company to speak candidly. "Guys like Michael Piuze aren't going to bully us," William S. Ohlemeyer, the company's vice president and associate general counsel told the Los Angeles Times in 2002.

"He is the most indefatigable lawyer that I have ever known," said John C. Taylor of Taylor & Ring, who met Piuze in the early 1980s when he defended a case against him. Two years later Taylor went to work for Piuze when he opened his own shop.

Vince Galvin Jr., executive managing partner at Bowman and Brooke LLP, who was on the receiving end of many Piuze lawsuits defending car manufacturers, considered Piuze a friend.

"I really liked Mike," said Galvin. "We're both from Massachusetts. He would just say it like it is. There was never any communication confusion," Galvin said.

Michael Alder, of Alder Law, said Piuze was the best cross examiner he had ever seen, to the point that defense attorneys would sometimes not call witnesses. "I worshiped him," Alder said.

For a brief time Piuze was an insurance defense attorney at Gilbert, Kelly, Crowley & Jennett LLP before starting his own practice in the 1980s.

Friends described Piuze as a lone wolf who bypassed the socializing of the Los Angeles bar and worked around the clock. He only became a member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles after they wanted to give him an award, according to Dordick.

As a young attorney, Alder told Piuze he had an opportunity to go on vacation to Europe for a couple of weeks. Piuze said, "OK," recalled Alder.

"Then I came back after two weeks and all my stuff was gone," said Alder, who took that opportunity to start his own firm.

"I wrote him a note and thanked him."

During one vacation to Africa with Piuze, Dordick recalled nearly starting a riot after Piuze started taking the clothes off his back to give to children.

Piuze retired about a year ago after losing a devastating trial his client wished to settle. In the end, he paid his client the settlement offer amount, according to Dordick.

And more recently, Piuze reached out to ask Dordick about his own battles with cancer.

"I told him you have to live each day to the fullest," said Dordick.

Piuze is survived by three children and five grandchildren. Services will be private. Donations can be made to the M. Piuze Foundation.