Michael O’Donnell

Associate

Philadelphia

(215) 665-6932

(215) 665-2013

Recent Publication:

Massachusetts Appellate Court Precludes Evidence of Insurance in Property Subrogation Action [Subrogation & Recovery Law Blog]

Evidence of a defendant’s liability insurance is typically precluded from trial to prevent a jury’s decision being prejudiced by the source of potential funds. However, whether this same principle should apply to evidence of first party property insurance when a carrier pursues a subrogation claim...

Michael O’Donnell is an associate in Cozen O'Connor's Subrogation & Recovery Department in Philadelphia.

Mike received his J.D., cum laude, from Villanova University School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, with departmental honors, in political science from the University of Mary Washington. While at Villanova, Mike was an associate editor of the Villanova Law Review where he was named “Outstanding Associate Editor” for 2014. During his last semester, he was an intern to the Honorable J. Michael Baylson of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

 

Publications

Massachusetts Appellate Court Precludes Evidence of Insurance in Property Subrogation Action [Subrogation & Recovery Law Blog]

June 01, 2021

Evidence of a defendant’s liability insurance is typically precluded from trial to prevent a jury’s decision being prejudiced by the source of potential funds. However, whether this same principle should apply to evidence of first party property insurance when a carrier pursues a subrogation claim...

Proof of Purchase: Need Adequate Support that an Alleged Seller Indeed Sold the Defective Product [Subrogation & Recovery Law Blog]

February 19, 2018

A recent opinion from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama highlights how the failure to identify the seller of a defective product can lead to dismissal. In Jackson v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. 2:17-cv-00634-AKK (N.D. Ala.) the court was faced with a plaintiff who was...

Privileged Communications Inadvertently Given to Opposing Counsel by a Party's Expert [Subrogation & Recovery Law Blog]

August 09, 2017

In a recent opinion from the United States District Court for Kansas, the Court held that privileged communications given by an expert to opposing party’s counsel will remain protected under the work product privilege. The defendant’s expert in Lloyds of London Syndicate 2003 v. Fireman’s Fund...

Sixth Circuit Refuses to Apply Kentucky's Economic Loss Doctrine to Purchases by Consumers [Subrogation & Recovery Law Blog]

April 07, 2017

The Sixth Circuit recently held that it would not apply Kentucky’s economic loss doctrine to consumer purchases, and consumers are free to pursue tort claims against manufacturers even when damage occurs only to a product itself. The Sixth Circuit was sitting in diversity and ruled in State Farm...

Compliance With Hague Convention When Serving Foreign Entities [Subrogation & Recovery Law Blog]

September 28, 2016

In today’s economy, it is no surprise to find that the product at the heart of a product liability suit was manufactured by a company outside of the United States. But properly serving that foreign manufacturer appears to cause some confusion. If strategy dictates the need for a claim against a...

Subcontract Language Can Prevent Enforcement of AIA Waiver of Subrogation [Subrogation & Recovery Law Blog]

September 28, 2016

The United States District Court of Maryland recently held that a waiver of subrogation clause found in an AIA agreement can be superseded by subsequent contract language between the contractors. In Turner Construction Co. v. BFPE Int’l, 2016 WL 1169938 (D. Md. Mar. 25, 2016), a general contractor...

Supreme Court Addresses Treatment of Incriminating Evidence [The Legal Intelligencer]

November 06, 2014

In an article titled “Supreme Court Addresses Treatment of Incriminating Evidence,” Stephen Miller, a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Commercial Litigation Department, and Michael O’Donnell, an associate in the Commercial Litigation Department, discuss two cases that the U.S. Supreme Court will decide in the coming months relating to incriminating evidence – one concerns finding it, and the other concerns destroying it.

Education

  • Villanova University School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2014
  • University of Mary Washington, B.A., cum laude, 2011
  • New Jersey
  • Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court -- New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court -- Eastern District of Pennsylvania