Thomas Daniels

Tom is the firm’s senior litigation partner. Before joining Pear Sperling in 1984, he was a state prosecuting attorney and the director and chief trial attorney of a public defender’s office. Now, his 30-year litigation practice is focused on complex commercial litigation, personal injury, premises liability, commercial and residential real estate, municipal law, business disputes, and insurance coverage matters and litigation. Mr. Daniels is outside counsel to a regional public utilities authority for which he has been general, litigation, and environmental enforcement counsel since 1998. He represents a municipal-entity self-insurance pool, for which he serves as general, insurance coverage, and coverage-litigation counsel. He also handles insurance coverage matters and litigation on behalf of corporate and individual insureds. With that level of litigation experience, on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants, Tom is frequently retained as a facilitative mediator in both personal injury and general civil litigation cases, and has successfully mediated countless cases.

Tom is regarded as an aggressive and effective litigator having litigated plaintiff’s personal injury and general civil litigation cases in which he achieved favorable results for his clients in the multiple seven-figure range. Mr. Daniels is recognized as a Michigan Super Lawyer in the area of General/Commercial Litigation since 2012. He has appeared before the Michigan Supreme Court where he successfully defended a municipal insurance pool in a precedent setting case of contract interpretation. He is AV Peer Review Rated, the highest possible rating by Martindale-Hubbell, the most widely recognized assessment of a lawyer’s ethical standards and professional ability, as evaluated by other members of the bar and the judiciary.

Areas of Practice
• Complex Commercial Litigation
• General Commercial Litigation
• Insurance Coverage & Litigation
• Municipal Law
• Personal Injury
• Real Estate Law & Litigation
• Facilitative Mediation

Professional Associations
• Washtenaw County Bar Association; President 1998-99
• Michigan State Bar Association
• Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys
• Michigan Association for Justice
• Washtenaw Association for Justice
• Criminal Defense Attorneys Association of Michigan
• Criminal Defense Lawyers Association of Washtenaw County

Community Service
Tom has held a number of positions with the Washtenaw County Bar Association, including President. He is a member of several litigation and special interest bar associations. He is a long time member of the pro bono panel of the local legal aid office and has devoted considerable volunteer time to area non-profit agencies, including the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Washtenaw County (Board Member Emeritus), the Corner Health Center (Board Member Emeritus), and Friends of Legal Aid. He is a long-time and current member of the board of the Michigan Advocacy Program (legal aid). In 2012, Tom was the inaugural recipient of the local bar association’s annual Pro Bono/Public Service Award.

Awards and Recognition

• Michigan Super Lawyers (2023)
• Best Lawyers in America (2022)

Bar Admissions
• State Bar of Michigan
• U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
• U.S. District Court Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan
• Michigan Supreme Court

Education
• J.D. Thomas M. Cooley Law School, with Distinction, 1977
• B.S. Business Administration, Eastern Michigan University, 1972