My Philosophy & Values - Michael Lorence, Esq.

Do you know what the REAL Golden Rule is?

“Whoever has the Gold, makes the Rules.”

If that feels right to you, you may have found the lawyer for you. Employees without money or power get screwed. Sorry to be so blunt, but why sugar-coat the truth? Likewise, people without money or connections often end up in jail or on probation. Same thing for minorities. Clarence Darrow, the most famous American trial lawyer,  (prior to Gerry Spence, in our time) said “.. most jury trials are contests between the rich and the poor.” 

I am available to fight all forms of employment discrimination - race, sex, age, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, for any individual or group of employees fired, terminated, discharged, not promoted, not hired or forced to work in a hostile work environment. I am available to defend anyone accused of a crime. ( Do NOT talk to the police before you talk to a lawyer).

Guiding Philosophy

Employees should be judged by their performance, not by the color of their skin, or by their sex or their age, or some other irrelevant characteristic ( such as national origin, religion, disability etc) . Nothing is so sacred or important as each individual’s life and their right to their own life, their own liberty and happiness. Nothing has more value than the individual human being. The individual is more important than any group, club, association, nationality, corporation or country. Fundamentally, what is of utmost importance is respect for the individual’s rights and without that philosophy, nothing else of value or merit is really possible. Listen to John Lennon’s song Imagine and you will “get” where I am coming from. If that makes you feel uncomfortable, I can suggest other more traditional lawyers who might be better suited you. 

I can only take a few cases per year, so I don’t just take any case - it has to be a case with a real injustice to a person with whom I share the value that we (the client and the lawyer) want to leave this world a better place than we found it - for ourselves and others too. If these are your values, we should talk.

Whenever an individual or a group of employees has been subjected to unfair treatment at the hands of a powerful corporation or government agency, or the police I am available to help you fight to defend your rights and your integrity. 

Background

Mr. Lorence is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and California (considered by many as the most difficult bar exam in the United States) representing employees exclusively in state and federal court and defending those accused of crimes.

Mr Lorence was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in analytic philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania prior to taking his law degree at the Duquesne University School of Law. He was one of only 300 Woodrow Wilson Fellowship recipients from 10,000 finalists in the United States and Canada. 

He is also a  former EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity) government investigator for the City of Pittsburgh Human Relations Commission where he investigated hundreds of employment discrimination cases.

Mr Lorence is a 2005 graduate of the Trial Lawyers College founded by legendary trial lawyer Gerry Spence. In 2012, he was selected as a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum for those lawyers with jury verdicts over $1,000,000 dollars. In 2013, he was selected as a Top 100 Litigator in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Lorence also had significant experience as a labor organizer and contract negotiator for  SEIU, a white-collar employees union. He was also a grievance officer for the United Mine Workers Union (UMWA). His grandfathers were coal miners in Western Pennsylvania. He lived in Clarksville, Pa where he played on the farm of progressive  pro-democracy UMWA leader “Jock” Yablonski who, along with his family, were cowardly and brutally murdered one New Year’s Eve by thugs hired by corrupt union president Tony Boyle. Boyle died in prison. Two photographs were in the hallway of my father’s father’s house: Franklin Delano Roosevelt and UMWA president John L. Lewis. This history is the river that runs through me. When I see Injustice, I cannot walk away from it. I fight it. And, I never give up.