Atkinson Conway & Gagnon

W. Michael Moody

W. Michael Moody is recognized as one of Alaska’s leading trial attorneys. Mr. Moody has practiced personal injury law in Anchorage for over 30 years. He has a remarkable track record of successful trials and settlements, including over 25 cases in which more than one million dollars was recovered for his clients.
For the past 30 years, Mr. Moody has limited his practice to representing people who have been seriously injured or the families of those killed by the negligence of others, by intentional wrongdoing, or by defective products. Mr. Moody is often hired by other lawyers to assist them with their complex cases. He also has been retained to represent the families of attorneys injured or killed in accidents.
Mr. Moody is well known for handling complex cases. He has a wealth of experience in products liability cases, including many cases involving design defects. This includes cases involving defectively designed firearms, automobiles, ATVs, snow machines, aircraft, aircraft parts, and aerodynamic design defects.
For the last decade, much of his practice has been dedicated to consumer claims against insurance companies for fraud and bad faith conduct against their insureds. Insurance bad faith cases are complex cases that are always vigorously defended. Through hard fought battles, he has gained significant insight into the inner workings and wrongful practices of these insurers. This experience has shown that wrongful acts of an insurer are often part of a pattern and practice of conduct intended to prevent insureds from obtaining the protection they paid for with their premium dollars.
Mr. Moody graduated in 1969 from the University of Arizona, which he attended on a football scholarship. As co-captain of the football team his senior year, he led the Wildcats to the Sun Bowl. The NCAA named him to the Academic All American Football Team, and the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame honored him as one of its eleven scholar athletes in the country. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and was a Rhodes Scholarship candidate.
Mr. Moody received his Juris Doctor degree (with distinction) from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1972. Mr. Moody was Editor-In-Chief of the Arizona Law Review, and was awarded membership in the Order of the Coif. After graduating, he served as a law clerk to Judges Thomas Stewart and Victor Carlson in Juneau, Alaska. He then gained courtroom experience as an assistant public defender in Anchorage. Mr. Moody has been a member of the Alaska Bar since 1972 and has practiced with the firm since 1975. He is also a member of the State Bar of Arizona.
Mr. Moody was most recently honored by selection in 2005 to be a fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. This is a very exclusive association of the best lawyers in the world. Membership in the United States is limited to 500 attorneys, half of whom represent plaintiffs and half of whom represent defendants. The group has members from more than 30 other countries. Membership is by invitation only, after an extensive investigation of the nominee’s qualifications, which includes legal abilities, past cases, ethics, integrity, and evaluations by judges before whom the attorney has appeared. Attorneys do not know they have been nominated for membership or that they are being investigated. The firm is quite proud of this honor, which Mr. Moody well deserves. He is the only member from Alaska.
Mr. Moody is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell, the highest national rating for legal ability and ethics. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America every year since first being selected in 1993. He has also served as President of the Alaska Academy of Trial Lawyers and, throughout his career, has been a sustaining member of the national Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
Mr. Moody has recovered almost $100,000,000.00 for his clients. Many of the settlements were so large that the insurance companies required, as a term of settlement, that the amounts to be kept confidential. Some representative cases are listed below. All of these cases involved hard fought litigation generally lasting several years.

Representative Cases

(link coming soon)

NEWS
ANCHORAGE ATTORNEY MICHAEL MOODY INDUCTED INTO
THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF TRIAL LAWYERS

Anchorage Attorney Michael Moody was recently inducted into the prestigious International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Membership is restricted to 500 attorneys nationwide, half plaintiffs attorneys and half defense attorneys. Admission is by invitation only based on a rigorous selection process to ensure that only attorneys of the highest caliber are admitted. Mr. Moody is the only member from Alaska.

The induction occurred in Washington, D.C. at the four-day annual meeting of the Academy. Speakers at the meeting included Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Arlen Specter, Senator Joseph Biden, and Col. H.R. McMaster, in addition to several Academy members. Events included receptions at the United States Supreme Court, the Russian Embassy, the Museum of Natural History, and the Italian Embassy.

Mr. Moody has practiced law in Alaska since 1975 with the firm of Atkinson, Conway & Gagnon. He has specialized in representing those injured by negligence or defective products, and claims against insurance companies for fraud and bad faith conduct against their policyholders.

Mr. Moody received his law degree from the University of Arizona in 1972 where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review and received the academic award of Order of the Coif. He served as a law clerk to Judges Thomas Stewart and Victor Carlson in Juneau before moving to Anchorage. Mr. Moody is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell, the highest national rating for legal ability and ethics, and has been listed in the Best Lawyers in America since 1993. He has also served as President of the Alaska Academy of Trial Lawyers.

The International Academy of Trial Lawyers was chartered in 1954 to honor and protect the jury system, promote the science of jurisprudence, defend the principle of judicial independence, and elevate the standards of integrity, honor, and civility in the legal profession. It also works with attorneys and officials of developing and emerging nations to familiarize them with the benefits of the American legal system. It has members from more than 30 countries.

For more information, please contact us by emailing info@acglaw.com or call us at 907-276-1700. Outside Anchorage call 1-800-478-1900. There is no charge for an initial consultation on personal injury, wrongful death or insurance bad faith matters.