Michael Piuze

Michael Joseph Piuze, Worcester Boy

Malibu, CA - Michael Joseph Piuze, born 75 years ago during World War II in Worcester, Massachusetts, died on May 2 after fighting melanoma as doggedly as he tackled big tobacco and auto companies.

The son of Albert and Pauline (Sadick) Piuze, Michael graduated from Classical High School in Worcester and Lake Forest College in Illinois. One night during his college years he found himself in a Florida jail after a traffic stop gone awry. When he asked the guard if he could make a phone call, which he said was his constitutional right, the guard replied, "Boy, Jefferson Davis didn't write that in the Constitution." This incident motivated Michael's pursuit of a law degree from the University of Texas in Austin, paid for largely from poker winnings.

Michael's risk-taking nature, photographic memory and aversion to settling cases out of court helped in his lifelong quest to compel corporate conglomerates to establish the safety measures that all of us can now depend upon.

From requiring stronger crash proof car roofs and back row middle seat shoulder belts to having a part in tobacco company warning labels on cigarettes, Michael's advocacy efforts will be long-lived.

A big heart for the underdog, a joy for battle, an ability to recall minute details, and an intolerance for injustice led to some of the largest verdicts ever recorded in the United States. Michael was, as a result, no stranger to appeals courts. History-making multi-billion-dollar punitive damages for cancer and crash victims, achieved by his small private practice, have been fought by giant corporations.

Michael, a former smoker, kept a partially used crumpled pack of cigarettes in a kitchen drawer as a constant reminder of the health dangers that drove his push for injury protections.

As part of the car roof crash case Michael tried against General Motors, new evidence came to light showing that while vehicles could pass inspection, roofs were too weak to protect passengers in rollovers. An Emergency World Summit on roof crash, in which Michael played a large role, ultimately forced a Senate hearing and upgraded roof strength standards required by automakers. Tens of thousands of lives are saved and catastrophic injuries are prevented each year, a lasting tribute to Michael's ardent advocacy.

In one nod to his unique abilities, counsel for a competing law firm recalls seeing Michael sitting at the trial table, alone, with nothing but a single yellow notepad in front of him. "Piuze (was) in trial against some behemoth insurance company armed only with his brain, a notepad and his ego," one attorney wrote in a report about trial preparation. "Unless you're Michael Piuze, you'll probably do better at counsel table armed with something more than a legal pad."

From childhood on, Michael was fascinated by wild animals, particularly those of Africa. He traveled many times through the years with his family and friends to Africa and other wildlife-rich places including the Amazon, Australia and Alaska. To help protect these animals and their habitats, Michael established the M. Piuze Foundation.

His generosity took other forms, as well. Although he lived in Malibu, California for four decades, he never forgot his roots. When in 1999 a tragic warehouse fire killed six firefighters in Worcester, he made a generous donation in their memory.

Also, after two unprecedented and major victories against Philip Morris, he and his assistant published "Trial in a Box," a toolkit offered at no cost and still in use today, to aid other attorneys in bolstering their suits against big tobacco.

Michael, who married Marnie Smart in 1971, is survived by his three daughters, Nicole Piuze Wilson, Stephanie Piuze Green, and Katharine Piuze Goodman; five grandchildren; sisters Margy (Piuze) Fraulo and Lissa (Piuze) Rotundo; an uncle and two aunts, also from Worcester; five nieces and nephews; as well as cousins who loved and admired him.

For the past 11 years, Michael was deeply loved and cared for by Jennifer Hines.

Donations are requested to go to the M. Piuze Foundation at 11755 Wilshire Blvd, 15th floor, Los Angeles, California 90025.