P.O. Box 551 104 West Street Annapolis, Maryland 21404-0551
Phone: (410) 263-5900 x1120
E-mail:
Fax: (410) 280-2230
Mike Wharton, a Firm shareholder, represents manufacturers and other entities in a product's distributive chain in product liability actions in the state and federal courts in the Mid-Atlantic region. Admitted in Maryland and the District of Columbia, Mr. Wharton has tried numerous cases to verdict in the state and federal courts in those two jurisdictions, as well as state and federal courts in many neighboring states, including Delaware and Virginia.
Mike also has an active appellate practice and has been asked frequently to write amicus curiae briefs on behalf of The Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc.
His peers have consistently voted Mr. Wharton a Maryland Super Lawyer. In 2018, he was selected to join the ranks of America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators in Maryland. Less than one-half percent (0.5%) of litigators in the United States will ever receive this award. Also in 2020, he was elected to become a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. He is a member of both their Diversity Law Institute, and their Trial Law Institute. In 2020, he was also invited to join America’s Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators.
Mr. Wharton serves on Wharton Levin’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, focusing on increasing the recruitment, retention, and promotion of employees from all races, ethnicities, cultures, religions, genders and sexual orientations.
Mr. Wharton has a lengthy history of involvement with professional and civic organizations, including most notably The Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., of which he has been a member since 1983, and in which he served as a member of the Case Selection Committee from 1988 to 2002, and again from 2007 to 2010, as well as on the Executive Committee from 2002 to 2005. He is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association.
Mr. Wharton is also an avid horseman. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Maryland Steeplechase Association, having served as its Vice President and its immediate past President. He served for many years as a Secretary of the Green Spring Valley Hounds, Inc. He also chaired for many years their annual Point to Point.
Mr. Wharton also serves on the Board of the Land Preservation Trust, and has served on the Board of Mid-Atlantic Wildlife Conservation.
Mr. Wharton is AV® Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell.
Bar Admissions:
- Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1981
- District of Columbia Court of Appeals , 1988
- United States District Court for the District of Maryland, 1982
- United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 1986
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1981
- United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1988
- United States Supreme Court, 1986
Education:
- University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland, 1981 J.D. Honors: With Honor
- University of Virginia, 1978 B.A. Honors: With Distinction
Published Works:
- Co-Author, "Caps in the Hat Come Back: Revisiting Legislative Lids on Runaway Verdicts", For the Defense, September, 1993
- Co-Author, "Choice of Law in Product Liability Actions: Order for the Practitioner in a Reign of Chaos", 12 U. Bal. L. Rev. 396, 1983
Honors and Awards:
- America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators in Maryland, since 2018
- Maryland Super Lawyer, 2017 - Present
Professional Associations and Memberships:
- Maryland State Bar Association, Litigation Section, 1981 - 2000 Member, Product Liability Committee
- American Bar Association, Litigation Section, 1981 - 2000 Member, Product Liability Committee
- American Bar Association, 1981 - 2000 Section on Tort and Insurance Practice
- American Bar Association, 1981 - 2000
- Aviation and Space Law CommitteeMaryland Defense Counsel, 1981 - Present
- Product Liability Advisory Council, 1988 - 2002 Sustaining Member
- Product Liability Advisory Council, 1988 - 2002, 2007 - present Member, Case Selection Committee
- Product Liability Advisory Council, 2002 - 2005 Member, Executive Committee