Michael Darling

Michael Darling is an attorney who goes all in for his clients, no matter how tough the fight or how big the defendant. He was born and raised in south and central Texas. His father is a trial lawyer, which meant growing up participating in dramatic debates staged each evening around the dinner table. With that foundation, he pursued his B.A. in English Writing & Rhetoric at St. Edward’s University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude (highest possible academic honors). He was the top drummer in the school’s premier jazz band.

From the beginning, Michael was motivated by his profound belief that the jury system is vitally important. It is the only place in society where average citizens get a real say in addressing harms caused by large companies. Driven by that belief, Michael went on to obtain his law degree with honors (top of the class) from the University of Texas School of Law. While at UT Law, Michael competed on two traveling mock trial teams and was inducted into the Order of Barristers based on his extensive trial-advocacy work.

During that time, Michael interned for the Honorable Marina Garcia Marmolejo of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and served on two journals: the Texas International Law Journal, as the Director of Development, and The Review of Litigation, as an Articles Editor. Additionally, he worked as a Research Assistant to Professor Jane Cohen. In that capacity, he analyzed litigation over PFAS water contamination and the regulatory distinctions between the U.S. and E.U. concerning chemicals. He published three Notes, including one in the Texas Law Review.

Michael began his career with a global corporate law firm representing Fortune 500 companies in complex commercial trial work. That experience gave him valuable insight into how large corporations view litigation and the levers they pull in attempts to stack the deck in their favor. He learned that regularly taking on big companies in the courtroom is the only way to get these behemoth corporations to change their ways.
Michael was thrilled when he earned the opportunity to do just that by joining the nation’s top plaintiffs’ personal injury trial law firm, Arnold & Itkin. Michael is proud to be part of a team of top-flight trial lawyers who never stop fighting to repair the lives of injured individuals.

When he’s not working on cases or studying corporate wrongdoing in the media, Michael is probably listening to records, practicing yoga, hiking, or watching a nature documentary.

While at Arnold & Itkin, he tried multiple lawsuits to final resolution—never receiving an award of less than $1 million—and settled over $47 million in cases in a 2.5-year period. He also worked on mass-tort lawsuits presenting and taking depositions that settled collectively for over $1 billion. He took corporate-representative depositions and crafted a creative multi-defendant case strategy in a death case of a single individual who settled for $42.5 million.