David Theodore Tirella

David T. Tirella is a Senior Trial Attorney with McKeen & Associates in Detroit Michigan.  He is Board Certified in Civil Trial by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has focused his career on high profile complex cases. David has become the attorney to see if you need a qualified expert on your case. Expert testimony frequently can make or break a case, but few attorneys are adept at navigating the science behind the testimony and breaking it down for a jury to understand. David is one of those rare attorneys that can do it with ease. With 32 years of experience handling a wide variety of civil and criminal matters, including more than 200 bench and jury trials, David has personally interviewed and/or hired hundreds of expert witnesses for criminal, civil, and medical malpractice cases.

Prior to joining McKeen & Associates in 2015, David focused his practice on medical malpractice, toxic tort, consumer/child advocacy and personal injury cases. He has successfully resolved personal injury cases, as lead trial attorney or as a key trial team member, in excess of $120 million in settlements and verdicts from 1997 to 2007. Since 2007, David has been involved in settling personal injury cases and receiving verdicts in the ten's of millions of dollars.   In 2015 in Michigan, David and a colleague were awarded a $3 million jury verdict in a medical malpractice wrongful death case.  Additionally, since 2015, David has settled over $40 million in medical malpractice cases in Michigan. 

In October 2007, after a six-day trial in which David represented the Plaintiffs, the jury awarded Plaintiffs $4 million in a suit against a local private school for failure to properly supervise students. A confidential settlement was reached after post-trial motions. In 2005, a fraudulent physical therapy billing practice action that David and co-plaintiffs filed resulted in a $323 million settlement between HealthSouth Corporation and the federal government. At the time, this settlement was the seventh largest health care qui tam case in United States history. In 2004, David Tirella and Matthew Powell tried an auto accident case. The defendant’s argument to the jury was the accident was merely a "fender bender" with only $500 in property damage to the vehicles, and only a "Soft Tissue Injury." After 4 days of trial, the jury agreed with the Plaintiff and awarded $1 million in damages. In 2002, David played an instrumental role in a $29 million settlement with a hospital for a victim who sustained brain damage while in the hospital's care.

Additionally, David spent a number of years in private practice, handling a range of criminal defense and plaintiff personal injury cases. In one criminal matter covered by the television news program, "20/20", David successfully defended a couple accused of felony child abuse for allegedly torturing and branding their sons with lit cigarettes. David's ability to assemble a comprehensive expert medical team, including a clinical dermatologist, child therapist, adult psychiatrist, and family physician, helped prove to the Court that the marks were actually caused by a rare skin condition. Felony charges were dropped and the couple's children were returned home.

On the civil side, in 1997 David T. Tirella and David G. Eaton handled a toxic tort case for 19 postal workers who fell ill from noxious chemical vapors released while flooring was being installed. After a two-week trial, the defendant settled the case for an amount substantially higher than previously offered.

David also spent a number of years as an Assistant State Attorney for Hillsborough County, prosecuting all levels of crime, ranging from misdemeanor, juvenile, and felony cases including murder. Over time David worked his way through the divisions, culminating as a prosecutor in the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Division. Among other honors, he was selected as a Governor Appointed Special Prosecutor to handle a complex case involving a string of 25 burglaries by a husband and wife team in a neighboring Florida County.

In addition to his legal work, David is also a consumer and child advocate. His work on behalf of the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up For All Students Act (an anti- bullying act for all public schools in Florida) included national media coverage, with appearances on ABC's "Good Morning America" and CBS' "The Early Show." His work helped push the bill through both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Governor Charlie Christ signed the bill into law in June 2008.

David frequently speaks and teaches on a wide variety of legal issues ranging from personal injury, legal education, and expert witnessing. His cases or legal opinions have also appeared on "CNN/Headline News", ABC's "20/20", Associated Press, Tru TV's (formerly Court TV) "In Session", Tru TV's "Open Court with Lisa Bloom", ABC News, MSNBC, "The Montel Williams Show", Fox 13 TV, WTSP 10 TV, "The Legal Talk Network", WFLA 8 TV, "Florida Matters" WUSF Radio, WQYK Radio, "Meeting by Accident" Internet Radio and "The Law and You" TV. Additionally, his cases or legal opinions have also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times, Tampa Tribune, St. Petersburg Times, Associated Press, Miami Herald, Chicago Union Times, Lawyer Weekly, ABA Journal, ACLU, Lakeland Ledger, 2nd District Court of Appeals and Florida Supreme Court.