LEWIS S. MIKE EIDSON became a partner at Colson Hicks Eidson in 1982. Mr. Eidson, a nationally recognized trial lawyer, concentrates his practice in products liability, medical and legal malpractice, aviation litigation, and class action and multi-district litigation.

Mr. Eidson graduated from the University of South Carolina where he was Atlantic Coast Conference Student Athlete of the year in 1968. He studied history at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, before graduating from Emory University Law School in 1971, where he was a Lamar Law Scholar.

In November 2000, Mr. Eidson was appointed to serve as national lead co-counsel in the Ford-Firestone multi-district litigation in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Mr. Eidson is also active in numerous professional associations and has earned
the respect of his peers in many complex and significant personal injury cases.

In 2006, Mr. Eidson became President of the 60,000-member Association of Trial Lawyers of America. In addition, he has served as a member of ATLA's Board of Governors for more than 15 years and is currently Chairman of the association's Leader's Forum. He has also served as ATLA's President-Elect, Vice-President, Parliamentarian, Treasurer and Secretary, and was Chairman of its Products Liability and Aviation Sections. He is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Trial Advocates and has served as President of the Miami Chapter.

Furthermore, Mr. Eidson has served as President of the Dade County Trial Lawyers Association, and has been on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. Mr. Eidson is a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers.

In 1995, Mr. Eidson co-authored Defective Products: Evidence to Verdict, a comprehensive guide to handling product liability suits and in 1997, he co-authored Florida Practice Guide: Personal Injury, a two-volume treatise on trial law in Florida and authored the chapter on Products Liability in ATLA's Litigation Tort Cases.

Additionally, Mr. Eidson is a founding member and past Chairman of the Institute for Injury Reduction, a national organization dedicated to the reduction of injuries caused by defective products. He also serves on the Board of the Attorneys Information Exchange Group and Trial Lawyers for Public Justice.

Mr. Eidson lectures frequently at trial seminars and has twice been Continuing Legal Education Director of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. He received the AFTL Masterson Award for Professionalism in 1999 and the ATLA Stephen Sharpe Award in 2001 for his work in the field of consumer safety.

In addition to his national public service and professionally related activities, Mr. Eidson is committed to service in the Miami-Dade community. He has served as President of the Board of Trustees of the acclaimed Miami City Ballet since 1999, and has also served on many other cultural and charitable organizations' boards including Miami-Dade Center for the Performing Arts, the Kristi House for abused children and the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.

In 2002 Mr. Eidson received the Lott Award from the Miami-Dade County Cultural Alliance for his work supporting the arts.