Episode 5: The Art of the Bench Trial with Aaron Phelps

“A judge is just another juror. They’re people and they have an emotional reaction just like everyone else. You want the judge to be on your side. You want them to want to rule in your favor.“

-Aaron Phelps

Episode Outline

00:18 – Introduction

01:09 – About Aaron Phelps

03:41 – About Aaron’s firm

04:29 – The “hidden fees” cases

13:28 – Hi-Lex Controls, Inc. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan

27:49 – Aaron Phelps’ advice on bench trials

32:52 – Concluding remarks

Resources

• About Aaron Phelps
• About the “hidden fee” cases
• Aaron Phelps featured in water contamination documentary

About Aaron Phelps

Aaron Phelps focuses his practice on complex commercial and environmental litigation – in Michigan and around the country. Aaron has represented clients in contract and corporate governance disputes, telecommunications and energy matters, health care litigation and environmental tort actions.

Over the last five years, Aaron has represented over 200 companies in lawsuits against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for ERISA violations. The first trial resulted in a $6 million judgment, and subsequent judgments ranged from $315,000 to over $8 million. Aaron defended the primary judgment on appeal, where it was unanimously affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and certiorari denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In February 2020, Aaron successfully tried an inverse condemnation case against the City of Grand Rapids on behalf of the Plaza Towers. The jury awarded over $7 million in a case where the City offered zero dollars in settlement. Currently, Aaron represents over 400 Rockford area residents in over 250 lawsuits against Wolverine Worldwide and 3M related to PFAS contamination.