Michael A. Malia, a Partner with Peri Stewart Malia, is a seasoned trial attorney with more than two decades of wide-ranging first chair experience, trying more than 50 cases. He is a zealous advocate who is an “outside the box” strategist. Clients rely upon Mr. Malia’s ability to rapidly analyze large amounts of information and see the big picture, to determine which course of action is most beneficial.
PRACTICE AREAS AND EXPERIENCE: Mr. Malia has a diverse and selective litigation and trial practice, counseling and representing individuals and business entities, including Fortune 100 companies, in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. He has represented clients in complex litigation; fraud suits: insurance, healthcare, financial and consumer; anti-bullying and education law matters; commercial litigation and business contract disputes; personal injury cases; insurance coverage disputes; product liability suits; and in appeals to the New Jersey Appellate Division and Supreme Court and the Pennsylvania Superior Court and Supreme Court. He is also a part of the pool of Advisers for Princeton University’s External Adviser Program. Mr. Malia has taken jury trials to verdict in North, Central and South Jersey. He was lead trial counsel, successfully representing plaintiff insurance companies in a six-month trial, resulting in multimillion dollar judgments against ten defendants for violating the New Jersey Insurance Fraud Prevention Act- Allstate New Jersey Ins. Co., et al. and the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance v. Gregorio Lajara, et al. He was also lead trial counsel, successfully representing plaintiff insurance companies, in a trial against a pharmacy and five individuals resulting in a unanimous jury verdict finding all six defendants liable for violating the New Jersey Insurance Fraud Prevention Act. Mr. Malia also has extensive appellate experience, authoring appellate briefs on a wide range of issues and arguing before the New Jersey Appellate Division, the New Jersey Supreme Court and the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
(Mr. Malia arguing before the New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of his client, the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud)
THREE BOARD CERTIFICATIONS: Mr. Malia is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney; Certified in Civil Trial Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy; and Certified in Civil Pretrial Practice Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.*
AWARDS: The New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law named Mr. Malia a “Professional Lawyer of the Year” in 2020. Mr. Malia received the Attorney of the Year Award from the New Jersey Defense Association in 2020. He also received the Defense Research Institute’s Exceptional Performance Citation in 2020.
HONORS: Mr. Malia was selected to the list of AV® Preeminent™ rated lawyers from Martindale-Hubbell; and was selected to the New Jersey Super Lawyers list for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, and selected to the New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. He was selected as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA). The AV® Preeminent™ rating is conferred by Martindale-Hubbell. A description of the selection methodology can be found here. The Super Lawyers lists are issued by Thomson Reuters. A description of the selection methodology for both lists may be found here. A description of the selection methodology for the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA) may be found here.**
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES: Mr. Malia has held several leadership positions in the New Jersey Defense Association (NJDA), including Chairperson of the Board (2020-2021); President (2019-2020); President-Elect and Editor-in-Chief of the New Jersey Defense (2018-2019); Secretary/Treasurer (2017-2018); Board of Directors (2015-2017). He also founded the NJDA’s Fraud Committee and has been its only Chair since inception; and is the Chair of the ADR Committee. He attended the Defense Research Institute’s (DRI) 2019 Leadership Conference in Chicago. Mr. Malia is the current DRI New Jersey State Representative. He has also had many speaking engagements on a variety of legal topics throughout his career, including, by way of example: at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting and Convention; at the New Jersey Special Investigator’s Association’s (NJSIA) Annual Seminar, as well as the New Jersey Insurance Fraud Summit; at the New Jersey Defense Association’s Annual Convention and at the NJDA’s ADR Seminar; and for the New Jersey ICLE.
EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL ADMISSIONS: Mr. Malia is an honors graduate of the University of Scranton and received his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He received his LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree in Trial Advocacy from Temple University Beasley School of Law’s top-ranked trial program. Mr. Malia completed the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance’s (CLM) Litigation Management Institute (LMI) hosted at Columbia Law School in New York City. Mr. Malia is admitted to practice law in the state courts of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. He is also admitted to practice before the District Court of New Jersey, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. *The State of New Jersey Certification is not granted by any governmental authority within the State of New York and the National Board of Trial Advocacy Certifications are not granted by any governmental authority. **No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.