People

Michael V. Nakamura is an experienced and compassionate lawyer committed to getting justice for clients, primarily those who have suffered devastating injuries due to someone else’s negligence. 

For more than three decades, Mike has built a national practice with significant trial and litigation experience in catastrophic motor vehicle, motorcycle, and commercial trucking accidents, wrongful death cases, paraplegia, quadriplegia, and brain-damaged baby cases. He has been called into high-profile cases across the country, including representing injured clients in the Brandeis University shuttle bus accident in Massachusetts and the Wave Dancer dive boat tragedy in Belize, where he obtained the second-highest award for a U.S. family among dozens of claims. Mike has also handled numerous Federal Tort Claims Act and Military Claims Act cases, successfully representing family members of service members injured by medical malpractice at military hospitals in the U.S. and overseas, including in Japan, England, and Germany. His jury and bench trial results include back-to-back verdicts of $6.6 million and $2.1 million in 2024, along with skilled mediation and negotiated settlements, including several six- and seven-figure settlements in medical malpractice, bicycle, commercial trucking and wrongful death cases in 2025. 

Mike’s earlier experience as a judicial law clerk and business litigation attorney gives him a broad lens for evaluating legal issues, including insurance coverage disputes, consumer protection cases, contract cases, and automobile dealer-manufacturer issues. He has litigated cases in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, in both state and federal court. 

As an authority in personal injury, wrongful death, and medical malpractice, Mike has moderated and spoken at numerous seminars and appeared on local television discussing topics like dog bite liability, elevator accidents, gun liability, and premises liability. He has also served as an expert witness on behalf of other law firms. He also has given numerous presentations on deposition and trial skills. 

Mike is one of a small number of attorneys selected to serve on the Character Committee of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals of Maryland, a court-appointed group that reviews the character and fitness of bar applicants and upholds the ethics of the legal profession. At the request of the Maryland Supreme Court, he also serves on the Committee on Complex Litigation’s Medical Malpractice Work Group, a select group of judges and plaintiff and defense lawyers working to improve the efficiency of litigation in Maryland. Within Shulman Rogers, Mike has co-chaired the Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Department for many years and previously served on the Board of Directors. 

Mike is deeply involved with premier legal organizations, including the American Association of Justice, the Birth Trauma Litigation Group, the Maryland Association of Justice, and the Trial Lawyers Association for the District of Columbia, where he regularly presents and participates in continuing education.