Community Leaders in Finance, Insurance & Law: Mike Breen

Story by Amelia Bowen

For over 40 years, Mike Breen has been protecting regular people injured by the carelessness of corporations and harmed by the aggressive tactics of insurance companies. His most recent courtroom victory was for $22,600,000 against a road construction company following a catastrophe that devastated the lives of four highway workers and their families. Before that, he obtained a $24,000,000 judgment for the victims of a high school shooting. He has many other noteworthy recoveries for injury victims and a long record of strong representation for car crash victims. Breen has also been a pioneer in opening up new areas in consumer insurance law. His 1996 book, “Bad Faith in Kentucky: A Primer,” helped launch an entirely new category of legal protection for people harmed by insurance company abuse and misconduct. His book is cited as authoritative by the Kentucky Supreme Court. Breen has given dozens of lectures to lawyers and judges about injury law and insurance company tactics, and he has 18 cases that have been cited as precedent by appeals courts. He has been selected as a Superlawyer every year since 2012 and holds the prestigious “AV” rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Breen graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1983. As an undergraduate at UK, he received an English-Speaking Union Scholarship and studied at Oxford University in England. In 2014, he received a Master of Arts in Religion degree from Reformed Theological Seminary, and he remains active in theological studies. He is also an instructor on religion for the Society for Lifelong Learning at Western Kentucky University. Early on Breen knew he was on the side of the injured. While he was in law school, he worked for a law firm that handled cases for insurance companies. After he graduated, he practiced at another firm that worked for insurance companies. He saw everything from the other side and learned how they think, and developed highly effective tactics for dealing with them to make certain his clients were treated fairly. And he takes pride in being able to talk to regular folks and understand what has happened to them after an injury. In 2023, Breen welcomed Will Williford into the firm. “I have known Will since he was 18 years old and let me tell you, he is one hard-charging man,” Breen said. “Lots of lawyers call themselves ‘injury lawyers’ but it takes a very special set of skills to be effective with insurance companies and highpriced defense lawyers and juries. Will Williford is that rare person who has the goods and is a great lawyer.”