About Our Firm
In 1992, Michael and Peggy Pitt, Cary McGehee, and Stuart Dowty formed a trial law firm known as Pitt Dowty and McGehee in downtown Royal Oak, Michigan. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, our firm continues its involvement in trailblazing litigation and achievement of outstanding results for our clients.
After seven years and two favorable decisions by the Michigan Supreme Court, we have resolved a class action brought against the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency arising from false allegations of fraud due to the use of an automated system lacking human involvement. This case resolution brings justice to the thousands of Michigan citizens harmed by the false accusations of fraud. We also held the Michigan State Police accountable for race discrimination arising from its high-speed vehicle pursuits through the residential neighborhoods of minority communities like Flint that resulted in catastrophic injuries to innocent bystanders. We continue to hold corporations responsible for age-discriminatory practices utilized in their evaluation processes and workforce reductions. And we pursue government agencies who fail to protect citizens, including the FBI for their failure to timely investigate Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse of young girls—a failure that allowed him to continue to assault girls for an additional 18 months—and the EPA for its failure to promptly step in to stop the State of Michigan from poisoning the drinking water of Flint citizens.
Our Guiding Principles are clear: Every member of our firm is an exceptional talent, unrelenting in his or her passion for our clients and the progressive nature of legal work that we do, and is committed to working in an ethical, fair, and collaborative environment both inside the firm and in our relationships with opposing counsel, the courts and governmental agencies, and the public at large.
Our firm serves as counselors and advocates for individuals who have experienced workplace discrimination and injustice, or who have been harmed or injured by governmental officials, or sexually or physically abused by other powerful members of our society, such as doctors, teachers, clergy, and other professionals. We are able to secure monetary relief for our clients through negotiation, mediation, litigation, and trial. Our trial practice is centered in Michigan but we have cases pending in Colorado, California, New Mexico, Ohio, and Indiana.
We have learned that true justice sometimes requires more than just money to make things right. We have developed innovative strategies to effectuate lasting changes in broken workplaces, governmental operations, schools, and other organizations which deliver vital services to the public. These strategies are part of our ongoing commitment to Restorative Justice.
Our firm members have served as Class or Lead Counsel in multiple high-profile cases including the Flint water crisis litigation, sexual abuse cases against Michigan State University, United States Gymnastics, the FBI, University of Michigan, and Eastern Michigan University, as well as discrimination claims against Ford Motor Company, the Michigan Department of Corrections, Fiat Chrysler, Detroit Edison, Lucent Technologies and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department.
We are leaders in many legal, public, and private organizations dedicated to the advancement of social justice and human rights including the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, Eastern District Court of Michigan Pro Se Clinic, American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, Michigan Association for Justice, the Michigan Fair Housing Coalition, JARC, Roeper Board of Trustees, Michigan State University College of Law Board of Trustees, Wayne State University Law School Board of Visitors, Music Hall Board of Trustees, Forgotten Harvest, Oakland County Bar Association, Michigan State Bar and the Michigan State Bar Foundation, Public Justice, and the Federal Bar Association.
Our firm has secured far-reaching and landmark legal rulings from the United States Supreme Court, the Michigan Supreme Court, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Michigan Court of Appeals, and Federal District Courts. We are recognized in the community for our appellate advocacy and are a “go-to” firm for lawyers seeking creative and innovative approaches to difficult legal problems.
Many of us have engaged in high-level pro bono work including volunteer work on behalf of incarcerated individuals who were sentenced as juveniles to life without the possibility of parole. Through our efforts, two individuals serving more than 30 years behind bars for crimes committed when they were children have been resentenced and released.
Justice, served for 30 years and more to come!
We have the talent necessary to get great results for our clients, we have the passion to fight as long and as hard necessary and we are without exception ethical, fair and collaborative in our dealings with everyone.
We would be remiss if we did not mention our outstanding staff of legal assistants, clerks, and office managers. Our staff is our secret sauce and without them, we could not have grown from four to eleven attorneys. We have created a family-like workplace where everyone respects and cares about everyone else so that our clients’ work is always done timely and accurately.
We are exceptionally proud of the fact that attorneys who defend our court cases are a major source of client referrals. Former clients routinely refer their family members, colleagues, and associates to us. People who have dealt with us, even in an adversarial setting, respect us because of our adherence to our Guiding Principles: we have the talent necessary to get great results for our clients, we have the passion to fight as long and as hard as necessary and we are without exception ethical, fair and collaborative in our dealings with everyone.
