{{short description|American lawyer}}
{{Infobox person | birth_date = {{birth date|1967|12|7}} | birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio | death_date = {{death date and age|1999|10|2|1967|12|7}} | occupation = Lawyer }}
'''Michael David Weiss''' (December 7, 1967 – October 2, 1999) was an American lawyer. He began a class-action lawsuit against hospital syringe distributors in America, in the hope of protecting nurses from accidental syringe sticks.
==Early life and education== Michael Weiss was born in Cleveland, Ohio,<ref name=HChronObit>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Michael D. Weiss |date=1999-10-06 |newspaper=The Houston Chronicle |url=https://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/obits_3424154/michael-d-weiss.html |access-date=2012-02-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113015256/https://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/obits_3424154/michael-d-weiss.html |archive-date=2012-01-13}}</ref> the son of lawyer Leon<ref>{{cite web |title=Attorneys - Overview: Leon A. Weiss |work=Reminger |date=2016-02-22 |url=http://www.reminger.com/attorneys-Leon-Weiss.html |access-date=2016-02-22}}</ref> and recruiting company founder Marilou.<ref>{{cite web |title=Biographies - Marilou Cades |work=RC Search |date=2016-02-22 |url=http://www.rcsearch.com/about-us/biographies |access-date=2016-02-22}}</ref> He has one sibling, brother Daniel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Introducing the McCann Team: Daniel Weiss – CEO |website=McCann Total Security |date=2016-02-22 |url=http://mccann-security.com/company/ |access-date=2016-02-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308013549/http://mccann-security.com/company/ |archive-date=2016-03-08}}</ref> The family moved to Bellaire, Texas, in the Greater Houston metropolitan-area, when Weiss was young.
Weiss graduated from Bellaire High School in 1985, where he got to know his future law partner, Paul Danziger, who graduated the year before. They participated together in school debates, where Weiss was the team's captain. Weiss was a national merit scholarship semi-finalist.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mike Weiss (played by Chris Evans) |date=2012-02-20 |website=Puncture The Unofficial Movie Site |url=http://www.puncturemovie.com/the-real-people/mike-weiss/ |access-date=2012-02-20}}</ref>
Weiss studied philosophy for two years at Harvard University, then attended the University of Texas School of Law, where he also served as an editor for the ''Texas Law Review'', a student law journal.<ref name=HChronObit/> He graduated from the University of Texas in 1993, with special honors in philosophy and a J.D. degree.<ref name=HChronObit/>
==Career and social involvement== Following his graduation, Weiss clerked for Judge Edith Jones of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also worked with two different law firms. He subsequently co-founded the firm Lawson, Weiss & Danziger, alongside his schoolfriend Paul Danziger. During that time, Weiss worked on different political causes and with various people such as Bruce Hotze and Councilman Rob Todd. He also represented a number of clients in commercial and employment law cases. Together with his associates, Weiss co-chaired two successful whistleblower cases.<ref name="punctureMovie"/>
Weiss also taught as an assistant professor at the University of Houston Law School and South Texas College of Law. He was a Senior Fellow of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Distinguished Fellow of the Texas Justice Foundation, and a member of the Houston City Club.<ref name=HChronObit/>
In 1998, Mike Weiss and Paul Danzinger were approached by inventor Thomas J. Shaw, who had trouble selling an auto-retractable and single-use syringe (Safety Syringe) because Premier, Inc. and Novation, two largest healthcare group purchasing organizations (GPOs) in the United States, refused to adopt his new, more expensive, safer syringes.<ref name=Settle>{{cite news |title=Syringe Manufacturer Settles Claim of Market Manipulation |first1=Mary |last1=Williams Walsh |first2=Walt |last2=Bogdanich |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2004-07-03 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/03/business/03buyer.html?scp=16&sq=Retractable%20Technologies%20Inc&st=cse |url-access=limited |access-date=2011-11-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Hijacking At The Hospital |first=Pablo |last=Lastra |newspaper=Fort Worth Weekly |date=2005-11-03 |url=http://archive.fwweekly.com/index-new.asp?article=3419 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201214017/http://archive.fwweekly.com/index-new.asp?article=3419 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 1, 2021 |access-date=2012-02-20}}</ref> The inventor turned his hope toward Mike Weiss and Paul Danziger with those issues. Together, Weiss and Danziger brought a lawsuit against the GPOs, but the case never went to trial. In 2002, lawyer Mark Lanier helped Shaw settle with the two GPOs and, in 2004, settled for $100 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|100|2004|r=0|fmt=c}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}) with Becton, Dickinson and Company, the largest manufacturer of medical syringes.<ref name=Settle/>
==Death== Weiss died at the age of 31 on October 2, 1999. Weiss' memorial service was held at The United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit Ceremonial Courtroom.<ref name=HChronObit/> The official cause of his death is from a drug overdose. The authorities did not pursue further investigation.
==In popular culture== Chris Evans starred as Weiss in the 2011 feature film ''Puncture''.<ref name=punctureMovie>{{cite web |title=Home |website=Puncture The Unofficial Movie Site |url=http://www.puncturemovie.com |access-date=2012-02-20}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Michael David}} Category:Texas lawyers Category:1967 births Category:1999 deaths Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:Texas Public Policy Foundation people Category:Harvard University alumni Category:University of Texas School of Law alumni Category:Bellaire High School (Texas) alumni Category:Drug-related deaths in the United States Category:University of Houston faculty Category:South Texas College of Law faculty