The most important cases are rarely the easiest ones. They involve powerful defendants with deep pockets and experienced legal teams. They involve plaintiffs who have been told their situation is too complicated, too risky, or not worth pursuing. They involve harm that is real and serious and documented, and a system that is counting on the injured person giving up before anyone is held accountable.
Marko Law was built for those cases. Not despite the difficulty. Because of it.
What It Actually Means to "Try a Case"
Most civil cases never reach a jury. They settle, sometimes fairly, often for less than the plaintiff deserves, because the firm handling the case is not genuinely prepared to go to trial. Insurance companies and institutional defendants know this. They track which firms try cases and which firms fold, and they adjust their settlement offers accordingly.
A firm with a real trial record changes that dynamic from the first demand letter. When the other side knows that Marko Law is prepared to walk into a courtroom and win in front of a jury, the negotiation looks different. The offers look different. The outcomes look different.
Jon Marko's trial record is not a marketing claim. It is a documented history:
- 20 jury trials
- 20 consecutive seven- and eight-figure verdicts
- Zero losses since 2012
The Cases Other Firms Won't Touch and Why Marko Law Takes Them
Difficult cases get turned down for predictable reasons. The defendant is too large. The liability is too complex. The evidence requires too much expert work. The plaintiff is too vulnerable, too marginalized, or too easy for a jury to dismiss without the right presentation.
These are exactly the calculations that powerful defendants are counting on. Institutional defendants (corporations, government agencies, healthcare contractors, employers) do not fear firms that take only clean, straightforward cases. They fear firms that are willing to do the harder work.
Marko Law's philosophy is direct: if the harm is real and the cause is just, the case deserves a fighter. That has meant taking on correctional healthcare giants in federal court, holding employers accountable for race and religious discrimination, pursuing civil rights claims against government institutions, and fighting for injured people whose cases other firms declined to accept.
The $307,600,000 Verdict: Justice Inside a Federal Courtroom
Few cases illustrate what Marko Law does better than Jackson v. Corizon Health, the largest verdict against a correctional healthcare facility in United States history.
The case centered on the denial of necessary medical care to a person in a correctional setting, a fundamental violation of Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The defendant was Corizon Health, an entrenched institutional player with significant resources and every incentive to fight.
This was federal civil rights litigation at its most complex. The legal stakes were high, the institutional resistance was significant, and the human stakes were higher than any dollar figure could fully capture. At its core, the case was about one principle: that no person, regardless of their circumstances, can be denied their constitutional right to medical care.
The Trial Team That Delivered That Verdict
- Jon Marko, Lead Trial Attorney
- Samantha Teal, Litigation Consultant
- Allie Farris, Attorney
- Larry Margolis, Attorney
- Ian Cross, Attorney
- Chris Putrycus, Attorney
- Nathan Lumbard, Paralegal
The result was $307,600,000, a number that made national headlines. But the meaning of the verdict goes beyond the number. It established a precedent, delivered accountability to an institution that had operated without it, and affirmed that the legal system can still produce justice when the right team is willing to fight for it.
You can review this verdict and others at markolaw.com.
Record-Setting Results Across the Board
Jackson v. Corizon Health is the most visible entry in a record that spans multiple practice areas and multiple categories of historic achievement.
- Largest premises liability verdict in Michigan history, holding property owners accountable for the full consequences of their negligence
- Largest race discrimination verdict in Michigan history, a result that sent a message to employers across the state
- 2nd largest verdict of any kind in Michigan history, a testament to what full trial preparation produces
- 2nd largest religious accommodation verdict in world history, a case that drew national attention and affirmed that religious rights in the workplace are not negotiable
- Largest UM (underinsured motorist) verdict in Michigan history, fighting for injury victims when insurance companies refused to pay what policies promised
How Marko Law Builds a Case That Wins at Trial
Knowing the Facts Better Than Anyone in the Room
Trial preparation at Marko Law starts with a command of the facts that goes deeper than what the other side expects. Every document, every timeline, every inconsistency in the defendant's story gets examined before a single witness is called.
Finding the Experts Who Can Make a Jury Believe
Expert witnesses don't just add credibility. They translate complex medical, technical, or institutional facts into human terms that a jury can understand and act on. Marko Law invests in the right experts and prepares them to testify with clarity and conviction.
Understanding the Defendant's Playbook Before They Run It
Institutional defendants use predictable tactics: minimization, manufactured justifications, pre-existing condition arguments, and delay. Anticipating those moves and preparing to dismantle them is part of trial preparation from day one.
Building a Story, Not Just an Argument
Juries are human beings. They respond to narrative, to credibility, and to a clear sense of right and wrong. Marko Law doesn't just present facts. It builds a story that puts the jury in the plaintiff's experience and makes the defendant's conduct impossible to excuse.
Being Prepared to Go All the Way, Every Single Time
The willingness to go to verdict is not a bluff. It is a commitment that shapes every decision in a case, from the initial demand to the final closing argument. That commitment is what makes the difference when the other side is deciding how seriously to take the litigation.
What Clients Experience Working With Marko Law
From the first call to the final verdict, clients at Marko Law are treated as the reason the firm exists, not as a file number moving through a pipeline.
The intake process is designed to be direct and clear. You speak with someone who can actually assess your situation, not a call center reading from a script. Throughout litigation, communication is consistent and honest, including about the challenges a case presents and the work required to win it.
What clients describe most often is the experience of having someone genuinely in their corner. Not a firm going through the motions. Not a settlement factory looking for the fastest exit. A team that is building toward a verdict from day one and treating the client's story as something worth fighting for.
For a closer look at the cases Marko Law handles and the culture behind the work, check out the Cases Gone Wild podcast on YouTube at @markolaw3821.
Why Detroit and Why It Matters
Marko Law is a Detroit firm. That is not incidental. It is foundational.
Detroit has a history of people standing up against powerful interests and demanding accountability. That spirit lives in the fabric of this city, and it lives in how Marko Law approaches litigation. The firm was founded here in December 2015, has grown to a 30-plus person team, and has built its entire record in Michigan courts, understanding the judges, the juries, and the specific landscape of litigation in this state.
Local knowledge matters at trial. Courtroom relationships matter. An understanding of the communities that Michigan juries come from matters. Marko Law brings all of that to every case, not as a regional limitation, but as a genuine competitive advantage in the courts where it matters most.
The Verdict Is the Point
A settlement can compensate. A verdict does something more. It puts the defendant's conduct on record, in front of a jury of the plaintiff's peers, and it says: this was wrong, and we found you responsible.
That public accountability is what institutions fear most. It is what drives systemic change. And it is what Marko Law fights for in every case it accepts, not because it is easy, but because it is what justice actually looks like.
Your Case Deserves a Fighter. Contact Marko Law.
If you have been injured, if your rights have been violated, or if you have been told your case is too difficult to pursue, Marko Law wants to hear from you. A free case evaluation costs nothing and may change everything.
📞 +1-313-777-7777
📍 220 W. Congress, 4th Floor, Detroit, MI 48226
🌐 markolaw.com
At Marko Law, we fight hard and we don't back down.