Meet Attorney Michelle L. Kranz

Attorney Michelle L. Kranz Attorney Michelle L. Kranz Attorney Michelle L. Kranz Attorney Michelle L. Kranz
  • Ohio State Bar Association President-Elect 2022 – 2023
  • Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee Member for Gilead Tenofovir Cases
    (JCCP 5043)
  • Liaison Counsel for the DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. ASR Hip Implant MDL
  • ASR Settlement Oversight Committee (SOC)
  • Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee on Text Messaging Antitrust Litigation
  • Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Biomet M2a Magnum Hip Implant MDL
  • Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee Member in the Testosterone Replacement Therapy MDL
  • Toledo Bar Association Past President
  • Toledo Bar Association Foundation Board (Trustee)
  • Ohio State Bar Association Board of Governors Representative
    for District 4
  • Ohio State Bar Foundation Board (Trustee)
  • Ohio, 1993
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, 1993
  • U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio, 2006
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1994
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 2007
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, 2014
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio, 1994
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1998

Michelle is a founding partner of the firm of Zoll & Kranz, LLC located in Toledo, Ohio. Michelle has been a plaintiff’s lawyer for the entirety of her practice - over 29 years. She devotes the majority of her time to complex consolidated litigation, advocating for patients injured by medical devices and prescription medications.

She has held multiple leadership positions in various mass tort litigations. Her current leadership positions include:

    • Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel and Settlement Oversight Committee, In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2197);
    • Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, Gilead Tenofovir Cases (California JCCP 5043); and
    • Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee and Common Benefit Committee, In Re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation (MDL No. 2545)

Michelle’s prior mass tort experience includes Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee Appointments in In re: Text Messaging Antitrust Litigation (MDL 1997) and In Re: Biomet M2A Magnum Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2391). Michelle’s other mass tort litigation experience includes:

    • In re: Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2740
    • In re: 3m Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2885
    • In re: Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, MDL 2670
    • In re: Zofran (Ondansetron) Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2657
    • In re: Benicar (Olmesartan) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2606
    • In re: Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2592
    • In re: Keurig Green Mountain Single-Serve Coffee Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2542
    • In re: Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2502
    • In re: Fresenius Granuflo/Naturalyte Dialysate Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2428
    • In re: Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2441
    • Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation (Transvaginal Mesh), MDL Nos. 2187, 2325, 2326, 2327, 2387, 2440
    • In re: Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2385
    • In re: Zoloft (Sertraline Hydrochloride) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2342
    • In re: Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2299
    • In re: Polyurethane Foam Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2196
    • In re: Zimmer Durom Hip Cup Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2158
    • In re: Yasmin and YAZ (Drospirenone) Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2100
    • In re: Lawnmower Engine Horsepower Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, MDL No. 1999
    • In re: Heparin Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1953
    • In re: Vioxx ® Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1657
    • In re: Sulzer Orthopedics Inc. Hip Prosthesis and Knee Prosthesis Liability, MDL No. 1401

Michelle also has extensive leadership experience in professional organizations. She is currently serving on the Board of Governors for the Ohio State Bar Association and is the President-Elect for 2022-2023 for the OSBA, as a Trustee for both the Ohio State Bar Foundation Board and the Toledo Bar Association Foundation, and a Trustee for the National Civil Justice Institute. She has also served as President of the Toledo Bar Association (2015-2016), as a member of the Council of Delegates of the Ohio State Bar Association, and recently completed two terms as a board member of the Ohio State Bar Foundation.

Michelle was born in Springfield, Ohio. She obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree (cum laude) from Miami University in 1990. She graduated from the University of Toledo College Of Law with a Juris Doctorate in 1993 and was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1993. Michelle is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois (2014), Northern (1994) and Southern (2006) Districts of Ohio, various other district courts, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (1994), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (2007), and the United States Supreme Court (1998).

She is AV Peer Review Rated 4.9 out of 5 on Martindale-Hubbell and is also listed as one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” by the American Trial Lawyers Association. She was designated “Lawyer of the Year” in the practice area of Personal Injury Litigation- Plaintiffs in Toledo by Best Lawyers® for 2019. Michelle was also selected to Super Lawyers in 2020, Top Rated Class Action & Mass Torts Attorney in Toledo, OH.

She is married and resides in Wood County with her husband Dean and their two children. They raise beef cattle which they exhibit at both a state and national level. She is an avid golfer and Dean and Michelle have had season tickets to the Detroit Tigers since 1999.