Michele Bartoli Cain is a trial lawyer. She concentrates her practice in the areas of dental malpractice, medical malpractice, personal injury and wrongful death. Michele has obtained substantial recoveries for clients who have suffered significant injury or death from the negligence of doctors and dentists.
From the halls of Wake Forest University School of Law to the courtroom, Michele has always been a fierce advocate. She began her career litigating complex commercial cases and tackling product liability, even playing a key role in dismantling the silver cartel. But it was the plight of a severely injured dental malpractice victim that unveiled Michele’s true calling. For the past twenty-five years, Michele has dedicated her career to championing the rights of those seriously injured by professional negligence. She has tirelessly pursued justice, holding doctors and dentists accountable across the DC region and beyond. Specializing in the niche field of dental medicine, Michele has secured significant verdicts and settlements for her clients in Virginia, DC, and Maryland.
Michele is renowned for handling a variety of serious and complex cases, leveraging her extensive experience to advocate for those most in need. Her practice includes representing clients with inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) and lingual nerve (LN) injuries, which often arise from negligent dental procedures. Michele is also well-versed in cases involving the failure to diagnose oral cancer and helps clients suffering catastrophic failures of restorative dental treatments. In the field of medical malpractice, Michele takes on cases involving a wide range of severe and permanent injuries, as well as wrongful death, tirelessly championing the rights of families who have endured profound losses due to professional negligence.
In 2005, Michele decided to launch her own firm in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. She led that firm until 2022 when she joined Shulman Rogers with the opening of the Alexandria, Virginia office. She serves clients throughout Northern Virginia and Washington, DC.
Recognized by her peers as a top advocate in her field, Michele is rated AV (“preeminent”) by Martindale-Hubbell, the leading attorney-ranking service. Michele also is listed in Best Lawyers, has been named a Washington, DC “ Superlawyer, ” and repeatedly has been selected as one of the Best Personal Injury Attorneys in the Washington, DC area by Washingtonian magazine.
Michele is an active member of the American Bar Association and The American Association for Justice and has been inducted into the Etheridge Society, the preeminent medical malpractice honor society. She is a charter member of the National Museum for Women in the Arts, a member of the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association, the Board of Governors of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington D.C. and is a longtime member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association .
As a recognized leader in her field, Michele has often lectured to groups of physicians and dentists. She feels that her duty as an attorney is to not only litigate for justice, but also to assist physicians to improve the quality of health care they render to avoid injury to their patients.
A dedicated resident of Alexandria, Virginia, Michele consistently participates in community events. When she is not passionately representing her clients or spending time with family, she enjoys working in her garden and is avid about opera. She loves to introduce opera to the young community and has this as her mission in over a decade of service as a director of the Washington Concert Opera .
Latest News
Among many cases she has resolved, Michele achieved a notable settlement published in March 2023 in Virginia’s Million Dollar Settlements for 2022 from Virginia Lawyers’ Weekly for her representation in a medical malpractice case for a client who had survived prostate cancer and a radical prostatectomy only to discover through his own diligence that the cancer had returned. Because his doctor failed to inform him or act upon abnormal PSA results, the cancer metastasized and resulted in death. Michele also achieved a $1,400,000 settlement on behalf of a client who suffered a disabling dental infection. In 2023, she achieved a million-dollar settlement for a client who had suffered a profound inferior alveolar nerve injury as a result of negligent dental implant placement. Earlier, she achieved a $1,800,000 settlement for a plaintiff who had suffered and then died from the failure to timely diagnose oral cancer. Midway through a trial on the eve of the pandemic, Michele achieved a million-dollar settlement for a significant hysterectomy injury. As part of a trial team, in 2019, Michele achieved a unanimous $625,000 jury verdict in the matter of Piller v. Corey C. Crigler a/k/a Corey C. Burgoyne, DMD et al, a zero-offer oral surgery malpractice case tried in the Augusta County Circuit Court of Virginia. In the Piller case, the minor plaintiff had been injured during a wisdom tooth extraction at age twelve. The defendant’s oral surgeon completely severed her left lingual nerve during the extraction. The injuries the young plaintiff suffered resulted in numbness, hypersensitivity, discomfort, and pain that will last for the rest of her life. Michele states, “The defendant refused to accept responsibility for her negligence, and we were forced to proceed to a jury trial to hold her accountable and advance the cause of safety in oral surgery, which helps protect the public from such future injuries. It is cases such as this which provide justice in medical malpractice matters....”
Michele’s reputation and her advocacy in such significant cases have earned her a place in the Washingtonian Top Lawyers Hall of Fame and in December 2023, the accolade of a “Virginia Go to Lawyer for Medical Malpractice.” She was appointed in 2022 to the Board of Governors of the Metropolitan Washington, DC Trial Lawyers Association (DCTLA) and in 2020 was named as an Influential Woman of the Law. In 2025, Super Lawyers named Michele a top-rated Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury attorney and Best Lawyers has recognized her since 2009 for both Medical Malpractice and Plaintiff’s Personal Injury.
Recognition
•The Best Lawyers in America, 2009-2026
•Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating 2024-2025
•The Best Lawyers in America - Women in the Law, 2025
•Washingtonian Magazine Top Personal Injury Lawyers
•Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly Influential Woman Lawyer of Virginia, 2020
•Virginia Super Lawyers, 2012-2023
•American Bar Foundation fellow
•Etheridge Society
Seminars & Speaking Engagements
•DCTLA Women’s Caucus Seminar, “Doing it Differently: Be Bold, Be Visible, Be YOU,” Local Legends Panel, June 27, 2025
News & Events
45 Shulman Rogers Lawyers Recognized as Best Lawyers in America
Shulman Rogers Attorneys Named to 2025 Virginia Super Lawyers List
Shulman Rogers Attorneys Recognized in Best Lawyers 2025 Women in the Law
34 Shulman Rogers Lawyers Recognized as Best Lawyers Award Recipients
Michele Bartoli Cain of Shulman Rogers Secures $1.4 Million Settlement in Medical Malpractice Case
Shulman Rogers Welcomes Three New Shareholders; Expands Presence in Northern Virginia
Shulman Rogers Law Firm Expands in Northern Virginia; Adds Two Top Lawyers to its Team
