Over $75 million in verdicts and settlements in 18 years.
Early in life he watched his father in court and learned what it took to present an effective case to a jury. After high school, he graduated from Notre Dame and then returned to Portland to get his law degree at Lewis and Clark Law School.
Mike began trying jury trials while he was still in law school working as in intern at the Multnomah County District Attorney's office. He was lucky enough to be mentored by an amazing trial attorney, Rod Underhill, who was the elected DA for Multnomah County. Rod told him there were a lot of mediocre trial attorneys, some good ones, and very few great ones and that if he worked hard he could be one of the best. Mike volunteered to try any case any time, and came in on his days off to try cases for free.
After passing the bar exam, Mike was immediately offered a job as a Deputy District Attorney and spent most of the next eight-years in the courtroom and trying cases. Getting to be a better trial lawyer was the main focus in his life and he spent many, many days in trial, trying around 100 criminal jury trials. Eventually it was time for a change, so Mike went out on his own in 2002. He sought out the best of the best personal injury attorneys and worked very hard at learning what it took to get the best results for his clients.
I had a personal injury case in 2016 that a different attorney screwed up. I had a back fusion and needed a hip replacement. Things were not looking very good till Mr Colbach got involved. He settled my case for policy limits within a few months. -->More
Tye Strong
Mike realized that there was no replacement for hard work and put all his efforts into becoming one of the top attorneys in Portland for motor vehicle accidents. Telling injured people's stories to juries resulted in a number of outstanding verdicts for Mike's clients and much higher settlements for the cases that did not go to trial.
Mike's practice is a low volume practice that focuses on major injury cases. This allows Mike to have plenty of time and energy to work on every case to make sure EVERY client gets a fair amount. Mike has been told by insurance adjusters and attorneys that when they see his name on a case, they know it has merit and that they will have to pay top dollar or go to trial. If Mike takes a case, he believes in it, and is willing to invest as much time, energy, and money as it takes to make sure his client has a good result.
Mike has taught a number of trial practice classes and mentored a number of younger lawyers and is proud that the lawyers he has taught have had amazing results.
In his free time, Mike enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, cycling, hiking, and is an avid offshore fishermen.