Michael Wade has represented injured Arizonans in twelve different counties — from Maricopa to Cochise to Coconino — since he was admitted to the bar in 1991. Three decades later, the firm he co-founded with Michael Nysather still does only one thing: personal injury and wrongful death, nothing else.
AN AWESOME ATTORNEYS EDITORIAL PROFILE
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING NOTICE. This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys’ editorial team. It was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed prior to publication by the firm profiled. All case results, recoveries, and recognitions described below are attributed to their sources. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter. This article is for general information only and is not legal advice; reading it does not create an attorney–client relationship.
WADE & NYSATHER, P.C. — At a Glance
| FOUNDED | 1994, by Michael A. Wade and Michael J. Nysather |
| OFFICES | Five Phoenix-area locations: Scottsdale (8961 E. Bell Rd., described in current firm materials as the main office), Chandler, Glendale (the firm’s original office, per its own history), Mesa, and Phoenix |
| PRACTICE MODEL | Plaintiff-only, exclusively personal injury and wrongful death — auto, motorcycle, trucking, bicycle, pedestrian, and rideshare (Uber/Lyft) accidents; traumatic brain and spinal cord injury; burns; premises liability |
| FOUNDER BACKGROUND | Michael A. Wade: B.A., Finance and Accounting, University of Kansas (1988); J.D., Arizona State University (1991), recognized as a Pedrick Scholar; licensed in Arizona since 1991 |
| GEOGRAPHIC REACH | Per Wade’s own attorney biography, he has represented accident victims in Maricopa, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal, Mohave, Yuma, Apache, Gila, Cochise, La Paz, Coconino, and Navajo counties |
| NOTABLE SERVICE | Handles clients’ property-damage claims (vehicle repair/replacement) at no additional charge, per the firm |
| FEE MODEL | Contingency — no fee unless the firm recovers (per the firm) |
Sources: azaccident.com (firm website), lawyers.findlaw.com, LinkedIn. Compiled July 2026.
Two Michaels, Three Decades, One Practice Area
Michael A. Wade earned his B.A. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Kansas in 1988, then attended Arizona State University’s law school, graduating in 1991 and earning recognition as a Pedrick Scholar. Before founding the firm, he practiced briefly at a mid-size Phoenix firm specializing in real estate. In 1994, Wade and Michael J. Nysather founded Wade & Nysather together, and per Wade’s own attorney biography, his practice since has focused entirely on accident and personal injury law — representing clients across a strikingly wide geographic footprint that includes rural counties like Greenlee, Apache, and La Paz alongside Maricopa.
That statewide reach, sustained over more than 30 years by a firm that has never branched into other practice areas, is a genuine point of differentiation. Several firms in this series describe adding personal injury to an existing general practice, or splitting time between injury work and another specialty; Wade & Nysather’s own materials describe the opposite — a firm that has done nothing but plaintiff’s injury and wrongful death work since it opened.
Five Offices, One Focus
The firm operates from five Phoenix-area locations — Scottsdale, Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, and Phoenix — all handling the same narrow caseload: motor vehicle collisions of every type (car, motorcycle, trucking, bicycle, pedestrian, and rideshare), traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, burn injuries, and premises liability. The firm’s own materials note it will handle a client’s property-damage claim — the vehicle repair or replacement side of a case, separate from the injury claim itself — at no additional charge, a detail the firm frames as uncommon among competitors.
The Results Board
Wade & Nysather’s public materials do not publish an itemized settlement-and-verdict table, and Awesome Attorneys did not locate one through independent research. The firm’s own language emphasizes “significant settlements” in general terms rather than a published results ledger. This profile does not supply figures the firm has not published.
Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.
What Clients Report
Client reviews published on the firm’s own site name individual case handlers directly rather than offering generic praise, a pattern consistent across several firms in this series that this profile treats as a meaningful signal of genuine client contact.
“Wade & Nysather were phenomenal. They handled my case with professionalism and compassion, securing a settlement that exceeded my expectations.”
— Joshua Clark, client review published via the firm’s website
Another reviewer specifically credited a named case handler, Melissa Cilley, with a recovery larger than expected: “She worked so hard that I ended up with a lot more than I thought I would.” A third reviewer, Lupe Molina, praised the firm for being “attentive and professional” and keeping the client informed “in a prompt manner” throughout the case.
Peer Standing
Awesome Attorneys did not locate Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, or State Bar Board of Legal Specialization recognition for either founding partner, and this profile does not use the word “specialist” to describe either attorney on that basis. Michael Wade’s Pedrick Scholar recognition at ASU’s law school is the clearest individually verifiable academic credential located for the firm.
The Arizona Backdrop, in Plain English
Readers weighing a Phoenix-area injury claim — or a claim anywhere in the wide range of Arizona counties the firm has served — should understand a few baseline rules. What follows is general information, not legal advice.
The two-year clock. Arizona’s statute of limitations for personal injury and wrongful death claims is generally two years (A.R.S. § 12-542).
Fault is shared, not all-or-nothing. Arizona follows pure comparative negligence (A.R.S. § 12-2505): a claimant’s recovery is reduced by their share of fault but not eliminated entirely.
Rideshare crashes involve extra insurance layers. Uber and Lyft accidents in Arizona typically implicate the driver’s personal policy, the rideshare company’s contingent liability coverage, and potentially the other driver’s policy, depending on whether the app was on, a ride was accepted, or a passenger was in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
Suing the government is faster and stricter. Claims against a public entity require a formal notice of claim within 180 days (A.R.S. § 12-821.01) and suit within one year (A.R.S. § 12-821) — relevant for the firm’s rural-county caseload, where government-maintained roads are a more frequent factor in crash cases.
The Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Wade & Nysather’s strongest asset is genuine, sustained focus: three decades as a plaintiff-only injury and wrongful death practice, with a founder whose personal caseload has reportedly touched a dozen Arizona counties, and reviews that consistently name specific staff rather than offering generic praise. For a client anywhere in Arizona — not just metro Phoenix — that statewide familiarity is a real asset.
The honest gap is the same one facing several long-running firms in this series: no published settlement or verdict figures, and no peer-nominated litigation awards beyond Wade’s academic Pedrick Scholar distinction from law school. A prospective client with a high-value or catastrophic claim should ask directly about the firm’s recent results in that specific injury category. For an Arizona claimant — particularly one outside the immediate Phoenix core — who wants a firm with genuinely statewide experience and a no-fee property-damage service, Wade & Nysather is worth the conversation.
Methodology & Sourcing
This profile was researched and written independently by Awesome Attorneys’ editorial team in July 2026. Primary source: the firm’s current website, azaccident.com, including Michael Wade’s individual attorney biography page, which provided founding, geographic, and educational detail. Secondary sources: FindLaw attorney directory listings (office locations and firm history) and LinkedIn. Awesome Attorneys noted an inconsistency between the firm’s current materials, which describe Scottsdale as the main office, and separate firm history describing Glendale as the original office, and reports both rather than resolving the discrepancy. Wade & Nysather did not commission, pay for, or pre-approve this article. All figures are attributed to their sources; past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. This article is general information, not legal advice.
© 2026 Awesome Attorneys. Independent editorial. Sponsored placements on Awesome Attorneys are always clearly labeled; this is not one.
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