Respected by lawyers and judges as an aggressive, skillful, and powerful trial lawyer, and by his clients as a compassionate and relentless advocate, A. Vince Colella is a founding partner of Moss & Colella, P.C., a Southfield, Michigan-based law firm that specializes in personal injury trial law and civil rights. Colella and his law firm co-founder David Moss have obtained millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for their clients.

For more than two decades, Colella has tried and won cases in state and federal courts throughout Michigan. He has deftly handled many high-profile cases, including: a snowboarding accident resulting in paralysis (recreational accident); a citronella fire pot explosion resulting in severe burns and scarring on a schoolteacher’s face, neck, and chest (product liability); a governmental immunity case against a shop teacher at a mid-Michigan public high school; an apartment fire in a Southfield, Michigan complex causing the death of two women and two children (premises liability); and an assault and battery case against a reality television producer in Hollywood, California.

A trailblazer in a ‘new era’ of civil rights, Colella takes public sector accountability to a higher level in pursuing justice for victims and their families in civil rights cases, including police shootings, police brutality, deadly force, jailhouse deaths, and premises liability at bars and lounges where death or severe injury has occurred. He has a growing, national reputation for taking on tough cases, including the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old unarmed woman by a City of Dearborn Police Officer; a man who was shot and killed by a St. Clair Shores police officer; the shooting of an unarmed teen by a Royal Oak, Michigan police officer; the shooting of a mentally ill man by a Harris County (Texas) Deputy Sheriff; and the ultimate death of a man in a Mt. Clemens, Michigan bar who died following a blow to the head as the security guard watched.  

A thought leader in personal injury and civil rights, Colella’s insights are frequently sought by media outlets including the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, WWJ News Radio 950, Fox2 Detroit, Crain’s Detroit Business, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, and Law 360. He also writes a monthly legal column, Colella in Context, in the Detroit Legal News, exploring such topics as the need to eliminate qualified immunity for police officers.

Colella has served as a member of the Executive Board of the Michigan Association for Justice and is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan, the Detroit Bar Association, and the Oakland County Bar Association. He is certified as a mediator and regularly serves as a Case Evaluator for the Oakland and Wayne County Circuit Court Case Management Offices.  In addition to his professional associations, Colella has played rugby for 23 years throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the West Indies, and is currently associated with the Detroit Tradesmen Rugby Football Club. Additionally, he earned a 3rd degree black belt in the martial arts and has spent time teaching defensive tactics to women, children, and police officers. Colella is a charitable supporter of Detroit’s Downtown Boxing Gym and in 2019 established the A. Vince Colella Scholarship to support law students considering a career in civil rights at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, his law school alma mater.  

Areas of Practice:

• Automobile Negligence
• Car accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Insurance Disputes
• Gross Negligence
• Wrongful Death
• Civil Rights
• Police Brutality and Misconduct
• Premises Liability
• Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment
• Discrimination in all forms
• Product Liability

Litigation Percentage:

• 100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation

Bar Admissions:

Michigan, 1994

• S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan
• S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit
• S. District Court Western District of Michigan

Education:

• University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Detroit, Michigan, J.D.
• Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, B.A. Psychology

Professional Associations and Memberships:

• American Bar Association
• State Bar of Michigan
• Oakland County Bar Association
• Detroit Bar Association
• American Association for Justice
• Michigan Association for Justice
• University of Michigan Rugby Club, 1999–2005 Club Captain/Player

Awards and Honors

• Multiple-year honoree, DBusiness Magazine Top Lawyers
• Multiple-year honoree, Michigan Super Lawyers
• Leader in the Law class of 2019, Michigan Lawyers Weekly magazine
• Multiple year honoree, National Trial Lawyers (Top 100)

Past Employment Positions:

• Provizer Phillips P.C., Associate Attorney, 1996–1997
• United Talent Agency, Assistant Talent Agent, 1993–1996

Ancillary Businesses:

• BSI Corporate Benefits