Michael McCarty Harrison was born in Little Rock and raised in Helena-West Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas. Her father is retired physician, Dr. Eddie McCarty, who still resides there, as does the majority of her family, many of whom are still practicing physicians. She attended the University of Arkansas on a University Scholarship, where she majored in Political Science and History, graduating with honors in three years with degrees in both, in 1995. While there, she was a member and officer of both the Golden Key National Honor Society and Delta Delta Delta sorority. She was also recognized two years by “Who’s Who – College Students.”

Michael attended law school at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law, during which time she served as Professor Dent Gitchell’s research assistant for two years. Together, they completed a revised pocket part to Professor Gitchell’s resource book, “Admissibility of Evidence, A Manual for Arkansas Trial Lawyers.” She also served on the 1997-1998 Trial Team, which won the Henry Woods’ Trial Competition, and was a member of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity. She was recognized by “Who’s Who – Law Students” in her second and third years. Upon graduation in 1998, Michael received the CALI “Excellence for the Future Award” in Environmental Law, as well as became certified as a Small Claims Mediator with the Little Rock District Courts.

She practiced for three and a half years with The Trammell Law Firm, primarily in the fields of workers’ compensation, insurance defense and insurance coverage. She then joined Watts, Donovan & Tilley, at which time her practice areas expanded to include appellate advocacy, automobile liability negligence, premises liability, commercial torts, trucking litigation, employment discrimination, products liability, personal injury defense, construction litigation, fire and arson investigation and defense, bad faith defense, insurance fraud defense, insurance subrogation, pharmacy malpractice defense and veterinary malpractice defense.  She became a partner at Watts Donovan & Tilley in 2013. In 2019, Michael joined Friday, Eldredge & Clark as Of Counsel and in 2021 became a partner.  She is licensed to practice before the Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, all federal District Courts in Arkansas, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. She has tried numerous jury trials across the State of Arkansas, with success.

Michael was selected by Mid-South Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” in 2011 and 2012 and as a Super Lawyer in 2013 – 2023. She has been given the preeminent AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell. She is listed in Best’s Attorneys and is a member of Judge Henry Woods Inns of Court, in which she has served as both Program Chair and Group Leader. She is also a member of American Board of Trial Advocates, the American, Arkansas and Pulaski County Bar Associations, as well as the Defense Research Institute and the Arkansas Association of Defense Counsel, of which she has served as Treasurer, Secretary, President Elect, President and Past President. She was a member of the inaugural Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Bar Association and still serves as a Trustee.  She previously served as Chair of the Membership Development Committee of the Arkansas Bar Association for two years.  She is a member of the Arkansas Association of Women Lawyers, of which she served as continuing education chair for three years. 

She has presented at numerous legal conferences on a variety of topics, including Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage and Defenses, Arson Investigation and Defense and Updates to Arkansas Law.” She is also the author of several legal articles, including: “Defending a Religious Institution Using the Charitable Immunity and Ecclesiastical Doctrine Defenses to Tort Liability,” published in Arkansas Law Notes, 2021;  “Extent and Applicability of Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage in Arkansas,” published in The Arkansas Lawyer, in the 2020 Spring Edition; co-author of “Punitive Damages: A State-by-State Compendium (Arkansas Section), The DRI Defense Library Series, 2009; co-author of “Admissibility of Evidence, a Manual for Arkansas Trial Lawyers,” a 1997 Pocket Part.  She was selected by the readers of Soiree Magazine as one of the Best Attorneys. Additionally, she was selected by Arkansas Life Magazine as one of the Top 25 Lawyers in Arkansas.

Michael lives in Little Rock with her husband, Dan, a Canadian and former professional hockey player, and their son, Cole. She is a past Commissioner of the Maumelle Civil Service Commission. Continuing her love of volunteerism, Michael has dedicated many hours to the Maumelle Friends of the Animals, the Pulaski County Humane Society, the Little Rock Zoo, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the American Cancer Society and the American Multiple Myeloma Association.