Gary August

The American legal system is the best in the world, but only if you have an attorney who knows how to make it work for you.

Mr. August has a commercial litigation practice that is focused largely on construction, complex litigation, and insurance coverage disputes. He acted as lead litigation counsel for Northwest Airlines’ construction of the multi-phase $1.6 billion Edward H. McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and in a combined 17 litigated cases, defeated over $41 million in claims against the City of Dearborn stemming from failures in its combined sewer overflow project while at the same time recovering over $30 million for the City, including the largest verdict or settlement reported to Michigan Lawyers Weekly in 2010. He handles large, complex litigation, including representing Wayne County in its litigation over its failed Consolidated Jail Project and negotiated and drafted the $500M+ agreement with Bedrock to swap five County parcels and pay over $350M for the construction of a new criminal justice facility. His track record of winning high-profile cases not only includes those discussed above, but also multi-million dollar claims and class actions against municipalities, public authorities and corporations.

In 2025, Mr. August secured a $6.2 million arbitration award in a complex employment and corporate redemption matter, which was recognized by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as the largest reported arbitration award in the State of Michigan.

Mr. August graduated from Michigan State University in 1989 with High Honors, then attended Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, where he graduated cum laude in 1993 after winning the school’s annual moot court competition and rose to a position as Associate Note & Comment Editor of the Northwestern University Law Review. In his year between college and law school, he worked in Washington, D.C., for Senator Carl Levin. While at Northwestern, he worked during his first summer for the State of Michigan’s Third Judicial Circuit, where he was a law clerk for the Honorable Chief Judge Richard C. Kaufman and Circuit Judge Helene White (now a Sixth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Judge).

After graduating from Northwestern Law School, Mr. August worked as an Associate Attorney at Honigman, Miller, Schwartz, and Cohn until 1996.  In 1996, he joined the firm that would ultimately become Zausmer, August & Caldwell, P.C.  During his tenure at that firm, he was instrumental in growing the firm from approximately eight attorneys to over 80 attorneys until his retirement from the firm in 2019.

Mr. August has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the State’s best commercial and construction litigators. He has received virtually every honor an attorney can receive from third-party rating services. He is a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar, was selected as a Michigan Super Lawyer from 2006-2020 & 2022-present, has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America since 2013, is AV (Highest) rated by Martindale Hubbell, was honored as a Top Lawyer in Detroit by DBusiness Magazine (2010 and 2014), and he currently has a perfect 10/10 rating by Avvo website for ranking lawyers. Michigan Lawyers Weekly named Mr. August as a Leader in the Law for 2011 after he won the largest verdict or settlement reported in the State of Michigan to Michigan Lawyers Weekly in 2010, resulting from his representation of the City of Dearborn. In 2025, he again achieved the publication’s top reported case distinction by securing the largest reported arbitration award in the State of Michigan. In 2023 and 2025, Mr. August was again honored by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as a Go-To Lawyer for construction law and in 2023 as a Go-To Power Lawyer. Mr. August’s legal prowess has also been recognized outside of legal rating services and publications. He was featured in Crain’s Detroit Business both in its July 2016 Special Report profiling the top 14 “Litigators” in the region and again in 2025 as a “Notable Litigator and Trial Attorney” as a result of his high-dollar, high-profile litigation matters.

Mr. August also served the public as the Chairperson of the Michigan Residential Builders’ and Maintenance & Alteration Contractors’ Board, having first been appointed by Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm in 2007 and re-appointed by Republican Governor Rick Snyder in 2012 where he served as Chairperson until the expiration of his term in 2016. Mr. August also takes his ethical responsibilities as an attorney seriously, as he serves as a hearing panel chairperson of the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board.

Mr. August lives in Bloomfield Township, and is officially an “empty nester” with all his kids moved on to college and careers. He does still have his mini golden-doodle Woodford, who litigates for a long walk every day.