Landing in America with only a minimal knowledge of English she had gleaned during classes at the American University of Beirut, Joumana Kayrouz entered Connecticut State University to complete the undergraduate degree in philosophy that she'd begun in her homeland.

Within months of arriving, she became pregnant with the first of two daughters.

While her husband worked long hours, completing a residency at a nearby hospital, Kayrouz immersed herself in language, philosophy and ethics. She taped her lectures and listened to them repeatedly to master her studies, earning her bachelor's degree and transferring to Yale University to earn a master's in ethics in 1992.

That same year, she and her husband moved to Ann Arbor when he took a job at a surgical center. Kayrouz entered Wayne State University and earned her law degree five years later.

By the time she graduated from law school, she could speak fluent Arabic, French, Italian and English, having built on early language lessons in Lebanon.

By 1998, her marriage had ended, and she took an entry-level lawyer job at the former Philo, Atkinson, Stephens, Wright, Whitaker & Philo PC. She rose swiftly to junior partner. When principal Harry Philo retired in 2002, she started her own firm.

A dozen years later, the Law Offices of Joumana Kayrouz PLLC has 18 attorneys and 52 other employees working on thousands of personal injury cases each year.

Kayrouz, 50, appears on more than 750 billboards and buses bearing the motto "Know your rights." The advertisements don't bring her clients, she said. She uses them to brand her image with the public as a smart, attractive lawyer who helps the injured.

Kayrouz counts on word-of-mouth advertising to bring her clients. Her referral base from satisfied customers brings her "millions and millions," she said. "I am very blessed."

She looks at her work as not only a way to make money but a way to help rebuild lives, she said.

"You're dealing not just with economic loss and physical limitations that people might have from their accidents but also with their depression, their personal relationships and their daily struggles," Kayrouz said.

In 2012, the American Arab Chamber of Commerce named her "Economic Bridge Builder of the Year," noting that she was the only woman to own a major personal injury law firm in Michigan.

Kayrouz, who supports a number of political candidates, has been invited to meet with President Barack Obama on several occasions.

She appears on a twice-weekly radio show on WNZK AM 680/690, a local ethnic station, speaking on topics such as the five most common personal injuries, record-keeping and tax credits.