General panic when crooked lawyer in Michigan initially absconded (4,8)
I believe the answer is:
mass hysteria
'general panic' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'when crooked lawyer in michigan initially absconded' is the wordplay.
'when' becomes 'as'.
'crooked lawyer' becomes 'shyster'.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'michigan' becomes 'mi' (state letters).
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'absconded' is 'a'.
'as'+'shyster'='asshyster'
'asshyster' going inside 'mi' is 'masshysteri'.
'masshysteri'+'a'='MASS HYSTERIA'
(Other definitions for mass hysteria that I've seen before include "caused by church service?" , "Frenzy" , "General panic" .)