Matthew J. Stanczyk

Matthew J. Stanczyk has been a partner in the firm’s Detroit office since 1995. He concentrates his practice in various areas of complex litigation, including toxic torts, product liability fire litigation, construction litigation and commercial warranty litigation. His clients include product manufacturers, general contractors, construction managers, transportation firms, property restoration and remediation firms, commercial property owners and managers, among others who have matters in Michigan and Ohio state and federal courts.

Mr. Stanczyk has lectured extensively on the liability issues involved in construction scaffolding usage and design, and his professional memberships include involvement in several bar associations, the Scaffold Industry Association, the North American Society of Scaffold Professionals and the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Southeast Michigan

Representative Client Work

• Represents several Fortune 500 companies in product liability and commercial matters
• Defended construction management/design build team on $4,000,000 design defect claim involving the largest parking structure in the country, resulting in $70,000 settlement
• Successfully defended to a no cause judgment a large recreational vehicle manufacturer in a product design case
• Defended commercial refrigeration company in $25,000,000 commercial loss case, settling for less than two percent of the demand amount while two other defendants paid more than $8,000,000
• Defended industrial steam/boiler design firm in death case resulting in $230,000 settlement with co-defendant paying more than $1,400,000
• Defended to summary judgment a sole defendant scaffold manufacturer in a design defect case involving catastrophic injuries and a medical lien totaling more than $540,000
• Defended a Fortune 500 company, an electrical component manufacturer, in a forklift accident case involving severe closed head injuries, which resulted in a $2,300,000 case evaluation award. The case settled after two weeks of trial for $600,000, which was particularly noteworthy because a prior identical case, involving the same forklift, but defended by another law firm, had resulted in a plaintiff’s verdict.
• Successfully defended numerous scaffold manufacturers, erectors and rental yards resulting in voluntary dismissal by plaintiffs or summary judgment
• Defended municipality in toxic mold case resulting in dismissal and granting of $38,000 in fees for frivolous suit
• Tried numerous matters in both state and federal court to verdict

Professional Affiliations

• Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association
• State Bar of Michigan (Negligence and Consumer Law sections)
• American Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute
• Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), Southeast Michigan Chapter
• North American Society of Scaffold Professionals (NASSP)
• Scaffold Industry Association (SIA)

Community Involvement

• Detroit Athletic Club
• Ruffed Grouse Society
• Huntsman Hunt Club 

Fraternities 

• Phi Gamma Delta

Speaking Engagements

• “The Truth About Mold – Sick Building” Seminar, Troy, MI  2004
• “Scaffold Professional as an Expert Witness and/or Consultant,” North American Society of Scaffold Professionals, Louisville, Kentucky, July 22, 1995 
• “The Continuing Duty to Warn - Telling Them What They Need to Know-or-What You Should Have Already Told Them,” Scaffold Shoring and Forming Institute, Product Liability Committee Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona, February 24, 1995
• “Manually Propelled Mobile Scaffolds,” Scaffold Industry Association, Vancouver, BC, July 13, 1994
• “Spoliation of Evidence, Protecting Yourself from a Smelly Claim,” Scaffold Shoring and Forming Institute, Product Liability Committee Meeting, Vancouver, BC, July 11, 1994
• “Retained Experts, Can’t Live Without Them, How to Live With Them,” Scaffold Shoring and Forming Institute Product Liability Committee Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 18, 1994