Mike is the founder of Smitiuch Injury Law and he has worked as an injury and wrongful death lawyer his entire career which started in 1998. Mike has established himself as a leading trial lawyer in Ontario for injury and death lawsuits. He has conducted numerous jury trials, including Stilwell v. Corning Inc., which was the first successful trial verdict against Corning Inc. in North America involving Visions cookware. The Stilwell case ended in 2014 when the Ontario Court of Appeal decided in favour of Mike’s severely injured client. This is what the trial judge had to say about the successful result in the Stilwell trial:
“…this was in large measure due to the considerable preparation and skill demonstrated by plaintiff counsel that put the plaintiffs’ case before the jury in the best possible light.
In this case, I already have commented on the commendable performance by plaintiff counsel, which certainly was very important to the degree of success achieved by the plaintiffs.”
More recently, Mike and his co-counsel obtained a jury verdict against the Glen Eagle Golf Club for over $1.8 million in damages, including pain and suffering and loss of income.
In addition to trial work, Mike has been a leading advocate in many areas involving public safety, including wired glass in schools, suicides in hospital psychiatric units and inadequate security at nightclubs. Mike has helped put the spotlight on these important issues and he has been interviewed/featured by all major media outlets and news shows in Canada, including Canada AM, CBC’s Metro Morning, The Globe & Mail and the National Post.
Mike has also had scholarly papers and articles published in many legal publications such as The Litigator, The Lawyers Weekly and The Advocates’ Quarterly. He has also given numerous lectures to other lawyers at conferences put on by The Law Society of Upper Canada, the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association and the Advocates’ Society. Mike has also been selected by The Commons Institute to be a rostered speaker and give annual presentations to lawyers throughout Canada regarding personal injury law.
Areas of Practice
Personal Injury
Disability and Insurance Claims
Wrongful Death
Product Liability
Litigation Percentage
100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Bar Admissions
Ontario, 1998
Education
University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law, London, Ontario, Canada
LL.B. – 1997
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Honours B.A. – 1994
Major: Political Science
Professional Associations and Memberships
Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, Member, 1998 – Present
American Association for Justice, Member, 1998 – Present
The Advocates’ Society, Member, 2013 – Present