Jablonski, Melanie Stofko

Mr. Smith is a shareholder with Sanders & Parks.  Mr. Smith concentrates his practice on a broad range of tort litigation matters including personal and catastrophic injury, products liability law, marine and watercraft liability, insurance coverage and liability law, public entity liability litigation, oil and gas law, liquor and dram shop liability law, and appeals. 

Mr. Smith also serves as general counsel for several businesses throughout the state, and provides advice and representation on business related issues including transactional matters and employment law.  Mr. Smith has been awarded Martindale-Hubbell's highest AV® Preeminent™ rating.  Mr. Smith was recognized in the 2012 edition of Southwest Super Lawyers as an Arizona Rising Star.

Mr. Smith is a seasoned trial attorney. Examples of his trials include successfully defending police officers accused of using excessive force during an arrest; defending a public transport entity and driver in a claim involving a plaintiff being run over and catastrophically injured by a public bus; representing an entity sued for improper maintenance of storm drains following significant flooding of a storage facility that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages; and defending an on-duty police officer who rear-ended a vehicle and allegedly caused significant injuries to the driver and passenger of that vehicle. 

Mr. Smith has also won numerous summary judgment victories for his clients including summary judgment for an employer whose employee, while significantly impaired, collided with a police vehicle that caused significant injuries to a police officer; summary judgment for police officers accused of using excessive force during an arrest; summary judgment for a national manufacturer in a product liability suit; summary judgment for a national insurance company in an aggressively litigated insurance coverage dispute; and summary judgment for a national manufacturer in a Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act case.

Mr. Smith earned his Juris Doctor degree from Florida Coastal School of Law, where he was a member both of the Law Journal and the Moot Court Honor Board.  As an undergraduate, Mr. Smith was captain of the University of Wyoming football team and was a first team Western Athletic Conference selection. 

Mr. Smith is licensed to practice law in Arizona and Florida, and is an inactive member of the Georgia Bar.  Mr. Smith is a member of the Arizona Association of Defense Counsel and the Defense Research Institute.  He is also a member of the prestigious Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (“CLM”).  Membership with CLM is invitation only based on nominations from CLM Fellows.  Mr. Smith is also a board member of the Scottsdale, Arizona YMCA.