Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti & Sherbrook

Since 1976, the Kitch firm has been a continuous leader in Michigan and throughout the United States in the defense of asbestos personal injury and property damage claims. The firm's attorneys, with almost a century of combined asbestos case trial experience, have compiled an impressive list of accomplishments, including:

• The only law firm in Michigan to have successfully tried to defense verdict a consolidated trial of 125 asbestos personal injury cases
• The only law firm in Michigan to have successfully tried to defense verdict a class action asbestos property damage case
• National counsel overseeing and coordinating over 100,000 cases for a pipe covering and block insulation manufacturer
• Representation in Ohio of a pipe covering and block insulation manufacturer in defense of 18,000 third party suits brought by ship manufacturers under federal maritime jurisdiction
• Dismissal of over 1,000 claims against a local supplier of asbestos-containing gaskets and packing
• At the request of the courts, a leader in docket management state-wide
• Coast-to-coast experience with and knowledge of all of the major national plaintiff law firms active in asbestos claims.

Added to this experience is:

• Backup from the firm's outstanding appellate lawyers and knowledgeable support staff
• The ability to develop creative and aggressive fiber defense strategies
• State-of-the-art document management technology
• A sophisticated database of medical and industrial hygiene records.

Together, these allow the Kitch firm to provide superior representation while keeping overall defense cost at a minimum. We are also able to serve as outstanding educators for the staff of those clients concerned with medical, industrial hygiene and safety issues.

Whether it is handling a single disputed asbestosis case for a local supplier, serving as national counsel for a product manufacturer, or assisting in risk management and safety issues, the Kitch firm has the knowledge, the reputation, the resources and the depth of representation that few, if any, other firms in the nation can match. Selection of the Kitch firm gives clients the ability to go to trial or to negotiate from a position of strength.

The Kitch firm was co-founded in Detroit in 1969 by Richard A. Kitch and Richard F. Suhrheinrich, now a Senior Federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge.

Historically, the Firm has attracted a diverse pool of attorneys and staff, seeking only the most talented individuals to serve our clients.

The Kitch firm was recognized in 2006 by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as the Detroit area law firm with the highest percentage of women attorneys (41%) and the highest percentage of female partners (27%).

The Kitch firm recognizes and celebrates the concept of diversity and  equal opportunity in the workplace.