Paul Kittinger

Practice Experience and Focus

Litigator with practice in civil and commercial litigation. Practice areas include construction litigation, product liability and personal injury disputes.

Education

• University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), B.A. Philosophy and Sociology, 2005.
• Wayne State University Law School, J.D., 2008.

Reported Cases

• Composto v Albrecht, __ NW2d __, 2019 Mich. App. LEXIS 2690 (2019)(Docket No. 340485)
• Auto. Body Parts Ass’n v. Ford Global Techs., LLC, 930 F.3d 1314 (2019)
• Mindykowski v CWB Property Management, Inc and Alpena Hotels, LLC, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Michigan Court of Appeals, decided March 10, 2015 (Docket No. 315753).
• Sholberg v Truman, 496 Mich. 1; 852 NW2d 89 (2014).
• Burkard v Westfield, unpublished per curiam opinion of the Michigan Court of Appeals, decided July 2, 2013 (Docket No. 311611).
• Edington v Sobie Company, Inc, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Michigan Court of Appeals, decided April 9, 2013 (Docket No. 303876).
• American University of Antigua College of Medicine v Steven Woodward, 837 F Supp 2d 686 (ED Mich 2011), aff’d in an unpublished opinion per curiam of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, issued March 15, 2013 (Docket Nos. 12-1128/1584/1585/1738).
• Citizens Ins Co of Am v Prof’l temperature Heating & Air Conditioning, unpublished opinion per curiam of the Michigan Court of Appeals, decided October 25, 2012 (Docket No 300524).

Sample Successful Results

• 2019 Wayne County Circuit Court grants summary disposition of a construction defect claim with alleged damages in excess of $600,000.
• 2019 US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan grants summary judgment on various claims against an RV manufacturer.
• 2015 Court of Appeals reverses denial of summary disposition in a Dramshop/negligence action, and remands for entry of dismissal order.
• 2014 Summary Disposition affirmed by Michigan Supreme Court on a fatality and claims of negligence and nuisance. An independent case evaluation panel had valued the plaintiff’s case at $750,000.00. The brief on file in the Michigan Supreme Court received the Thomas M. Cooley Law Review’s Distinguished Brief Award.
• 2013 Obtained summary disposition in favor of heating and cooling contractor on multi-million-dollar fire loss at an apartment complex for seniors in West Bloomfield. The alleged cause of the fire was heat from an allegedly improperly serviced boiler at the complex. The West Bloomfield Fire Department testified it was the largest fire fought in the department’s history. A panel of three independent evaluators had assessed the plaintiffs’ claim at $4,000,000.00. The circuit denied our motion for summary disposition, but the Court of Appeals reversed the Circuit Court and the Michigan Supreme Court denied leave to appeal.
• 2013 Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms summary judgment for client in defamation/trademark infringement matter.

Accomplishments

• Distinguished Brief Award, Thomas M. Cooley Law Review (June, 2014) Publications
• A Survey of the Law of Dram Shop and Alcohol Liability” Primerus Defense Institute, November 2017
• The Journal of Law and Society, Symposium Editor, 2007 to 2008
• “Patient Power: Over-the-Counter Drugs,” Brief Analysis 524, National Center for Policy Analysis, 2005.

Bar Admissions

• State Bar of Illinois, 2008
• State Bar of Michigan, 2009
• U.S. District Court of Michigan, Eastern District: 2010
• U.S. District Court of Michigan, Western District: 2011
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit: 2018

Personal

• Married. Avid Peloton cyclist. Can solve a Rubik’s Cube in 90 seconds.