Michael N. Onufrak, Attorney

Mr. Onufrak is a partner in the Commercial Litigation Department.  He focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation arising from all forms of business disputes including real estate transactions, corporate acquisitions, construction contracts and  patents.  He often defends fellow professionals who have been accused of negligence.   He has been counsel of record in a number of libel and slander cases including some involving public figures, the First Amendment, and the media.

Mr. Onufrak represents local and national real estate developers and brokers as well as a number of general contractors and sub-contractors.  He has handled complicated business break-up cases and a number of cases involving intellectual property rights.  In January 2002, he obtained judgment notwithstanding the verdict after a two-week jury trial in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court for an attorney accused of professional negligence.  In October 2002, he obtained a directed verdict on behalf of a construction subcontractor during a three-week jury trial in Federal Court.  He has argued or tried cases in all the local federal courts, the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Supreme Court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Pennsylvania Superior Court, the New Jersey Superior Court (Appellate Division), the Ohio Court of Appeals, and at the trial level throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio and other jurisdictions.

He has been counsel of record in a number of important appellate court decisions.  For example, he was counsel of record in the case of Alan Ertel vs. The Harrisburg Patriot News,  674 A. 2d 1038 (Pa. 1996), a First Amendment libel case, in which summary judgment was granted in favor of the firm's client and was ultimately affirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  The case is often cited by lawyers and judges as the leading case explaining Pennsylvania's standard for summary judgments.  He was also counsel of record in the case of Mortgagelinq Corporation vs. Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company, 142 N. J. 336  (1995) which was one of three decisions announced by the New Jersey Supreme Court clarifying New Jersey's Entire Controversy doctrine after several years of confusion.  

Mr. Onufrak received his A.B. in English and Classics from the University of Notre Dame in 1981.  He received his J.D. from Temple University in 1984.  He is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Mr. Onufrak is admitted to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and often litigates intellectual property matters.  He was recently counsel of record in a decision rendered by the Federal Circuit reversing the District Court's entry of summary judgment against the firm's client, declaring that certain patents were not invalid, and remanding the case for trial.  In 2007, Mr. Onufrak was selected in a survey of his peers as a Pennsylvania "Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics magazine and in 2008 he was selected for inclusion in the Corporate Counsel Edition of Super Lawyers. Mr. Onufrak has been AV rated by the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating system.