Matthew B. Stoddard | Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer

Mr. Matthew B. Stoddard

Mr. Matthew B. Stoddard

Experience: 17 years
Language(s): English

Main Office

1534 N Decatur Rd
Atlanta, GA 30307

Office Hours

Monday - Sunday8:00 AM - 9:00 PM

Other Locations

Proudly serving the surrounding area of Atlanta, GA.

Top Local Lawyers

About Matthew

Matt Stoddard, the eldest son of a county planner and a computer programmer, grew up in Cary North Carolina where he attended public school and developed a passion for soccer. Matt attended college in North Carolina too – earning a degree in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

After his undergraduate studies, Matt moved to Athens Georgia to attend the University of Georgia School of Law. He graduated with honors. While in law school, Matt was accepted to a partnership program that allowed him to study at what is widely considered the most prestigious university in the United Kingdom – Oxford. During his law school summers, Matt worked in the general counsel’s office of a Fortune 500 company and for a Nevada law firm that represented the vast majority of Nevada’s major casinos.

After obtaining a law degree, Matt moved to the Atlanta area where he worked for years defending the world’s largest appliance manufacturers in serious injury and wrongful death product liability cases, global transportation companies in serious injury and wrongful death tractor-trailer accident cases, and a variety of healthcare providers in serious injury medical malpractice cases.

In 2011, Mr. Stoddard stopped defending corporate interests and began a rewarding career representing those harmed by the negligence of others. Since that time, Matt has tried numerous high-dollar serious injury and wrongful death cases in the Atlanta metro-area including cases in Fulton County, DeKalb County, Gwinnett County, and Cobb County, and Clayton County. He has also tried multiple additional high-dollar serious injury and wrongful death cases in some of Georgia’s rural areas including Hart County, Dougherty County, Richmond County, and Tattnall County.

While Mr. Stoddard is admitted in practice in the state and federal courts in Georgia, he frequently receives special permission to practice in other states. He has worked on cases as close to home as South Carolina and as far away as California. Mr. Stoddard is selective about the cases he takes, but that selectivity is based on the merits of the case, not the distance he must travel to achieve a just result.

Matt Stoddard is a professional, hardworking, ethical advocate. He routinely faces some of the nation’s largest companies and some of the world’s largest insurers – opponents who have virtually unlimited resources. In these circumstances, Mr. Stoddard is comfortable. Mr. Stoddard provides his strongest efforts to his clients, and he devotes the firm’s significant financial resources to present the strongest case possible on their behalf. Matt understands that his clients must put their trust in him. That trust creates an obligation for Matt to work tirelessly on their behalf, and Matt Stoddard does not take that obligation lightly.

Matt has worked on many high-profile cases such that his trials have been featured on Courtroom Viewing Network. He is also frequently asked to help teach other attorneys and has done so via continuing education seminars for the Atlanta Bar Association, the Georgia Bar Association, and the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association to name a few. Mr. Stoddard has also been interviewed for his legal work by Georgia Public Broadcasting, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Gwinnett Daily Post, the Daily Report, WSB-TV, and 11 Alive News amongst other news outlets.

Regarding his personal life, Matt is happily married to the incredible Dr. Carrie Porter Stoddard – a clinical veterinarian and animal acupuncturist. When not at the office, Matt and Carrie can almost always be found in the presence of their two happy children: Samuel and Kendall. The Stoddards are big charitable contributors to rural hospitals, land conservation, and legal scholarship. Mr. Stoddard also participates in government as an appointed DeKalb County board member who advises and votes on certain urban planning matters.

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Experience

Owner

The Stoddard Firm

Present

Atlanta, GA

Admission

Verified Georgia

2008

Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Bachelors (Chemistry)

2005

Recognitions & Achievements

Associations
  • Member | Georgia State Bar Association
Honors / Awards
  • Rising Star Super Lawyers
    2013 - 2021

Notable Work

Cases

$2,850,000.00

Recovery for a military veteran who lost a portion of his right arm cleaning a defectively designed factory machine. After multiple other attorneys refused the case, the veteran found his way to Mr. Stoddard. Mr. Stoddard proved that a component part manufacturer had failed to follow its own design criteria and industry standards.

$3,290,000.00

Recovery for a man who broke his femur and suffered complications after slipping on water from a leaking water fountain at a large commercial facility. Mr. Stoddard showed that the Defendant hid highly relevant evidence about the incident. The Court thereafter struck the Defendant’s answer resulting in a finding of automatic liability.

$8,000,000.00

Recovery for a former attorney who sustained serious head injuries after hitting a fire sprinkler pipe upon exiting her car in a parking garage. As co-counsel, Mr. Stoddard showed those overseeing the parking garage should have known that the over hanging fire sprinkler pipe was a hazard and should have been corrected or marked as a hazard.

Publications

Georgia Public Broadcasting


Atlanta Journal Constitution


Gwinnett Daily Post


Daily Report


WSB-TV


11 Alive News

Questions & Answers

Please describe a case in the last year or two where you made a big difference.

Mr. Stoddard obtained an $8,000,000.00 verdict for a former attorney who sustained serious head injuries after hitting a fire sprinkler pipe upon exiting her car in a parking garage. Mr. Stoddard diligently hunted down other persons who previously worked on the premises and learned that another person had previously struck her head on low hanging equipment in the same area, notified property management, and asked them to fix it. Those requests were ignored.

How did you build a successful practice?

Legally and ethically do all you can to make the clients happy.

What should clients look for in a lawyer?

A firm with a low case load such as no more than 15 cases per attorney (my firm averages about 10 cases per attorney). A firm with more lawyers than paralegals such that the lawyers do the work and not the staff. A firm that is well capitalized such that they can invest in the case and do not push the client to settle. A firm where the lawyers went to law schools you have heard of such as Georgia, Georgia State, Emory, Florida State, USC, UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, Alabama, etc.

How important is local knowledge to the success of your cases?

Not terribly important to be honest. Its helpful if you have tried a case in front of the judge you have in your case because you know the judge's tendencies. That said, many law firms rarely try cases and so picking someone just because they are near by is not a good strategy.

What information can you provide in a free phone consultation?

We are pretty good at issue spotting. Some times we come up with potentially responsible parties you did not think about. We also are objective; if there are problems with your case, we are going to tell you.

What information do you need in a free phone consultation?

Name, approximate date of incident, some sense of injury severity such as 8 days in the hospital, lost arm at elbow, diagnosed with severe brain injury, series of six skin grafts, etc.

What differentiates you from other lawyers in your community?

Low case load, intense focus on cases we have, ability to spend money to improve the case with experts and travel, not afraid to try the case.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?

The best moments are (i) hearing appreciation from a client that thinks we did a great job, and (ii) catching the Defendants lying about something of significance.

What are your other interests in addition to law?

Skiing, soccer, real estate, spending time with my wife and young children.

Are you involved in your community?

Yes. As one example, I am appointed member of a DeKalb County Georgia board that advises and gives approval to certain urban planning matters for the community.

The Stoddard Firm Highlights

Accident & Injury

Firm Size: 1
Firm Locations: 1
Languages: English